Profiteroles with raspberries

Time: About 45 minutes • Yield: 12 to 15 profiteroles

By Mark Bittman

Because profiteroles are served with a degree of fanfare in restaurants, you might not think of making them at home. Which is a shame; they’re easy and quite a bit of fun, even for a novice. I know this because I made them as a novice, with a recipe much like this one, and I experienced success, elation and praise.

They’re made from choux pastry, the concoction used for eclairs, cream puffs and gougeres. It’s butter, water, flour and eggs, cooked briefly on the stove, whisked until your arm hurts, then baked until puffed and golden brown.

You heat butter in water until it melts, add flour, then mix until the batter comes together into a ball, like magic. Then you cool the batter and add eggs one at a time, which is real work, because incorporating them takes elbow grease. Each egg will cause the batter to come apart, and you’re forced to stir until it comes back together. Finally, you have a smooth, thick and creamy paste.

At that point, you pipe or spoon little mounds onto a baking sheet; these will puff up, leaving nice air holes in their center. Cut the profiteroles in half around the equator, then fill with ice cream, sorbet or whipped cream. Many restaurants serve a sauce akin to Hershey’s syrup, which I can do without; I like a simple fruit puree. Definitely less restaurant-like, and more of what I want from a great dessert made at home.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/8 teaspoon salt

 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 large eggs

1 pint raspberries

1 pint ice cream or sorbet

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees; line baking sheet with parchment paper. Put butter in saucepan with salt and  3/4 cup water; bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until butter is melted. Reduce heat to medium, add flour; continue to cook, stirring constantly, until mixture pulls away from side of pan and forms ball, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Let cool for 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add eggs to slightly cooled flour mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition — the batter will reunite as you stir. Transfer batter to resealable plastic bag or pastry bag and make  1/2-inch cut in one corner. Pipe mounds about 1 inch high and 1 to 2 inches round onto prepared baking sheet, spaced 1 inch apart.

3. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and pierce the bottom of each profiterole once with a skewer to keep them from getting soggy. Return to oven; prop oven door open with a wooden spoon to let the profiteroles crisp for about 3 minutes. Cool on sheet on a rack.

4. Put the raspberries in food processor along with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water. Puree berries, adding a bit of water through the feed tube if needed to create a pourable drizzle. To serve, use serrated knife to slice each profiterole in half around the equator, fill with a scoop of ice cream or sorbet, and drizzle with the raspberry puree.

Mark Bittman writes for the New York Times News Service.

Cocoa-mango upside-down cake

Start to finish: 1 hour 5 minutes (25 minutes active) • Servings: 8

By Jim Romanoff

Upside-down cakes are the baking world’s unexpected whimsy. Build everything from the bottom up and give it a flip before serving.

This cocoa-mango upside-down cake combines the winning flavors of ginger-tinged chocolate with a tropical layer of brightly colored mango. Decorating the edges with some chopped macadamia nuts adds a beautiful and simple garnish.

1 medium mango

 1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey or corn syrup

2 tablespoons butter

 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

 3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

 1/4 teaspoon salt

 3/4 cup buttermilk

 1/4 cup canola oil

1 large egg

 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 1/4 cup apricot preserves, strained

2 tablespoon chopped macadamia nuts or almonds

Place rack in lower third of oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Set baking sheet on bottom of oven to catch any drips.

With a paring knife or sharp vegetable peeler, remove skin from mango. Slice along flat central pit to remove flesh from each side in one large piece. Cut each piece lengthwise into long, thin slices. Set aside.

In small saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, honey or corn syrup, and butter. Stir until mixture is bubbling. Immediately pour into 8-inch round cake pan, spreading evenly over bottom. Arrange slices of mango in spiral pattern over sugar-butter mixture.

Set mesh strainer over large bowl. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, ginger and salt, then sift into bowl. Add buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla. Using electric mixer, beat mixture on low until combined. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes longer.

Pour batter over mango. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted at center of cake comes out clean. Run knife around edge of cake to release it. Invert serving plate over cake. Turn both cake and plate over again, letting cake fall onto the plate. Replace any fruit that sticks to pan.

In small saucepan, heat preserves until bubbling. Brush over top of cake. Sprinkle chopped nuts around edge of cake to garnish.

Jim Romanoff writes about food for the Associated Press.