Chocolate Mint Profiteroles with Whipped Cream

Choux dough takes practice but this one’s forgiving—you’re literally just beating eggs into paste until it holds its shape, then the oven does the rest. The hard part is resisting the urge to open the door. Don’t.

Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Mint Profiteroles

Takes 1 hour 25 minutes total but most of it’s waiting around. Actually impressive for a dinner party—people lose their minds over these.

Mint whipped cream filling sits overnight so the flavor gets serious and the texture sets proper. Tastes better the next day, somehow.

The chocolate choux shells puff up twice their size. Hollow inside. That’s the whole trick, and once you get it it’s impossible to mess up.

Mint and dark chocolate aren’t trying too hard together—they just work. Cold cream, warm sauce, crispy puffs. Three textures doing exactly what they should.

What You Need for Mint Chocolate Choux Pastry

Mint Chantilly: 300 ml whipping cream—the 28% kind, not heavy cream. 30 g sugar. Fresh mint leaves, about eight or nine. A gram of agar-agar powder. Cold water, 12 ml.

Chocolate Choux: 70 ml water plus 50 ml whole milk. 35 g unsalted butter. 6 g sugar and a pinch of fine sea salt. 70 g all-purpose flour and 12 g natural cocoa powder—Dutch processed works, tastes less acidic. Three medium eggs.

Dark Chocolate Mint Sauce: 120 g bittersweet chocolate 65%, chopped small. 80 ml whole milk, 50 ml whipping cream, 20 g honey. Salt’s optional but it sharpens the chocolate edge.

The agar-agar stabilizes the whipped cream so it doesn’t weep or go grainy by the time you serve. You could skip it—mint whipped cream without agar turns soft fast, maybe four hours. Gelatin works too, two leaves, but bloom them right or you get specks.

How to Make Homemade Chocolate Choux Buns

Start with the mint chantilly because it needs time. Pour 160 ml of cream into a small saucepan with the sugar and mint. Watch it like you’re waiting for the exact moment it foams up—not boiling, just right under. Takes maybe 3 minutes. Pull it off heat the second it starts to rise. Cover the pan. Let the mint sit for eight minutes, no longer. Longer than that and the mint tastes bitter and dark instead of bright.

While that steeps, sprinkle the agar-agar over cold water in a tiny bowl. Just sit it there. It needs to hydrate fully or it won’t dissolve smooth when you heat it—six minutes minimum.

Warm the cream-mint mix again, just briefly, low heat. Whisk in the agar until there are no grains visible. Add the remaining 140 ml of cold cream. Pour it into a bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap pressed right against the cream. This matters—no air contact or you get a skin. Stick it in the fridge for at least five hours. Overnight is better.

Now the oven. 185°C. Middle rack.

In a heavy saucepan—this matters, thin pans scorch the bottom—combine water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring it near boiling. Butter dissolves, liquid gets smooth. Off heat immediately. Dump the flour and cocoa powder in all at once. Stir hard with a wooden spoon. It comes together into a paste fast, pulls away from the sides clean in about two minutes.

Put it back on medium heat and stir constantly—and I mean constantly—for four minutes. The dough dries slightly, develops a thin crust on the bottom of the pan. This step kills soggy insides later. Don’t rush it.

Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl. Wait five minutes so you don’t cook the eggs when you add them. Beat in the eggs one by one with a paddle attachment or wooden spoon. The first egg looks wrong, kind of broken and curdled. Don’t stop. Keep beating. By the third egg it’s glossy and thick, falls off the spoon in slow ribbons.

How to Get Chocolate Profiteroles Puffed and Crispy

Piping bag with a 1 cm star tip. Fill it. Pipe twelve mounds onto a parchment-lined tray, space them because they’ll expand. Brush each one lightly with beaten egg—sets a shine and color. Don’t oversaturate or the egg pools and sticks.

