This is an edited extract from I’ll Bring Dessert by Benjamina Ebuehi, published by Quadrille. Available in stores nationally. Photography by Laura Edwards.

Cream puffs are a bit retro, but in the best way. My earliest memories of them involve supermarket versions which would be cold and dry with overwhipped cream, but I still loved them. The best bit was, and still is, warming up the chocolate sauce to pour on top. I like to do this at the table – this is a dessert that calls for as much drama as possible. Pile the cream puffs high on a platter and generously douse them in sauce. I’ll add a good sprinkle of toasty hazelnuts to finish and maybe even a sparkler or two if I’m feeling extra theatrical.

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS
For the cream puffs
90ml (3fl oz/6 Tbsp) water
90ml (3fl oz/6 Tbsp) milk
75g (2½oz/1/ 3 cup) salted butter
2 tsp caster (superfine) sugar
120g (4¼oz/scant 1 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
3 eggs, beaten

METHOD

1. Make the cream puff shells up to 2 days ahead and store in an airtight container. Crisp them up again in the oven for 5–10 minutes and let them cool before filling.

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan/ 350°F/gas mark 4). Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

3. Add the water, milk, butter and sugar to a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Tip in the flour all at once and mix quickly to get a thick dough. It will be lumpy at first but will eventually come together. Keep cooking and mixing the dough for about a minute to cook out the flour and then transfer it to a clean bowl to cool down a little.

4. Add the beaten eggs a little bit at a time, mixing well before adding some more. You can mix by hand or with an electric whisk. It will look lumpy and split at first but keep going and it will come together. Keep adding the egg until you have a glossy mixture that is still thick but drops slowly from the spoon – you may not need to add all the egg.

5. Spoon the dough into a piping (pastry) bag and snip off the end. Pipe blobs of choux pastry about 2.5cm (1in) wide, leaving about a 1-cm (½-in) gap between them. Gently brush the tops with any remaining beaten egg and bake for 25–30 minutes until they are well risen and deeply browned.

6. Once baked, use a skewer to pierce the bottoms to allow steam to escape and place them upside down. Let them cool for 20 minutes in the oven to dry out a bit.

INGREDIENTS
For the filling
400ml (14fl oz/1¾ cups) double (heavy) cream
70g malted milk powder (such as Horlicks; not instant)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 Tbsp icing (confectioners’) sugar
1 Tbsp milk

For the chocolate sauce
150g (5½oz) dark chocolate, roughly chopped
250ml (9fl oz/generous 1 cup) water
80g (2¾oz/generous 1/ 3 cup) light brown sugar
½ tsp flaky sea salt
50ml (2fl oz/3½ Tbsp) double (heavy) cream

To finish
A handful of toasted hazelnuts, chopped

METHOD

1. To make the filling, add the cream, malted milk powder, vanilla, icing sugar and milk to a bowl. Give it a mix to help the powder start dissolving and then whisk until you have soft peaks. Set aside in the fridge to chill until needed.

2. To make the chocolate sauce, add everything except the cream to a small saucepan and heat gently to melt the chocolate. Bring to the boil and stir frequently. After 2–3 minutes or so the chocolate will thicken and become smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream. Set aside to cool a little.

3. Split the cooled cream puffs in half, not quite cutting all the way through, and fill with some of the malted cream.

4. When you’re ready to serve, pile up the filled cream puffs on a platter. Pour the chocolate sauce on top and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts.