Serves 6-8

Choux pastry:

• ¼ litre (½ pint) water
• 75 g (2½ oz) butter
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 150 g (5½ oz) flour
• 4 medium eggs
• ½ litre (¾ pint) vanilla ice-cream

Sauce:

• 250 g (8¾ oz) dark chocolate with a high cocoa content
• 1/10 litre (3½ fl oz) milk
• 25 g (¾ oz) butter

Prepare the choux pastry:

• In a saucepan, add the water, diced butter, salt and sugar.
• Bring to the boil by stirring with a spatula and remove from the heat.
• Pour in all of the flour in one go and stir briskly until the pastry forms a ball and comes away cleanly from the sides of the pan.
• Add the first egg and stir until smooth. Then add the remaining three eggs, one after the other, until the dough the dough is smooth each time.
• When the dough is firm but flexible, form small balls of dough the size of walnuts and place on the oven tray.
• Cook in the oven for 20 minutes (mark 6-7 – 200°C), then 15 minutes (mark 5-6 – 170°C).
• Bake until they feel crisp, light and puffy in the hand.
• Leave them to cool on a wire rack.

Prepare the chocolate sauce:

• Melt the chocolate broken into pieces on a low heat in milk, then add butter.
• To serve, open the choux parcels with scissors and fill them with a teaspoon of vanilla ice-cream.
• Close them and place them, one by one, on a dish.
• Cover with hot chocolate sauce and serve immediately.