Chocolate Ice Cream Profiteroles with Butterscotch Sauce

Cream puff dough:
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup water
5 1/3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour

Butterscotch sauce:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream

Chocolate twirls:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Assembly:
1 1/2 pints chocolate ice cream

Preparation

1. Make profiteroles: Preheat oven to 425ºF. In small glass liquid measure, stir eggs with fork until blended. Pour about 2 tablespoons of egg mixture into small cup, leaving 1/2 cup of egg mixture in measuring cup.

2. In medium heavy saucepan, combine water, butter, and salt. Over medium heat, stirring occasionally, heat water mixture until butter has melted. Increase heat to medium high and bring mixture to boil. Remove pan from heat.

3. Using wooden spoon, stir in flour. Beat vigorously for 20-30 seconds, until mixture is smooth and pulls away from sides of pan. Return pan to heat and, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, cook for 30-60 seconds, until paste forms very smooth ball. Transfer paste to large bowl.

4. Pour 1/2 cup beaten eggs over paste and beat vigorously with wooden spoon for 45-60 seconds, until mixture forms smooth, soft dough. Dough should hold its shape when scooped up with spoon, but be soft enough to slowly slide off spoon when tilted. If dough does not slide off spoon, add 1/2 tablespoon of reserved egg mixture, beat until smooth and retest dough with wooden spoon. The remaining 2 tablespoons of egg will be used to glaze tops of cream puffs before baking.

5. Position rack in center of oven. Draw eighteen 1" circles on piece of parchment paper; turn ink or pencil side facing down and place paper on baking sheet.

6. Fill pastry bag fitted with large plain tip with cream puff dough. Pipe 18 blobs of dough to fit inside the circles, each about 11/2" high.

7. Dip a fork in remaining egg wash and gently smooth down tops of dough (clean fingers work well for this also). Lightly brush tops of dough with more egg wash.

8. Bake for 10 minutes, propping door of oven open an inch or two using handle of wooden spoon. Reduce oven temperature to 375ºF and close oven door. Continue baking for 20 minutes or until they are deep golden brown. Remove from oven, prick each puff with cake tester and put back in oven for 5 minutes. Transfer puffs to wire rack to cool completely.

9. Make butterscotch sauce: In medium saucepan, melt butter. Add brown sugar and corn syrup. Cook gently until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and bring just to boil. Reserve. Refrigerate sauce if not using immediately.

10. Make chocolate twirls: Melt chocolate according to directions in Chocolate Key on page 47. Using large offset spatula, spread chocolate evenly over back of 151/2" x 101/2" baking sheet. Refrigerate pan for 5-10 minutes, or until chocolate is firm to touch. With ruler and small sharp knife, score chocolate along long side of pan into strips approximately 1/2" wide. Let pan sit at room temperature for 3-5 minutes, or until it begins to soften. Using small, offset metal spatula, scrape off strips of chocolate and immediately wrap each strip around handle of wooden spoon or wire whisk to form a corkscrew-shaped twirl. Place each twirl in freezer for a few minutes until firm enough to remove from handle. Store chocolate twirls in airtight container in refrigerator until ready to serve. You may need to occasionally return baking sheet to refrigerator to firm up chocolate until all of twirls are formed. Form twelve twirls (you will have enough chocolate to allow for breakage).

11. Assemble dessert: Remove sauce from refrigerator if necessary. Transfer to microwave-proof bowl and heat in microwave just until sauce is hot.

12. Using serrated knife, cut top third off each puff. Fill each puff with small scoop of chocolate ice cream and replace top. Place three ice cream-filled puffs on dessert plates and top each with generous tablespoonful of butterscotch sauce. Garnish with chocolate twirls. Serve immediately.

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