CHRISTMASSY CHOCOLATE PROFITEROLES

- Preheat the oven to 220C/Gas7; sift the flour, cocoa and a pinch of salt together and set aside

- Over a low heat and in a medium pan, gently heat 300ml water, the caster sugar and butter; once the butter has melted, turn the heat up and as soon as the liquid comes to the boil, take the pan off the heat

- Pour the flour mixture all in one go into the pan, then return the pan to the heat and cook for 1 minute stirring all the time; beat the mixture vigorously for a few minutes, until it comes away from the sides of the pan

- Take the pan off the heat and cool for 5 minutes; next add the beaten eggs, little by little, making sure the egg is fully absorbed into the dough with each addition; continue beating until you have a thick, glossy paste; leave to cool slightly; put into a large piping bag with a plain nozzle and pipe 24 small balls onto a large, lined baking tray; if you don’t have a piping bag, you can put 24 heaped teaspoonfuls of the mix on the lined tray; smooth out the tops with a damp finger

- Bake the profiteroles for 25 minutes until puffed and risen, then remove from the oven; halve them and return to the oven for another 10 minutes; take out of the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack

- In a bowl, whip the cream with the icing sugar, chestnut puree and amaretto; place mixture into a piping bag and fill each profiterole

- Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water or in 10 second bursts in the microwave; spoon a little of the chocolate over each profiterole and leave them to set in the fridge for 30 minutes

- To decorate, roll out the green icing and cut out 48 small holly leaves; roll out some tiny red berries from the red icing; use these decorations to top each profiterole