Salted Caramel Ice Cream Profiterole

I've been thinking a lot about adding a little member to our household lately. A four legged member specifically. Although in my deepest heart I know that I travel too much to give a dog a proper home, it doesn't stop me from pining for one.

I've even started thinking of names for my dream dog. We were driving in the car with Louise and Viggo and giving them directions when I said "Oh just chuck a u-ey over there." "Chuck a u-ey" needs no introduction to Australians but to the rest of the world, it means to make a U Turn while driving. And yes it makes sense to us but it makes no sense whatsoever to non Australians. When I met my American "mum" Barbara from Barbara Bakes in Texas last year she was truly perplexed by some of our Australian sayings.

"Chuckauey would be a great name for a dog!" I exclaimed. After all it rolled off my tongue easily and when you're calling a dog, you literally want it to turn around and come back to you. Plus it is one of those Australian terms that I regard with huge affection and if you had a dog and were overseas, hey it's a good way to find the fellow Aussies among you no?

My other names for my imaginary dog are more food related. They range from caramel, banh mi, bacon to profiterole (okay "Sookie!" from True Blood snuck in there too but only if I could yell it out in the way that Bill does). It was when I was drifting about in my daydreams that I thought that I could make something delicious using the caramels and profiteroles.

The only thing is that I'm a bit lazy at times and making profiteroles is a bit of a production. So I sought an easy escape from it all and used two bought items: a Woolworths Gold Salted Caramel and Fudge Ice Cream and the Woolworths Gold Salted Caramel Dessert sauce.

The ice cream is part of their new ice cream range. I adore ice cream filled profiteroles especially in hot weather. The ice cream features a snaking river of salted caramel sauce with tiny cubes of caramel fudge generously throughout. It is made with sea salt, fresh cream and full cream milk and is rich and indulgent. I loved the generous amount of fudge chunks and the creamy rich texture.

The salted caramel dessert sauce is a firm favourite here. After I made the salted caramel tiramisu I became slightly addicted to keeping a jar in the pantry and fridge. And yes Dear Reader, this is one of those items that I get a bit pushy for you to make. It's easy enough because you're just making the choux but the reward is great when the crisp profiterole meets the rich, palate sticking sauce and fudgey ice cream. Even pastry apathetic Mr NQN wolfed it down murmuring about how good it was.

Do you think Salted Caramel Ice Cream Profiterole is too long a name for a dog? Perhaps!

So tell me Dear Reader, are you still on board the salted caramel trend? And if you could name a pet after your favourite food and first street name what would it be called? Mine would be "Bacon Alma"!

Giant Salted Caramel Ice Cream Profiteroles

An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella

Preparation time:

Makes 4 large profiteroles

Choux pastry buns:

• Water 80g/2.82 fl ozs
• Milk 100g/3.5 fl ozs
• Sugar 5g/0.17 oz
• Salt 5g/0.17 oz
• Butter 75g/2.65 ozs
• Flour 100g/3.5 ozs
• 3 eggs

To fill:

• 500ml tub Woolworths Gold Salted Caramel and Fudge Ice Cream
• Half a jar of Woolworths Gold Salted Caramel Dessert Sauce

Step 1 - Make choux puffs. Preheat the oven to 210C/410C. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Combine the butter with water, sugar, milk & salt in a large heavy-based saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and using a wooden spoon quickly beat in the flour. Return to the heat and continue beating until the mixture comes together and leaves the side of the pan. I always find this bit a bit magic and love watching it happen. Cook, beating over low heat for 1-2 minutes to cook flour. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly for about 5 minutes.

Step 2 - Transfer to the bowl of a mixer. Beat the mixture to release any more heat. Gradually add the eggs, one at a time making sure that they're well combined between additions. Beat until the mixture is thick, glossy and smooth.

Step 3 - Spoon the choux mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large plain nozzle or usually I just snip the bottom of a plastic piping bag and use it without a tip. Pipe mixture onto tray in a spiral starting at the centre. You want it to be about 8-9cms (about 3.5 inches) in diameter. Then pipe another log of choux pastry on top of the original spiral between the dips. Repeat with the rest of the pastry to form four large profiteroles.

Step 4 - Bake for 15 minutes and then turn the heat down to 180C/350F and bake for a further 20-25 minutes. Once it is baked, prick small holes in the pastry with a skewer to release the steam and return to the oven to completely dry out for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to completely cool - it shouldn't take long and you can slice it in half horizontally to speed up the cooling process.

Step 5 - Meanwhile, scoop out three small or two large scoops of ice cream per profiterole and place in the freezer until needed. Heat up the salted caramel just before serving. These are best assembled just before serving as the ice cream will melt. Serve with warm salted caramel sauce either on top or on the side so that guests can help themselves.

Tip: You can bake the profiteroles ahead of time and freeze them. Defrost them on the benchtop and crisp them up in a 180C/350F oven for 5 minutes.