Everybody loves an eclair or choux bun. The crunchy pastry and soft custard inside with sticky icing or toffee on top....mmm yum!
To make choux pastry can seem daunting but its well worth the trip from the stove to bench top to oven.
First you boil 250mL water, 100g butter, a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar on the stove then add 190g bakers flour. Cook over the heat for about 30sec or until the mixture comes off the sides of the pan. Someone explained this stage to me like when you cook corn and it turns into pop corn. You need to cook the little grains of flour for this to work. Once it come off the sides take the pot off the heat and empty the mixture into a clean bowl and spread it out to let it cool slightly. You can also do this stage in a mixer with the paddle attachment (we use the mixer at work) and beat it until it cools slightly. Once it cooled a bit add your eggs one at a time beating well after each egg. We used about 5-6 eggs but it can depend on how big the eggs are and the humidity of the day so it is best to add a little less to start with and see if it comes to the right consistency. You want a glossy dough that is 'drop' consistency; not runny and not too thick.
Next pipe your choux buns or eclairs onto a buttered baking tray and brush very lightly with an egg wash and run the back of a fork over the tops making small imprints. Bake at 200 degrees celsius for 15-20 min. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN FOR ANY REASON IN THE FIRST 10min. Let the steam out of your oven towards the end to allow them to dry out slightly.
When they are ready let them cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the chocolate creme patissier we added melted dark chocolate to the vanilla creme patissier.
Chantilly cream which is whipped cream with 10% icing sugar added to it.
For the toppings we used fondant from a bucket which we heated to 37 degrees to get the right consistency and shine when it dries and toffee (my favourite!).
Thanks for reading and keep watching for more delicious morsels :)
Oh yes you're not wrong, I love an eclair me! Delicious. x x
ReplyDeleteI've had three attempts at making choux buns for eclairs and I can't get them to rise. The one time I got close they rose a little bit but underneath they had risen into the middle so they were still very thin. My recipe uses a 120 ml water and 120 g plain flour, so I'll try your proportions and see how I go. Any other tips for helping them rise? Should I beat the eggs before adding them (I have been so far)? Should I get an oven thermometer to make sure my oven is the right temperature? Thanks so much, nice blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Kat.the.cook!
DeleteThe pastry chef at work always said keep beating the mix until its really glossy once you've added the eggs. Its best to add them one at a time and gradually in case you don't need to add them all to get the right texture and to prevent the mixture going lumpy. I've never beat the eggs before using them so not sure think that would make too much difference but maybe. Its always best to check your oven temp if your unsure it is correct. The oven i have at home now in my new place is terrible... i have to adjust it completely different for every recipe :)
Thanks for reading :) i will post more very soon, ive been a bit slack...