A profiterole, cream puff (US), or choux à la crème is a filled French choux pastry ball with a typically sweet filling of whipped cream, pastry cream, custard, or (particularly in the US) ice cream. The puffs may be decorated or left plain or garnished with chocolate sauce, caramel, or a dusting of powdered sugar. Savory profiterole are also made, filled with pureed meats, cheese, and so on. These were formerly common garnishes for soups.
The various names may be associated with particular variants of filling or sauce in different places.
Both the pastry and the name 'profiterole' come from France.
The word profiterole (also spelled prophitrole, profitrolle, profiterolle) has existed in English since 1604, borrowed from French. The original meaning in both English and French is unclear, but later it came to mean a kind of roll 'baked under the ashes'. A 17th-century French recipe for a Potage de profiteolles or profiterolles describes a soup of dried small breads (presumably the profiteroles) simmered in almond broth and garnished with coxscombs, truffles, and so on. The current meaning is only clearly attested in the 19th century.
The "cream puff" has appeared on US restaurant menus since 1851,if not earlier.