Chocolate Caramel Puffs

On Sunday, I had my whole afternoon free and was looking for a challenge, so I searched for difficult recipes online. When I came across this recipe for chocolate caramel puffs, I knew I had found the challenge I was looking for. It combines two difficult recipes, one for homemade caramel and the other for a choux pastry, into one magnificent dessert. The fluffy, lighter-than-air chocolate pastry is filled with a rich chocolate and caramel ganache. If that doesn't scream "chocolate lovers' fantasy", then I don't know what does.
However, this recipe is not for the inexperienced baker or for those who are pressed with time. If you are confident in your baking skills and don't have any major plans for a few hours (and are up to the challenge), then this recipe may be for you.

Pastry:
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 large eggs

Chocolate Caramel Ganache:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 ½ cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Pastry:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Sift together the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl or large piece of wax paper. Set aside until needed.
Heat the water, butter, and sugar in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted and the mixture is hot, stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove from heat and add the flour mixture. With a wooden spoon, stir until the flour is completely incorporated and mixture comes together in a ball. Then add the eggs, one at a time, and stir vigorously to thoroughly incorporate each egg before adding the next. (At first, the eggs won't want to combine, but if you keep mixing energetically, they will eventually incorporate)
Scoop into level tablespoons and place on 2 non-stick baking sheets, 12 evenly spaced portions per sheet. Place the sheets on the top and center racks of the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes, rotating the sheets and turning them 180 degrees around halfway through. Remove the puffs from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Chocolate Caramel Ganache:
Place the chopped chocolate in a large bowl and set aside.
Heat the heavy cream and two tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to keep the cream hot, but not simmering until needed.
Combine the sugar and lemon juice in a 3 quart saucepan. Stir with a whisk to combine. Caramelize the sugar over medium-high heat for about 7-8 minutes. Use your best judgement with the temperature and time to keep it from burning. Sometimes, I have to remove the mixture from the heat and whisk vigorously to keep it from burning, then replace it on the heat again. When the sugar is light brown and smooth, remove from heat. Bring the cream to a simmer again***, then carefully add one ladle-full of the hot cream to the caramelized sugar. Use a wooden spoon to stir the caramel until it stop bubbling.
(If your cream is not hot enough, the caramel will harden into a ball and will not combine with the cream. If this happens, put the mixture back on the stove and heat until the caramel is melted again, and stir until it combines with the cream. Be careful not to let it burn).
Add the remaining cream and stir until smooth. Immediately pour the hot caramel over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes before stirring. Stir the mixture until smooth and shiny. Refrigerate the ganache until just slightly firm, but not too hard. If the ganache is too firm, it will be difficult to fill the pastries with it.

With a sharp knife, cut each puff in half horizontally. Fill the bottom half of each puff with about 1 tablespoon of ganache and sandwich the top half of the puff onto the bottom half.

Recipe from: Marcel Desaulniers