White Chocolate and Raspberry Profiteroles

MasterChef 2007 finalist, Hannah Miles, kindly gave us this yummy recipe to try:

• 50g butter
• 150ml cold water
• 60g plain flour
• 2 tsp vanilla sugar (or caster sugar if you don’t have vanilla sugar)
• 2 eggs beaten
• 100g white chocolate, melted
• 284ml (half a pint) double cream
• 1 punnet of fresh raspberries, lightly crushed with a fork

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.
2. Melt the butter in the water in a pan and bring to the boil.
3. Remove from the heat and quickly throw in the flour and sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough is formed which leaves the sides of the pan.
4. Add the egg a little at a time, beating really hard after each adition.  You should end up with a smooth, glossy dough.
5. Grease a baking tray with butter and place small teaspoons of the mixture a distance apart.
6. Place the tray in the oven (Aga roasting oven bottom shelf) and pour a small amount of water onto the oven floor.  This will create steam, which will help the buns to rise.  Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until they are golden brown.  Remove the tray from the oven and pierce each profiterole with a knife to release the steam.
7. Dip a fork in the melted white chocolate and “spin” over the tops of the profiteroles.  This will create a nice white chocolate pattern on each.  Leave to cool until the chocolate has set.
8. Whisk the cream until stiff peak and fold in the raspberries.  Place the cream in a piping back and pipe into each profiterole.
9. Pile the profiteroles high on a plate and dust with icing sugar.

For more recipes and countryside musings, go to Hannah’s Country Kitchen Blog.