Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

For the crème patisserie, place the cream, Vanilla Paste and 1 tbsp of the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan and slowly bring to a boil. Whisk the eggs and the remaining sugar in a separate heatproof bowl until pale and frothy, then mix in the sifted cornflour a third at a time until well combined.

Temper the egg mixture by gradually whisking in a third of the hot milk mixture, whisking constantly and quickly so that the eggs do not curdle. Add the remaining milk to the egg mixture, then pour everything back into the saucepan and continue whisking over low heat until the crème patisserie is smooth and thick. (If the mixture starts to curdle, quickly put the pot in a basin of ice-cold water and whisk vigorously!) Remove from the heat and place some cling film directly on the crème patisserie to prevent a skin from forming.

Allow to cool before placing in the fridge.

Prepare the choux pastry dough and spoon into a piping bag fitted with a medium-sized nozzle. Pipe choux buns onto the baking tray, about the size of a walnut, keeping enough space between them to allow for expansion. Use a wet finger to flatten any points on top.

Bake in the oven until they are puffed and are golden brown, about 15 mins, then remove from the oven and place on wire racks to cool.

When you are ready to fill the buns, fill a piping bag fitted with a small pointy nozzle with some crème patisserie. Use the tip of the nozzle to pierce the choux buns and pipe in the crème patisserie.

For the ganache, place the cream and chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water and gently heat, stirring occasionally, until all the chocolate has melted. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chilled butter. Dip the top of the buns into the ganache and allow to set before serving at room temperature.

Tips: The choux buns can be made well ahead of time and kept in the freezer. The creme patisserie can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Flavour variations:

Pistachio crème patisserie dipped into white ganache – For the filling, simply add 100 g finely ground unsalted pistachio nuts into the crème patisserie. Dip the filled profiteroles into white chocolate ganache and top with chopped pistachios.

Vanilla cream and passion fruit dusted with confectioner’s sugar – Fold 1 cup whipped cream into 1 cup crème patisserie with the pulp of 3 passion fruit. Fill the profiteroles and dust with icing sugar.