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Pumpkin Profiteroles

Posted on Friday, October 7, 2011 5:45 AM | By: Ammie

Category: ,

A cooking message board that I participate in does a recipe swap every few weeks.  The theme this round is Pumpkin / Apple.  I decided to join the swap this round to expand my horizons a bit and hopefully challenge myself by exposing myself to recipes I may not normally make due to my preference or skill level.

I'm actually a bit embarrassed, because when I received my swap recipe from Coleen I didn't know exactly what a profiterole was.  I knew it was a dessert, but I had no clue what it really was.  That was until I did a quick Google search, and then I got really excited because of course I've seen these before and drooled over them in the baker's case!


I have no idea where to purchase the pastry shells, so I decided to go ahead and make them myself.  Of course when I saw this Joy of Baking recipe, I knew I'd have to include the chocolate ganache too.  Seriously, I couldn't wait to take a bite of the finished product.

While this recipe looks like a lot of work, it's fairly uncomplicated and I'm so glad that I made the pastry vs. trying to hunt it down.  I should point out that there is quite a bit of inactive cooking time for the components, so be sure you give yourself enough time if you plan to make these.

One last note, I didn't realize that I was out of brown sugar, so I went ahead and substituted Splenda Brown Sugar Blend and it seemed to work out fine.  These tasted very decadent, and were so good I ate one for breakfast! :)  Enjoy!

Be sure to head over to A Taste of Home Cooking for the Apple / Pumpkin Roundup.

Here is what you'll need:

For the Filling:
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar (I used 1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend)
  • 1 large eggs
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 4 oz. mascarpone cheese
For the Ganache:

  • 2 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
  • 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 1/2 tsp unsalted butter
  • 3/4 tsp vanilla extract 
Preheat oven to 350F.

To Make Filling: 

Using a stand mixer, mix pumpkin and sugar until well combined and smooth.  Add egg, lemon juice and spices, and continue mixing until well combined.  Add mascarpone and mix until mixture is well combined and smooth.

Pour filling into loaf pan.  Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Once cool, scoop out of pan and place in a pastry bag.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To Make Ganache:

Just before serving, chop chocolate and place in mixing bowl.

In a small saucepan, heat butter and cream over medium heat.  Once the mixture barely comes to a boil, remove from heat and pour liquid over chocolate.  Whisk chocolate until well combined.

To Assemble:  

Slice pastry shells in half.  Pipe filling into pastry shells.  Drizzle with ganache.  Serves 6.

Sources: Does Not Cook Well With Others (filling) and Joy of Baking (pastry and ganache)

Comments (4)

Jey said on October 7, 2011 at 10:06 AM

Oh, YUM! I'm drooling all over my keyboard.
Sarah - The Home Cook said on October 7, 2011 at 12:12 PM

These look amazing! I love profiteroles.

Thanks for being part of the swap!
Auntie D said on October 9, 2011 at 9:16 PM

Give you a lot of credit....very brave! PS. I have been cooking for many years and didn't know what "profiteroles" were either :)
Ammie said on October 21, 2011 at 10:42 AM

Thank you all for your comments! I had a lot of fun with this recipe!

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