This entry is brought to you by the letter "P"

P for Profiteroles that is! Once again, the bad-fruit bandit has struck again and BF and I are left with 4 very ripe, be-speckled bananas sitting on our kitchen table. Instead of making the usual banana bread with these guys, I thought I'd try something different. Now I'm going to be really honest and say that the things I bake/cook don't always turn out the way they're supposed to. BF will tell you that my cornbread chicken turned out something terrible. Even I wouldn't eat it (but he being the BF that he is ate it and told it was wonderful - yes, this is why I keep him around).

I try really hard to follow recipes to a T, but sometimes that's just not possible. So on my new adventure, I tried making banana custard. Normally I would just opt to buy the prepackaged banana flavored stuff from the grocery store, but I wanted to be daring. So I searched around online and found a recipe that seems pretty simple: puree bananas with a splash of cream, mix with egg yolks over a double boiler, when it hits 180 degrees, remove from heat and continue mixing and let it gel at room temperature. Easy peasy I say to myself.

Ummm... did I say easy peasy? First off, I have all the right ingredients - DONE! What I don't have is a thermometer and a double boiler. No problem. I can make a make-shift double boiler (which cook hasn't had to do this right?) and I can guess at the temperature. Ummmm... did I say no problem? I tried twice. Let me repeat. I tried TWICE and the second time was worse than the first! How is this possible? I think some things just aren't meant to be. Apparently, me and custard do not get along AT ALL. I think this is one of the things that I'm really REALLY going to have to work at. Boooo for thinking I was that great and could get it right the first time.

So what's the deal with the profiteroles? Well, it was my original idea to put the banana custard inside them instead of the traditional whipped cream I usually do. But alas, I resorted to the tried and true when I chucked the 2nd batch of brown banana, gooey mess into the trash can. So although these guys aren't anything fabulous, they sure tasted good and redeemed my failures just a little bit.

EDIT: Here's the recipe to these wonderful edibles courtesy of  Emeril Lagasse on the Food Network 

Basic Pate a Choux Dough for Profiteroles 

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup + 2 tbsp bread flour
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp confectioner's sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a heavy bottomed 1-quart saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a rolling boil. Remove from the heat and add the flour, all at once, to the pan and quickly stir vigorously to incorporate the flour into the liquid.

Return the pan to the stove, and over a medium-low heat, continue to cook and stir the dough over the fire. Do this until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Remove the dough from the saucepan, and place in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix the dough on low speed until the dough is cooled down to about 140 degrees F, which is still quite warm to the touch, but cool enough to prevent the eggs from cooking if added to the dough.

Raise the speed of the mixer to medium, and add 1 of the eggs to the dough and mix until completely incorporated. Continue adding the remaining eggs, 1 at a time, waiting until each egg is incorporated before adding the next egg.

Immediately transfer the dough to a piping bag with a large, round tip. Do not pipe them too closely together as they will need space to expand as they bake. Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake the eclairs for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F, and continue to bake the eclairs until they are dried out, about 22 minutes longer. Turn the oven off and remove the eclairs from the oven. Using the tip of a pairing knife, cut a small slit in the side of each eclair, near the bottom. Place the eclairs back on the baking sheet and place back in the oven, propping the oven door open so the eclairs can dry out as they cool, about 1 hour or until the oven is cool. They should just come right off the parchment paper when you're ready to fill them.

For the filling, I use 1 cup heavy whipping cream and add confectioner's sugar to taste (some like it sweeter, some don't) and about a 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. Beat until the cream forms soft peaks and pipe using the same pastry bag/Ziploc bag method (just cut the corner hole smaller). BF likes them really plain, but I like to jazz mine up with a glaze of chocolate if I'm serving them to guests/company. Just melt some milk/semi-sweet chocolate, add a dash of rum (yes, I did say rum) and vanilla extract and glaze to your heart's content.

Rise my minions!

Go out and conquer this world! *muahahahahaha*

I've got a pocket full of sunshine

Profiteroles with whipped cream

King of the World!