Hoegaarden Profiteroles in San Francisco

"Cream Puffs" at the San Francisco Ferry Market

Yes, you read it correctly - Hoegaarden profiteroles. What a fabulous and unique find at the San Francisco Ferry Market!

A bunch of we "internationals" took another trip to San Francisco this weekend, despite the ridiculously heavy rainfall (why did I leave my wellies in England?!) and found ourselves, yet again, at the legendary San Francisco Ferry Market.

A very wet San Francisco

I think it sinful whenever I am in San Francisco on a Saturday morning and do not visit the Ferry Market. It's such a fantastic market with ubiquitous free samples and I always manage to discover something new.

During this visit, I was introduced to two new ideas in the food world. The first was a "tea soup", which contained the brew of some immune system-boosting herbal tea bags and the soup ingredients one wishes to add. In this case, we sampled a tomato and onion soup. This tickled my brain into the idea of creating an "immune-boosting" soup. I may investigate this sooner rather than later as my immune system seems to have been struggling a little recently...

Puddles and brollies and puddles...

The second find was this divine beer custard cream inside a profiterole. As we dashed from stall to stall in our squelchy shoes (I could swear that there was more water inside my boots than outside!), we came across these delightful little treats. I asked the gentlemen behind the stall what each profiterole contained. They told me that the custard cream inside the plain profiteroles was made using some Hoegaarden. "That's, like, my favourite beer!" (eek - my vocabulary seems to be acquiring an American tone, please forgive me!). It's probably not my favourite beer. It's actually one of the only beers I like, thus far. I have just entered the "beer world", you see, as I am taking a brewing class this quarter, which, as an initial beer-hater, I am, surprisingly, enjoying. Within the first two of weeks of classes, I suddenly developed a taste for beer. Now, I am very intrigued.

Pâte à Choux with Hoegaarden Custard Cream and Caramelised Apple

I was so excited that my friends had to ask me to "calm down!". There was a chocolate profiterole bun with a chestnut ganache topped with a caramelised slice of apple and a plain profiterole bun with a Hoegaarden custard cream topped with a slice of pear. Such a terribly tough decision for a food enthusiast such as myself, so what did I decide?

"Okay - I'll just have both, please!"

Three for the price of two!

The very generous gentlemen gave me three profiteroles for the price of two! One with the chestnut ganache and two with the Hoegaarden. This certainly brightened up the rather dismal day. I immediately consumed one of the Hoegaarden profiteroles and was completely blown away. I don't like my desserts too sweet, so the herby bitterness of the beer with the subtly sweet cream and a delicate soft choux bun was one of the most sublime culinary combinationss that my palate has ever experienced.

Chocolate Pâte à Choux with Chestnut Ganache and Pear

The chocolate and chestnut profiterole also entertained my palate, but had a lesser effect on the chemical stimulations occuring in my brain, compared with the Hoegaarden profiterole.

If the reading of this post has left you craving for one of these stunning bites of beer-heaven, plan a trip to the Ferry Market as soon as possible! Or failing that, just head off to your nearest pub...