Pumpkin Custard Profiteroles With Maple Caramel

I've reviewed this dish in the past, but having made it a few more times, and worked with the recipe, here's the thing, this dish is more than the sum of its parts. The cream puff recipe - it's a cream puff. It's nothing special. If you have a tried and true recipe for them, go with that. The custard recipe - again, nothing special. Yes, it is essentially pumpkin pie filling. It's drastically under-salted and over-spiced, and very rich for some peoples tastes. It also makes about twice the quantity necessary. If you've made a pumpkin custard that you enjoy, use that recipe. Or a sweet potato custard recipe would also be lovely. I've even replaced the custard with pumpkin ice cream to excellent reviews, the one drawback to that is it has to be served and eaten immediately. The part of this recipe that knocks the whole thing out of the park is the caramel. Don't skip it. It takes the whole thing to another level. If maple sugar is not in your budget, use real maple syrup and reduce it. If you can't have the alcohol, or want it kid-friendly, it works even without the booze. But without the caramel, you're left with a pedestrian dessert. I also prefer to make these small, and not large - which makes them great for potlucks and buffets. And I top them with chopped pecans that are browned until fragrant, and lightly salted. Every time I've served them, they've disappeared.

• kcristeen

• Oakland, CA

• 8/22/2018

Really really good and a lighter and more unexpected alternative to pumpkin pie. Thanks to everyone who commented below, the replacement for maple sugar works great (1c brwn sugar + 1/4c real maple syrup), and agree with 1.5x the spices.

• demarcate

• Brooklyn, NY

• 10/1/2012

Made these as my non-traditional Thanksgiving dessert. I'm very happy that we other desserts and these were not the sole offering. I have made profiteroles several times in the past. I made these the first time from this recipe. The dough came together fine but the cook time/temperature were way off. I burned the first batch (and my oven is calibrated). The second batch I went with my tried-and-true recipe and they came out fine. The custard came together easily but water baths are a pain. It cooked an additional 15-20 minutes to reach done (and probably could have gone longer). The custard was unappealing to look at. It tasted overly allspiced, weak on the pumpkin, and generally kinda nasty. I did not make the caramel sauce so cannot review it. I will not make these again.

• fidgets1

• Seattle, Wa

• 11/25/2011

These were indeed tasty, but the pumpkin custard, in my opinion, is far too rich and lacked substantial pumpkin flavor. As others have mentioned, the recipe makes way more custard than is needed. We ended up throwing the remainders out because we didn't really care for the taste of it (which says a lot since we are pumpkin and dessert lovers!) If I were to make it again, I would make a standard pumpkin pie filling and use that to fill the profiteroles.

• Anonymous

• Pittsburgh, PA

• 11/23/2011

这为我们的晚餐俱乐部与加拿大ksgiving theme and it was well received. Made following adjustments. 1) Definitely only need to make 1/2 of the custard. Agree with doubling spices as it would have been bland. Disagree with previous review that this is just like pumpkin pie; it's much creamier due to the heavy cream. 2) Used the Maple sugar recipe as suggested and had a mild maple flavor. Used Grand Marnier instead of bourbon. Would use salted butter or add some sea salt to seson the caramel as this was definitely lacking. Skipped the whipped cream as I felt there were enough elements already. Overall this is was a nice alternative to pumpkin pie and much more elegant. Will make again.

• Anonymous

• Encinitas, CA

• 10/17/2011

This ALWAYS gets raves, and someone always asks for the recipe. I love that it can be made ahead in the busy holiday framework. It is a showy and elegant, texturally interesting, spectacularly tasty end to Thanksgiving dinner.

• Anonymous

• Ohio

• 2/17/2011

best thing ever.

• mollymullane

• los angeles

• 11/25/2010

Puffs turned out well, I watched them as other reviewers suggested. Had some major problems with the custard. In spite of the water bath, it dried and cracked in less than the full amount of time. Figured it was already a bit of a lost cause, and tried adding some whippped cream as some other reviewers suggested. It was not salvaged. Ended up filling with some store-bought pudding instead. So disappointing!

