Profiteroles

We made these to have for pudding on Christmas Day, stuffed with whipped cream and topped with dulce de leche chocolate and toffee sauce.

The shape went rather wonky (they turned out rather flatter and wider than I hoped), but they tasted delicious. A piping bag might have solved the problem, as might not putting in all the egg (you're after a fairly stiff mix).

You'll need:

150g plain flour
1 tablespoon sugar
75g butter (cut into small pieces)
200ml water
3 eggs lightly beaten

Stick the oven on at 180 degrees C.

Making choux pastry is not anything like making normal pastry - it's completely weird.

First of all, you'll need to get a sheet of baking paper. Fold it in half (to make a chute), and then flatten it again. Sift the flour onto the paper, and sprinkle with the sugar (and a pinch of salt).

Put the water and butter into a pan, and then bring to the boil. Take it off the heat, and then use your paper chute to quickly tip the flour/sugar in. Beat it all together with a wooden spoon, until you get a smooth dough.

Leave this strange mixture to cool down for a while - about 20 minutes should do it. Then you'll need to add the egg - and do this little by little, beating it in really well each time. You may not need all the egg (see above), as you're looking for a fairly stiff mix that will only drop into the bowl fairly reluctantly when lifted up.

If you spoon or pipe this mixture into little mounds (about 4cm across) on a baking tray (use your greaseproof paper chute to line it), you should be able to get about 24.

Bake the little buns for 25-30 minutes, until they're golden and puffed up. Prick each bun (with a skewer, or pin) to release the steam inside - and then return them to the oven for another 5 minutes so that they dry out. Leave them to cool completely after that.

I made these a couple of days in advance, and they kept fine in an airtight tin. Filled with whipped cream and drizzled in chocolate, no-one really noticed they were a bit misshapen...