Super Bowl can be a tricky thing to bake for. It’s a day of gluttony, with more warm, cheesy appetizers, heavy sports food, and beer than you actually want to consume in one sitting, but you do anyways because it’s always placed directly in front of the TV you can’t walk away from.

For my main course, I’m serving buffalo chicken sliders and a caesar salad, which fits pretty solidly into the category of food I just described. So when thinking about dessert, I wanted something that was easy to eat with your hands, but managed to be at least a little bit on the light side. At the same time, I don’t want to deprive the people of their gluttonous day, so working in some kind of alcohol seemed like a good idea.

That’s when I found Beer Profiteroles in my Boozy Baker cookbook. I have looked at this recipe so many times, and every time I do, I wonder how I haven’t made it yet. It has all of the things I want: light pastry, ice cream, and chocolate.So this weekend I decided to go for it.

And quickly realized why I always flip past it – it’s quite time consuming. Fortunately, I was looking for recipes 3 days in advance (a rare thing for me), and decided I finally had the time.

A lot of this recipe could be substituted for store-bought pieces if you’re short on time. You could buy ice cream instead of make it, find some kind of puff pastry instead of bake it yourself, get your own chocolate sauce (though I’m not sure you could find any flavored with beer…). I had the time, and the captive audience of my blog to write to, motivating my own decisions.

First, start with the ice cream. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook the heavy cream and milk, stirring constantly, until barely simmering. This means steam is rising from the surface and small bubbles are just forming at the edges.Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the egg yolks, sugar, and salt until pale yellow and thick. Here, it really helps to have pale yellow mixing bowls – when the yolks match the bowl, you’re done!

Next, slowly pour 1/4 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, to temper the eggs.Pour the egg mixture into the cream mixture and return to medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 6 minutes or until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl, and whisk in the vanilla extract and stout. I used Left Hand Milk Stout for no other reason than it was in my fridge – a chocolate stout or oatmeal stout would also be really good. Refrigerate the batter for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight. I think mine was for 6ish hours, if that matters to you.

Using your ice cream maker (sorry, no other way on this one), churn for 20 to 30 minutes until desired consistency. Put into airtight container and freeze. Next part: the profiteroles. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter, and salt. Bring to a boil and quickly remove from heat. Stir in the flour until it comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly.Beat in the eggs, using a hand mixer, one at a time to incorporate. Spoon batter into a large ziploc bag and cut off one corner.Squeeze 12 mounds of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.Bake at 425°F for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn off heat and crack oven door, allowing profiteroles to rest for 5 minutes in the oven.Remove from oven and prick each with a toothpick to allow steam to escape.Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Final step: the Beer Chocolate Sauce.

Now, I’ve made a lot of chocolate sauces in my day, and tried a lot of different techniques: the double boiler, the microwave, the super low heat and stir constantly. But this one was new: heat the cream and pour over the chocolate to melt. I think I’ve found my new favorite.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the heavy cream and sugar and cook until just simmering, stirring occasionally.Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl, and stir until smooth.So easy! to make it beer chocolate, just stir in the beer to incorporate.Full disclosure: I have not yet actually assembled the final product. But I have sampled each of the pieces and found them to be wonderful, which obviously means together they’ll be even better.

I did, however, assemble the ice cream sandwich portion (because we all know I won’t be doing any work once the game’s on), which is the exciting part. Just cut each puff pastry in half crosswise, scoop in some ice cream, and top with the other half.When you’re actually about to serve, drizzle the chocolate sauce over the top.

I’m planning on having zero leftovers, so have no good storage tips for you, but I’d assume you could freeze them at this stage and be OK.

Enjoy!

Beer Profiteroles

Ingredients:

Beer Ice Cream

• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup stout or other dark beer

Profiteroles

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3 eggs

Chocolate Beer Sauce

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons stout

Directions:

Ice Cream

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the heavy cream and milk, stirring constantly, until barely simmering. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat egg yolks, sugar, and salt until pale yellow and thick.
3. Slowly add 1/4 cup of hot cream mixture to egg mixture, whisking constantly, to temper the eggs.
4. Pour egg mixture into cream mixture and return to medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 to 6 minutes or until thickens and coats a wooden spoon.
5. Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in vanilla extract and beer.
6. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to overnight.
7. Pour into an ice cream maker, churning for 20 to 30 minutes or until desired consistency. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze.

Profiteroles

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, whole milk, butter, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and remove immediately from heat.
2. Stir in flour until forms a ball and pulls away from sides of bowl.
3. Transfer dough to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly.
4. Using a hand mixer, beat in the eggs, one at a time, to incorporate.
5. Spoon mixture into a large ziploc bag and cut the corner. Squeeze 12 mounds of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes or until golden. Turn off heat and crack open oven door slightly, allowing profiteroles to rest for 5 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and prick each with a toothpick to release steam. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Beer Sauce

1. Put chopped chocolate in a medium, heatproof bowl.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat heavy cream and sugar, stirring occasionally, until just simmering.
3. Pour hot cream over chocolate and stir until chocolate melts.
4. Stir in beer to combine.
5. To assemble dessert, cut profiteroles in half crosswise. Scoop beer ice cream onto bottom half and top with other half. Drizzle with chocolate sauce.