Recipe: Profiteroles (cream puffs) and Ice Cream in Hot Fudge Sauce

PROFITEROLES AND VANILLA ICE CREAM IN HOT FUDGE SAUCE 5 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing baking sheets 1 tablespoon sugar 1 cup club soda or water Salt 1 cup flour 5 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 pint vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt Hot fudge sauce Bring butter, sugar, club soda and pinch salt to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and briskly beat in flour until mixture forms mass. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until film forms on bottom of pan, about 1 minute. Put hot dough in food processor fitted with metal blade and let rest 5 minutes. Turn processor on and add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, until dough is smooth. Add vanilla and pulse 1 second. Grease 2 baking sheets, sprinkle with water and shake off excess. (Note: Steam that develops during baking keeps puffs from sticking.) Transfer dough to pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch tube and squeeze 1 1/4-inch rounds onto baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Or use 2 tablespoonsto form puffs. Whisk remaining egg with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Use finger to dab glazeonto puffs, smoothing out uneven edges. Bake at 400 degrees until browned, about 25 minutes. (Note: Rotate baking sheets on rack if puffs are baking unevenly). Turn off oven and let puffs rest in oven 15 minutes to dry out and crisp up. Transfer to rack to cool. (Note: Puffs can be baked ahead and kept in paper bag at room temperature for 1 day or frozen up to 1 month, wrapped airtight. Toreheat, bake, uncovered, in single layer on baking sheet at 300 degrees until just warm, about 5 minutes. If reheated when still frozen, bake slightly longer, 7 to 8 minutes.) Cream puffs should be just warm when filled. Split each puff, remove soft, doughy center, and fill bottom half with ice cream. Put topback on puff and serve with hot fudge sauce. 20 cream puffs. Each puff, with 1 1/2 tablespoons ice cream and 1 teaspoon fudge sauce: 116 calories; 244 mg sodium; 67 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 0.18 gram fiber. * Mirrored window shutter from Biaggio's Evergreen Co., Los Angeles; serving bowl and platter available by special order from Tesoro, Beverly Hills. - - -Mandel Is a Cookbook Author. Her Latest Book Is "Celebrating the Midwestern Table" (Doubleday & Co., 1996)Copyright Los Angeles Times