Directions

• INSTRUCTIONS
• For the Milk tart filling
• Place milk and cinnamon stick into a pot or microwave dish.
• Bring to the boil then discard cinnamon stick.
• Whisk together eggs, flour, sugar, corn flour and vanilla
• Pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking continuously
• Return milk mixture to the pot and cook on medium heat until thickened
• Stir through a spoonful of butter.
• To make the profiteroles
• Preheat your oven to 200C.
• Heat the water and milk in a medium-sized pot and add the butter. Bring it to a boil and then remove from the heat and immediately add the flour. Beat until well with a wooden spoon until combined and cook this for a further 2 minutes stirring continuously until the dough is pulling away from the sides of the pan. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
• Add the pastry to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until there is no more steam coming off.
• Once it has cooled you are ready to add the eggs. Add them one at a time beating until they are well combined before adding the next one. They might look a little split at first but the batter will come together. Another way to tell if the pastry is ready is when you pull the paddle up, the pastry makes a V shape off the bottom. It should be thick enough to pipe.
• Fill a piping bag with a 2cm round nozzle and fill it with the pastry cream.
• Line a large baking sheet with baking paper and lightly brush the paper with water or spritz with a water from a spray bottle. Pipe around 18 mounds of pastry allowing space between them.
• Dip your finger in water and press down on any sharper tips that may have formed.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 200C then turn the oven down and bake for a further 20 minutes. Do not open the oven during this time.
• To create crispier profiteroles, turn the oven off and wedge the door so that it is ajar and allow them to cool in the oven
• To make the chocolate rooibos glaze
• Steep the rooibos tea in the boiling water for 20 minutes. Discard the tea bags and add the sugar and butter. Heat the mixture in the microwave or in a pot until boiling. Mix the cocoa, maizina with ¼ cup water until a smooth paste is form. Add it to the rooibos tea mixture and whisk well. Simmer until nice and smooth. If you are doing it in the microwave, put it in a minute at a time until nice thick and glossy plus minus 5 minutes. Add the vanilla.
• To assemble the wreath:
• Fit a small, pointed nozzle on the end of a piping bag, and fill this with the milk tart filling. Make an incising at the bottom of each cooled profiterole and pipe a dollop into the cavity.
• Arrange on a circle on a flat round plate. Dollop some of the chocolate rooibos tea glaze on top of them. Arrange the second tier of filled profiteroles between the ones arranged on the bottom layer. Drizzle some more chocolate rooibos glaze over and serve with fresh figs and rosemary or thyme wreaths (optional).