• Anonymous

• Washington, DC

• 11/15/2010

Delicious and pretty. Followed the recipe to a "T" and made everything the day before, except for the whipped cream topping. For a party, when you are short on time, you can fill the profiteroles just before guests arrive, refrigerate them, and then at dessert time drizzle the caramel sauce and top with the whipped cream and pecans.

• Anonymous

• Winnetka, IL

• 12/13/2009

Oh my dear god, these are amazing! Very time consuming but so, so worth it. The only issue I had is that the oven time on the profiteroles was too long. They ended up way too dark, but they taste fine. It could be an oven specific issue...convection oven might have helped.

• steetie

• 11/30/2009

This recipe is just obviously not for everyone. My family did not like it. My guests were polite but I noticed they didnt clean their plates and the biggest hit of Thanksgiving were the pavlovas I made with the left over egg whites from the custard! The pumpkin custard tasted exactly like pumpkin pie filling, was dense, a little grainy and not the light custard I thought it would / should be. My 1st batch of profiteroles burned on the bottom a little after 25mins at 375 so I would reduce the time somewhat, or I would revert back to my tried and tested choux recipe which uses less eggs anyway. I did not buy maple sugar so used brown sugar with maple syrup and changed the bourbon to brandy. My final take on this is use a patisserie cream or plain whipped cream filling, easier, less expensive and a better, more popular result.

• aftersixpence

• Los Angeles

• 11/27/2009

我想要一些Thanksgi有点不同ving dessert and these were fantastic! The pastry comes out light and buttery and as many others have said, the custard is wonderful on its own. I had to make just a few changes though. Like many other reviewers, I didn't want to buy maple sugar so I followed the suggestion from the Joy of Baking and just used 3/4 cup granulated white sugar plus 1 teaspoon pure maple extract for every 1/2 cup of maple sugar needed. I just whisked it together and made the recipe for the syrup as written and it came out really well. Although I thought the bourbon flavor was a bit too strong for my taste so I ended up making another batch and just used 1 tsp. of maple extract and it had a great flavor. I also used a piping bag to pipe out the pastry and it saved me tons of time since the dough is quite sticky. I actually completely underestimated how much these things grow in the oven! So I doubled the recipe and came out with about 25 extra large pastries, but I'm going to freeze the extras and i'll have them on hand for another time. I also suggest using a pastry bag to add the filling to the pastries. It saves time and its easy since they are so light and airy, there is plenty of room to fill them. I just used the back of my honey dropper (or a chop stick, straw, etc would work) to make a hole large enough for the tip of my pastry bag and it went much quicker than slicing them all and spooning in the filling. Plus it makes them easier to eat. Overall a really easy recipe, just plan ahead and make it in steps to save time.

• Caallie2328

• 11/26/2009

I made these for Fat Tuesday and they were awesome. The pumpkin custard is excellent with the caramel. The custard recipe definitely makes more filling than you'll be able to use with the profiteroles. I made double the profiteroles, but ran out of custard filling with the second batch so I just made a cream filling (heavy cream, confectioners sugar, vanilla extract whipped together) for the remainder.

• Twohearted

• 2/28/2009

I wanted to make Pate a Choux with a really light custard filling. I still haven't found one that I like yet, but I stumble upon this recipe and thought I'd try it out. I personally do not really sweet desserts...I made the Pumpkin custard as it calls, but I whipped additional whip cream and folded it in after. It made it so light and I think it's how its suppose to taste. If you plan to just use the custard alone, I think its just pumpkin pie filling. I did double the Profiteroles, but I think I need to make a third batch to use the rest of the filling. I will definitely make this again. I recommend you try this out.

• rtheidler

• Orange, CA

• 2/21/2009

OK, coming from a tried and true pumpkin lover, this was absolutely phenomenal!!! I agree, there was too much custard to fill all the puffs, but believe me, it didn't go to waste!!! Would absolutely make this 1000 times over!!

• roseme

• Centennial,CO

• 2/14/2009