Profiteroles

The amount of profiteroles I have eaten in the past week is really not good. 

For a couple of days there I thought I was going to have to go to Mr LP's retro party as Mama Cass instead of a Charlie's Angel. There is an urban myth going around that Mama Cass choked on a ham sandwich after a concert in London in 1974, our retro theme year. If I owned a kaftan, it was a definite option.

In the end, Farrah Fawcett wasn't happening either. Wigs are horrid things, all hot and itchy. So my flicky blonde Farrah ebay hair spent the night looking like road kill on the floor instead of on my head. Also, I am short and quite cuddly, this week more so than usual thanks to a thousand profiteroles, so what was I even thinking?

At least the food was on theme! We did, as promised, serve devils on horseback (prunes wrapped in bacon then grilled), vol-au-vents and cocktail onions with annoying toothpicks. There was also cob dip, stuffed potato skins and mini shepherd's pies. I had plans for ham steaks with pineapple but I couldn't find them anywhere. Go figure! Thanks to Mum, Jan, SJ and the amazing Alison for your help in taking everyone for a fun foodie trip down memory lane.

On the dessert table: a superb classic cheesecake made by Mum from her hardback copy of the original Women's Weekly cookbook, my party rocky road, those profiteroles sprinkled with gold dust, and a very tall and melty caramel ice cream birthday cake with caramel sauce, inspired by the one they used to serve at The Paragon cafe in Katoomba. Perfected, the cake might be one for a future post, but today is all about those gold dust rolls.

Did you know that profiteroles are surprisingly easy to make? I wish I didn't. And they freeze very well. So you could, in theory, make them up to three weeks ahead of your planned event and then fill and coat them on the day, or even the day before.

I used this Australian Gourmet Traveller unsweetened choux pastry recipe to make the profiteroles and then filled them with vanilla chantilly cream and dipped them in melted chocolate. The recipe made about two dozen. Keep them in the fridge until you're ready to serve, then pile them on a big plate with berries or, if you are a gold dust woman like me, gently sift a teaspoon of edible gold dust over the top.