Steps

• I pour the water, milk, sugar, and butter into the saucepan. I bring it to low heat and melt the butter, then add the flour all at once and mix well with a ladle or spatula. The dough is ready when a white film forms on the bottom of the saucepan. I remove the saucepan from the heat and put the dough in a bowl to cool.

  I add the eggs one at a time, working the mixture well. Each egg should only be added after the previous one is fully absorbed. The choux pastry is ready, and I fill the piping bag fitted with a 12mm plain nozzle. I line the baking sheet with parchment paper or a micro-perforated silicone mat and pipe the puffs, about 1.5 inches in diameter, spacing them well apart. I bake in a preheated oven at 392°F (200°C) convection mode for 25 minutes, then lower the temperature to 356°F (180°C) and bake for another 5 minutes. The puffs are ready; once cooled, I fill them.

• At least an hour before starting the recipe, I put the bowl and beaters in the freezer. Then I pour the cream into the now well-chilled bowl with the vanilla seeds, and using an electric whisk at low speed, I start whipping the cream while slowly adding the powdered sugar. The cream is ready when it doesn’t drip when the bowl is inverted.

• I chop the chocolate into pieces and set it aside. In the saucepan, I bring the cream, water, and sugar to a boil. I remove from heat and add the chocolate pieces, stirring well with a whisk to melt it completely and obtain a smooth, shiny glaze. The glaze needs to cool thoroughly before glazing the puffs; otherwise, it will slide off and not adhere well.

• Now let’s assemble our chocolate profiteroles. I put the chantilly cream in a piping bag and start filling the puffs. I dip the puffs in the chocolate glaze and use two forks to place them on a rack to drain, to avoid excessively dirtying the serving plate. I begin arranging the puffs on a plate in a pyramid shape and finally decorate with some whipped cream tufts.