Banoffee profiteroles recipe

Bananas and toffee are a match made in heaven! Use your ripest, brown bananas to fill these light and airy choux buns and then smother them with a sweet, sticky sauce for a dessert that's made to impress. These profiteroles do take a bit of time to make but the effort is definitely worth it - follow our easy, step-by-step process and you'll have a towering dessert to be proud of.

Ingredients

For the choux pastry:

• 60g butter
• 75g plain flour
• 2 medium eggs

For the toffee sauce: 

• 30g unsalted butter
• 90g light muscovado sugar
• 142-150ml carton double cream
• Few drops vanilla extract

For the filling:

• 3 ripe bananas
• 2tbsp caster sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 300ml carton whipping cream

You will need:

• Large piping bag fitted with 1cm plain piping tube
• Baking sheet, lined with baking parchment or non-stick liner

Method

1. Set the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7.
2. To make the pastry: Pour 150ml water into a pan and add the butter. Place the pan over a low heat until the butter melts and then increase the heat and bring the mixture to a rapid boil. Working quickly, remove pan from the heat and tip in the flour. Use a wooden spoon to beat the mixture well until it forms a ball and leaves the pan’s sides. Leave mixture to cool for at least 10 mins.
3. Gradually beat in eggs, beating well between each addition, to give a smooth, glossy paste.
4. Fill the piping bag with the mixture and pipe about 16-20 walnut-sized balls on to the baking sheet. Place it above the centre of the oven and bake for 15-20 mins until the buns have risen and are a pale golden colour. Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to Gas Mark 4 or 180°C. Pierce each bun with askewer to allow the steam to escape, then return to the oven for a further 5-10 mins until the buns are crisp. Transfer buns to a wire rack to cool.
5. To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the sugar and cream. Add the vanilla. Stir the mixture over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and simmer until it thickens to the desired consistency; remember it will thicken on cooling. Remove pan from heat and leave sauce to cool.
6. Cut the choux buns almost in half. Remove any soft mixture from the centres.
7. To make the filling: Mash the bananas with the sugar and lemon juice. Whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks and fold in the banana mixture. Fill the piping bag with the 8mixture and pipe in the buns.
8. Stack the choux buns on a serving plate and spoon over some of the sauce. Pour the rest of the sauce into a jug.