BAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT
The Friendly Baker by Lucy Parr, £23, Amazon
Cheat’s Profiteroles
1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry
FOR THE CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE:
300ml dairy-free milk
50g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract or the seeds from 1 vanilla pod
15g plain flour
15g cornflour
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE SAUCE:
50g dairy-free dark chocolate
50g dairy-free cream
1 tsp golden syrup
1. Preheat the oven to 240°C and line a muffin or cupcake tray with paper cases.
2. Use a glass with a thick rim (not a cookie cutter) to cut out circles of pastry. You need the glass to squash and fuse together the edges of the dough, making a seal so the middle can puff up to create an airy little container. If you were to use a cookie cutter, this would not happen as the layers would be sliced right through.
3. Place the pastry circles on the paper cases so they sit above the base. Gently push down in the middle a little but they must be mainly resting on the top.
4. Place in the preheated oven for six to seven minutes until the circles have completely puffed up – keep a close eye on them as this is the crucial part.
5. Once they’ve puffed up, reduce the oven temperature to 150°C and cook for a further six to eight minutes until golden brown. Remove from the tray and liners and cool on a wire rack.
6. To make the crème pâtissière, pour the milk, sugar and vanilla into a saucepan. Heat until it reaches simmering point.
7. In a bowl, stir two tablespoons of the hot milk mixture into the flour and cornflour to make a smooth paste. Pour this paste into the remaining milk mixture and stir well.
8. Whisk while bringing to the boil. The mixture should start to thicken. Keep whisking the boiling mix for a couple of minutes, then pour into a container and cover so that the cling film is touching the top to prevent a skin forming. Leave to cool.
9. To make the chocolate ganache, simply melt the ingredients together until smooth and luscious.
10. To assemble the profiteroles, whisk up the cooled crème pâtissière to make it smooth and then place into a piping bag with a plain nozzle. With the nozzle of the piping bag, make a small hole in each puff pastry bun and pipe in the pastry cream.
11. Drizzle the chocolate ganache sauce over the filled buns, then leave for at least 30 minutes so the buns can soften and gain a choux-like texture.
•Free from dairy, eggs, nuts, peanuts, soya and sesame seeds.
Gingerbread
50g dairy-free margarine
20g dairy-free cream cheese
75g soft brown sugar
2 tbsps golden syrup
20ml dairy-free mil
