Project P

This is not the famous Indonesian band nor is it the ISM’s new international students welcoming project at Federation Square earlier this month. It is Project Profiteroles by bakingbee. Profiteroles are known as “kue soes” here in Indonesia. It has been one of my favourite desserts since I was little. The combination of the choux pastry and rum-lavished smooth crème patisserie tantalize your every taste bud and give you the heavenly sensation.

I first learnt making it around 5 years ago. At that time, a cousin of mine was craving for it, but the profiteroles we found in Melbourne were not exactly the same as the ones we had back home. So, armed with recipes from my mom, I braced myself to make them as her birthday cake. Come to think of it, it was a risky move, mainly because I’d never made them before!! Thank God the whole process went well. The choux pastry puffed up nicely, the pastry cream was also nice. However, when I tried making it for mom back home, it turned out to be catastrophic. Instead of puffing up nicely, the choux formed a blob of eggy substance. Ew! Since then, I’ve never touched that recipe anymore.

Still curious with the whole thing, I went to Borders to equip myself with the “how to make a perfect choux pastry” tips. *thank you Borders!!*I then tried another recipe and this time, the choux was perfect! They puffed up nicely; the outer bit is crispy while the inside is hollow. The crème was very smooth too! Whee! B was happy. That particular recipe then went straight to my recipe book. It has never failed me in making puffed up profiteroles ever since.

Today, I finally got to make it again. Well, here’s the long story. Mom wanted to try her old recipe, the one that I used to make my very first “kue soes”. I told her that I haven’t used that recipe for so long because my new recipe yields better choux pastry. We decided to go on with the old recipe, mainly because she’s still curious. Believe it or not, it turned out so messy! The dough doesn’t firm up at all. I was so upset and annoyed to the point that I wanted to throw away the dough! You see, the pastry dough was runny, and i’m 100% sure if I went on and put it in the oven, it would turn out to be the eggy blob again!!! >.<” Not happy! I’m pretty sure there was something wrong with that recipe. I suspect that the old recipe used “kampong/ cage-free egg”. Kampong eggs are smaller; they have big yolks and small egg white. When I first made it, I used caged egg too. But Melbourne’s caged egg also has big yolk! Unlike those found in Indo.

Step 1: Butter, water, salt

Step 2: Beat in the flour

We decided to adjust it to resemble my new recipe. Even then, I was still unsure of the success rate of this dough because when I put them into the oven, they immediately flatten down to form a blob! Surprise surprise! In 15 minutes, they puffed up nicely! And they don’t flatten down after I took them out of the oven. Yay!!!

Step 3: Eggs in


Step 4: Freshly baked. Big ones

The rest of the dough was put in little cups to prevent it going everywhere. They’re über cute when they puffed up. When you look closely, some of them do resemble mushrooms! X) hehee.....

Mini ones

Here they are... Enjoy!!

Profiteroles aka Kue Soes aka Cream Puff