Rhubarb & Custard Profiteroles

Did it.

Jumped on the rhubarb bandwagon!

I’d been wanting to make something with rhubarb ever since I’d spotted this Rhubarb Jam recipe from ‘Take A Megabite’ on Instagram. Though, the only time i’d ever really had rhubarb before was in a crumble, and I felt the need to shake things up. Hence making a dessert based on those sweet shop classics!

That, and the fact that it involved custard seemed appropriate! 😉

Ingredients

For the rhubarb jam:

250g rhubarb, roughly chopped

100ml water

100g caster sugar

 

For the vanilla custard:

600ml milk

1 vanilla pod

220g caster sugar

4 egg yolks

40g plain four

2tbsp cornflour

 

For the profiteroles:

200ml cold water

4tsp caster sugar

85g unsalted butter

115g plain flour

pinch of salt

3 eggs, beaten

icing sugar, for dusting

 

Method

For the rhubarb jam:

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Once it starts to bubble, reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Once thickened, leave to cool completely.

 

For the vanilla custard:

Place the milk in a large saucepan. Scrape out the vanilla seeds from the pod and place in the milk. Add the vanilla pod too. Heat on a medium heat till the milk just comes up to the boil.

In a heatproof bowl combine the sugar and egg yolks to a thick, pale yellow mixture.

Add the flour and cornflour.

Gradually add the hot milk to the egg mixture.

Return to a clean saucepan and stir over a low heat until the custard thickens. Transfer to another heatproof bowl and cover the surface of the custard with cling film to prevent a skin from forming. Leave to cool in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours. I left mine overnight.

 

For the profiteroles:

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place a small roasting tin at the bottom of the oven to heat.

Place the water, sugar and butter in a large saucepan and heat on a medium heat till the butter has melted.

Turn up the heat till it starts to bubble, then add the flour and salt.

Remove from the heat and vigorously beat in the flour to form a smooth paste that comes away from the sides of the pan.

Leave to cool for about 15 minutes.

Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, till it comes together as a smooth, glossy paste with a soft dropping consistency.

Place mixture into a piping bag, and pipe small circles onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.

With a wet finger, flatten the tops of each circle for a much rounder shape.

Place the baking tray into the oven, but before closing the door add half a cup of water to the roasting tin to try to help fill the oven with steam and helps the choux pastry rise better. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Once baked, remove from the oven and switch off.

With a skewer, prick a small hole in the base of the profiteroles. Place these back into the oven for 5 minutes (still switched off!) with the holes facing upwards to help dry out the insides of the profiteroles.

 

After 5 minutes, remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Place the rhubarb jam into a piping bag and pipe a small amount into each profiterole. Repeat with the vanilla custard. Or if you’re like me and obsesses over things like duo piping bags… you can always use one of those.

Dust with icing sugar and serve.