SNICKERS PROFITEROLES!

   This fine recipe comes from www.bakersroyale.com .  For that little snack before bedtime.  Goodluck!


Yup, I took the classic profiterole and destroyed it with some crazy. Snickers craziness. I turned a classic dessert into a three layer affair with some peanut butter mousse, sliced Snickers and drizzles of chocolate and caramel. I’m sure someone out there is probably pretty appalled that I am even classifying this as a profiterole dessert. But if you can think of a better name-leave a comment.

So while I started out with the intent of making a classic profiterole, you know pate choux filled with ice cream and then drizzled with chocolate maybe some crushed nuts, but then I figured you guys might be tired of ice cream recipes. From there my mind went to a pastry cream center, but I kinda already did that here (from way back). Then it occured to me to go completely sideways with this and make it like a mini Snickers cake.

It was either going to be a complete bust or a complete hit-no room for in between. I went with it.
And in one forkful, my friends kinda hate me now and love me more. They destroyed it. I expected nothing less. That’s not a brag. That’s a statement towards their love for all things candy filled and Snickers related. Matt, my forever picky husband who loves Snickers, picked out the Snickers slices and pate choux and ate that. He scraped his way around the peanut butter mousse and most of the drizzle. Of course he would find the “in between”. It’s maddening. Who eats his wife’s dessert like that? He does and he’s my maddening to love—and I’m crazy about him.

And nevermind the two different styled photographs—I struggled with this set and I couldn’t decide which to go with so they both went into the post. The picture (iPhone pic) above was Instagrammed, with me pretty much ready to be done with photographing this post. See how I’m prepped on the left, well after that I had no where to go. No styling that came to mind. Nada. It’s really frustrating when you hit a creative wall like that. Ah, well, at least you guys can see what it is from the first two pics.
A few notes:

• The pate choux recipe is from Alton Brown. Follow the recipe exactly. For the flour I used bread flour not all purpose flour. Pate choux can be made one day in advance and kept in an air tight container once completely cooled. Place a paper towel inside the container to absorb any moisture. This will keep the pate choux from becoming chewy if there is moisture.
• The mousse recipe is from a fellow blogger Caroline of Chocolate & Carrots. If you haven’t been to her blog— go, she’s lovely as is her blog. I adapted the recipe by lowering the tofu portion and increasing the heavy cream. The tofu gives the mousse a heavier body for piping and more structure for layering. I usually use gelatin for structure, but I wanted to give the tofu a shot.
• The Snickers profiteroles should be assembled the day of and kept refrigerated until 20 minutes before serving.

Snickers Profiteroles

Makes about 4 dozen | Preparation: Line bake sheet with parchment paper. Heat oven to 425 degrees in F.


Ingredients:

Pate choux

• 1 cup water
• 3/4 stick butter (6 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon sugar plus
• 5 3/4 ounces flour
• 1 cup eggs, about 4 large eggs and 2 whites

Peanut butter mousse

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 ounces soft (silken) tofu
• 1/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

For assembly

• 4 full size Snickers bars, sliced thin
• 6 oz. caramel sauce
• 6 oz. chocolate sauce

Instructions:

To make pate choux:

1. Place water, butter and sugar in a medium size sauce pan and bring to a boil. Remove pan from heat and add flour, using a wooden spoon or a sturdy spatula stir mixture until it comes together. Then return pan to heat. Continue stirring and working the mixture until all flour is incorporated and dough forms a ball. Transfer mixture into a standing mixer bowl and let cool for 3 or 4 minutes.
2. Fit stand mixer with a whisk attachment and set mixer to low. Add 1 egg at a time, making sure each egg is completely incorporated before continuing. Once all eggs have been added and the mixture is smooth put dough into piping bag fitted with a round tip. Immediately pipe into golfball-size shapes, 2 inches apart onto parchment lined sheet pans. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown. Once they are removed from the oven pierce with a paring knife immediately to release steam.

To make peanut butter mousse:

1. Place cold heavy cream in a cold bowl and using a hand mixer beat until soft peaks form.
2. Place tofu, peanut butter, sifted powdered sugar in a food processor or blender and pulse until all the ingredients until well blended.
3. Fold whipped cream into tofu and peanut butter mixture in three batches. Chill mousse for 30-40 minutes before piping.

Assembly:

1. Slice profiteroles into three horizontal layers. Fit a pastry bag with preferred tip.
2. Pipe mousse onto bottom profiterole layer. Place two thinly sliced Snickers on top and then drizzle with with caramel and chocolate sauce. Continuing layering until all three layers are completed.