Bake 17 minutes at 185°C. The kitchen smells smoky and dark. That’s correct. Lower the temp to 175°C and bake another 18 minutes until the puffs are risen, the tops aren’t shiny anymore, and the undersides are rich brown. Not burnt. Brown.

Turn off the oven, crack the door open with a wooden spoon, leave them inside for 15 to 18 minutes. This dries them. This is where people fail. The impulse is to yank them out. Don’t. They deflate if you rush it.

Cool on a rack for 45 to 60 minutes until the shells are crisp all the way through. You want hollow inside, crispy shell. Tap one—it should sound a little empty.

Slice the tops off with a serrated knife. Keep the caps. They go back on.

Make the chocolate sauce while the puffs cool. Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Heat the milk, cream, honey, and salt in a saucepan until it’s just boiling. Pour it over the chocolate and wait 90 seconds before you touch it. Don’t stir yet. Whisk from the center out and the sauce becomes glossy and velvety. Keep it warm gently. Overheating kills the shine.

Chocolate Profiteroles for Entertaining—Tips and Assembly

Strain the chantilly through a fine sieve, press the mint leaves hard to squeeze out all the flavor. Discard what’s left. Whip it at medium speed to firm peaks but keep it soft—overwhipping turns it grainy and weird.

Transfer to a piping bag with a star nozzle. Generous dollops into each puff. Press the tops back on. Don’t squash the cream.

Arrange on plates, drizzle warm chocolate sauce over. Especially the edges for that drip effect.

Serve within an hour or they lose crispness. If you’re waiting longer, keep the chantilly separate and whipped in the fridge, rewhip briefly before filling.

Chocolate Mint Profiteroles with Whipped Cream

By Emma

Prep:

45 min

Cook:

40 min

Total:

1h 25min

Servings:

12 servings

Ingredients

• Mint Chantilly
• 300 ml 28% whipping cream
• 30 g (2 tbsp) sugar
• 8 g (1/4 cup loosely packed) fresh mint leaves
• 1 g agar-agar powder
• 12 ml (4 tsp) cold water
• Chocolate Choux
• 70 ml (1/3 cup) water
• 50 ml (2 tbsp plus 2 tsp) whole milk
• 35 g (2 1/2 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 6 g (1 tsp) sugar
• 1 small pinch fine sea salt
• 70 g (1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 12 g (1 tbsp) natural cocoa powder
• 3 medium eggs
• Chocolate Sauce
• 120 g (4 oz) bittersweet chocolate 65% chopped
• 80 ml (1/3 cup) whole milk
• 50 ml (3 tbsp plus 1 tsp) 28% whipping cream
• 20 g (1 tbsp plus 1 tsp) honey
• Optional: pinch fine sea salt

