Profiteroles

Preheat the oven to 200 °C (top/bottom heat) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Bring water, 60 ml of milk, 50 g of butter, a pinch of salt and 1 tsp sugar to a brief boil in a saucepan.

Add 70 g of flour all at once and immediately stir vigorously with a wooden spoon.

Continue stirring over medium heat until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the bottom of the pan, and a whitish film appears on the bottom.

Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the dough to a bowl.

Let the dough cool for a few minutes until it's only warm.

Beat in the eggs one at a time: fully incorporate each egg before adding the next.

Fill a piping bag fitted with a star tip with the choux dough, pipe rosettes onto the tray and place in the oven.

Bake at 200 °C and do not open the oven door while baking.

After baking, turn off the oven and let the profiteroles dry briefly in the warm oven with the door slightly open.

Remove the profiteroles and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

For the cream, bring 200 ml of milk with the vanilla sugar, lemon zest and a pinch of salt to a boil.

In a bowl whisk 50 ml of milk with 2 egg yolks, 60 g of sugar and 30 g of flour until smooth.

Pour the boiling milk into the egg mixture while stirring, then return everything to the pan and cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the cream thickens.

Transfer the cream to a bowl and let it cool, stirring occasionally.

Fill the cooled cream into a piping bag and fill the profiteroles through a small hole in the bottom.

Arrange the filled profiteroles into a pyramid on a serving plate.

For the glaze, melt 100 g of butter with the bittersweet couverture in a saucepan and stir until smooth.

Coat the profiteroles with the chocolate glaze and, if desired, decorate with whipped cream rosettes.

Chill until ready to serve.