Pastry Chef Molly Hanson of Excelsior and Grill 23-Boston, MA
Adapted by StarChefs.com
November 2006

Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients:

Pâte à Choux:
• 1 cup water
• 4 ounces butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 4 large eggs
  
  Peppermint Ice Cream:
• 3 cups milk
• 3 cups cream
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 Tablespoon peppermint extract
• 12 ounces Starlight Mints, crushed
  
  To Assemble:
• Chocolate sauce, as needed

Method:

For the Pâte à Choux:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Bring the water, butter, salt and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the flour to the pan and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan until the dough pulls away from sides, or about 2 minutes. Transfer the dough to a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until the steam starts to subside. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until dough comes together. Quickly transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a ½ inch-round tip. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper and pipe the dough into quarter-sized mounds, spacing them about 1” apart. Bake the pâte a choux in the oven until golden brown, about 30–40 minutes.

For the Peppermint Ice Cream:
Bring milk, cream, and sugar to a simmer. Whip yolks until pale and slowly temper in the hot liquid. Return to the stove and cook until the yolks coagulate. Strain and chill over an ice bath before adding the extract. Freeze in an ice cream machine and quickly fold in the crushed mints. Store in the freezer until pâte à choux is cool and ready to fill.

To Assemble:
Slice the cooled pâte à choux in half horizontally and fill with a scoop of Peppermint Ice Cream. Serve with chocolate sauce.