Method

1. Mint Chantilly
2. 1 Pour 160 ml cream with sugar and mint into small saucepan. Heat to just under boil—watch carefully, foam forms. Remove from heat immediately. Cover, steep mint 8 minutes max—too long turns bitter.
3. 2 Meanwhile, sprinkle agar-agar over cold water. Let it bloom fully, 6 minutes. Agar needs full hydration before melting.
4. 3 Rewarm cream-mint briefly on low heat. Whisk agar-agar into warm liquid till dissolved; no visible grains. Add remaining 140 ml cream cold. Pour into bowl. Cover surface tightly with plastic wrap to avoid skin. Chill minimum 5 hours (or overnight) to fully set flavor and texture.
5. Chocolate Choux
6. 4 Oven to 185°C (365°F)—hot enough for puff, not too fierce to burn. Middle rack best for even heat.
7. 5 In heavy saucepan, bring water, milk, butter, sugar, salt near boil. Butter melts, liquid smooth. Off heat, dump flour and cocoa instantly. Stir vigorously with wooden spoon till paste forms, pulls from sides clean, maybe 2-3 minutes. No lumps, glossy but thick.
8. 6 Back on medium heat, stir constantly to dry dough gently until it leaves thin crust on pan, about 4 minutes. Crucial step. Under-dried dough means soggy insides later.
9. 7 Transfer dough to mixing bowl. Let cool 5 minutes to avoid cooking eggs on contact. Using paddle or wooden spoon, beat in 3 eggs one by one. First may look curdled; keep beating till smooth after third. Final texture: thick but dropping slowly off spoon in ribbons.
10. 8 Fit piping bag with 1 cm star tip; fill with dough. Pipe 12 mounds spaced on parchment lined tray. Shiny mounds, even sizes.
11. 9 Lightly brush with beaten egg for glaze; sets color and shine. Don’t overload or egg pools.
12. 10 Bake 17 minutes at 185°C. Oven smell changes—smoky maybe, good sign. Then lower to 175°C (350°F), bake 18 more until puffed, tops less shiny, undersides rich brown but not burnt.
13. 11 Turn off oven, prop door open with wooden spoon or spatula; leave choux inside 15-18 minutes. Perfect drying. Don’t rush or they’ll deflate.
14. 12 Cool on rack 45-60 minutes minimum. Crisp shell but still hollow inside.
15. 13 Slice off tops gently with serrated knife; reserve caps for assembly.
16. Chocolate Sauce
17. 14 Chop chocolate into small pieces. Easy melt surface, even heat.
18. 15 Heat milk, cream, honey, optional sea salt in small saucepan till just boiling. Off heat, pour over chocolate; don’t stir first—let sit 90 seconds.
19. 16 Whisk smooth from center out. Sauce thickens glossy, velvety. Keep warm gently; over-heat dulls shine.
20. Assembly
21. 17 Strain chantilly through fine sieve into bowl, pressing mint leaves well to extract max flavor and break fibers. Discard solids. Whip chantilly at medium speed to firm peaks but still soft texture—overwhip turns grainy.
22. 18 Transfer chantilly into piping bag with star nozzle. Generous dollops into each puff. Press tops on carefully—don’t squash cream.
23. 19 Arrange profiteroles on plates, drizzle warm chocolate sauce over, especially edges for drip effect.
24. 20 Serve immediately or within hour. If waiting longer, chill chantilly separately, rewhip briefly before filling.
25. Tips and Fixes
26. 21 Oven inconsistent? Rotate trays halfway. Underpuffed? Dry dough more or oven hotter. Runny sauce? Add more chocolate or cool slightly. Whipped cream falling? Chill bowl and beaters well. No agar-agar? Use 2 leaves gelatin but flush them well to avoid texture loss.
27. 22 Substitutions: Mint can be basil or lemon balm for twist. Honey replaced with maple syrup. Milk can be lower fat but choux less tender then. Cocoa: Dutch processed for less acidity.

Nutritional information

Calories

320

Protein

6g

Carbs

25g

Fat

22g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Chocolate Mint Profiteroles

Can I make the choux pastry ahead? The baked shells? Yes. Store in an airtight container for a day, maybe two. They stay crisp. Unfilled only. Fill them the day you serve.

What if I don’t have agar-agar? Two gelatin leaves. Bloom them in cold water for five minutes, then stir into the warm cream. Works fine. Texture’s slightly different, a bit lighter, but the cream holds.

Why does my chocolate sauce break? Too hot, too fast. If it splits or gets grainy, start over. Add more chocolate or let it cool slightly before whisking. Heat kills it.

Should I chill the chantilly differently? The plastic wrap pressed against the surface matters. It stops oxidation and skin formation. Don’t skip it.

Can I use a different mint? Basil works. Lemon balm works. Fresh works, dried doesn’t—tastes dusty. Same deal: eight minutes steeping, no longer.

What if the puffs don’t puff? Either the dough was under-dried before eggs, or the oven isn’t hot enough. Next time, dry it the full four minutes and check your oven temp with a thermometer. They’re usually off.