Eclairs

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Before starting line a baking tray with baking paper and template out 10cm for each éclair (12-15). Prepare a piping bag with a 14mm plain tip.

Step 2

To make the pate a choux, pour the milk and water into a large saucepan with the sugar and salt on medium heat. Once warm add the butter and whisk until the mixture has reached a rolling boil. Add all the flour and whisk then place back on medium heat until the bottom of the saucepan is slightly coated with the mixture, transfer the mixture into a large bowl and spread the mixture up the sides to let it cool.

Step 3

While the pate a choux is cooling you can make the vanilla pastry cream, line a baking tray with clingfilm and leave to the side. Add the milk into a medium saucepan with a handful of the sugar on a medium heat and bring to a simmer almost boil. Whilst the milk mixture is heating up, in a separate bowl add the rest of the sugar into the egg yolks, whisk until the mixture goes lighter in colour. When the egg mixture is no longer grainy to the touch add your corn starch and whisk until no lumps are left.

Step 4

Once the milk mixture starts to almost boil take the saucepan off the heat and slowly add half of the milk mixture to the egg mixture while whisking to temper the egg mixture, after you have tempered the mixture add it into the remaining hot milk in the saucepan. Bring the mixture back onto medium heat and whisk for 30 seconds – 1 minute until thickened and the mixture starts to bubble and take the saucepan off the heat. Add the vanilla extract to the pastry cream and whisk until fully combined then pour the finished pastry cream onto the baking tray and cover with clingfilm so skin doesn’t form then place into the blast chiller until ready to use.

Step 5

Continuing the pate a choux, fold one egg at a time into the mixture to combine, repeat until you have used all the eggs. Transfer the mixture into the piping bag and pipe each éclair to 10cm length. For the egg wash, beat an egg together and add a splash of milk, using a pastry brush coat the eclairs in egg wash. Using a fork run lines down the eclairs for an even rise.

Step 6

Place the eclairs in the oven at 180c for 20 mins to bake. After 20 mins have passed open the oven to let the steam escape and cook the eclairs for a further 15 minutes. Once baked let the eclairs cool completely on a wire rack.

Step 7

Once cooled, with a knife make two holes in the bottom of the eclairs to fill them with the pastry cream. Take the pastry cream out of the blast chiller and place into a bowl, whisk it up to bring it back to its normal consistency then transfer into a piping bag with a small tip. Fill each éclair with 30g of pastry cream.

Step 8

Lastly for the fondant decoration on top, fill a small saucepan with water on medium heat. Put the fondant in a metal bowl and place the metal bowl on top of the small saucepan to create a Baine-Marie. Once warm add a handful of dark chocolate to the fondant to give colour, then take the bowl off the heat and combine the fondant and chocolate together. When the fondant mixture cools down to 35c add a drop of simple syrup and mix, then place the eclairs top side down into the fondant and bring back out to have the glaze on top. You can also add extra decorations on time such as drizzled white chocolate, or gold leaves etc.