November 26, 2011

What a fabulous treat!

Mini Eclairs!

Light as a feather… Like chewing on little pillows made of clouds, while the Creme Anglaise oozes into your mouth in tiny dollops to sweetly cool and refresh your palate, followed by hints of chocolate to round up the whole experience… it must be a dream! But no, it is Eclair!

The fabulous Pate a Choux;

A delicate kind of pastry that is made to perfection with patience and care- with the gradual and continuous stirring of eggs to incorporate into a roux, then shaped and baked to a perfect golden puff… Moving on to making the custard that will fill those puffs, as if they need more delicateness! No they don’t, yet to draw upon and intensify the dreaminess of this experience, nothing says it better than this cream. The melt in your mouth softness of custard just takes you further into the realm of heavenly food. Topped with a generous pouring of Chocolate Ganache, to add a little creaminess in case you have missed it.

In a blind moment, my senses are softly awakened with nothing short of a floating amongst angels! This is perfection! And it comes in bite size!

I have been advising a couple of my friends on making Eclairs, as they requested, and so thought a blog post about this marvelous treat is in order. I love this recipe and get rave reviews every time I make it. I am hoping that you will try it and see for yourself, how easy it is to make, just make sure to be patient with it, and how absolutely fabulous it is! From the making to filling and dressing…. to the serving and enjoying making eclairs is just a treat. So do treat yourself.

Many are intimidated by Choux Pastry! Don’t be. Choux pastry is very easy to make, provided you do follow the instructions. Provided that you are patient, as you will be doing quite a bit of stirring, and provided that you do Gradually add the eggs, the pastry will turn out perfect every time. If you get impatient and decide to just go for all the eggs at once (especially when making large batches of pastry), your pastry won’t work, or if it does will turn out tough which ruins the whole experience. Choux pastry is delicate and airy, it should never be the texture of a cake or bread! That is only established by the gradual addition of eggs and the continuous stirring (not beating or whipping).
When making this, I usually put myself in a zone, where the clock slows down, and am just so into the mechanical motion of it all. I am telling you it is therapeutic, kind of like meditation! It is my time with myself, when I can’t seem to otherwise spare a moment in my crazy busy lifestyle.

Ingredients

Pate a Choux (Choux Pastry)

5 tbsp butter, cut into small cubes
2/3 cup water
3/4 cup all purpose flour, sifted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Creme Anglaise (Custard Sauce)

5 egg yolks, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)

Preheat your oven to 400F-200C. Line a cookie sheet with baking paper and set aside.

Make a roux:

In a medium saucepan, place the water, vanilla and the butter, over medium heat. Gently heat until the butter melts. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add all the flour at once, beating well until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan and looks like dough.

Cool slightly, about 3 minutes, and gradually stir in the eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition until well incorporated. You want to keep on stirring until the egg is no longer separate and visible before the addition of the next egg. The addition of the egg will form a smooth mixture that is somewhat shiny.

Have faith. It will happen, even when it looks like it won’t!

Once you have incorporated all the eggs, and the mixture is well incorporated, smooth and shiny, it is then ready to be shaped and baked.

Sprinkle the lined sheet with a little water (just a sprinkle not a shower). Place the Choux pastry in a large piping bag, and pipe out 2 inch lines on the lined baking sheet, spaced about 1 inch apart. Repeat until all the quantity is finished. (see the video above on how to best carry out this step)

Brush with egg wash then bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden and sounds hollow when gently tapped.

Do not attempt filling or decorating the eclairs before having them completely cooled.

Make The custard

In a heavy saucepan, stir together the egg yolks, sugar, milk and vanilla seeds. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a metal spoon. You should be able to draw a clear line – in the centre of the custard coating on the spoon – without the custard reattaching.

In order to stop the residual cooking, you have to quickly place the saucepan in a large bowl containing ice and water, stirring continuously for 2 minutes.

Pour 1 cup of the custard into a piping bag, and set aside.

Pour the remaining custard into a glass container, cover the top of the custard with cling film in order to prevent skin formation. Refrigerate. Serve this custard on top of fresh fruits, as a side to tarts, or with buttered toast.

To Fill

This is an easy method to fills the eclairs. Instead the classic way of piping the filling into them without cutting them, it is easier to carefully make a slit down one side of the baked Eclair. Then pipe the custard into the opening. Repeat until all have been filled.

Make Chocolate Ganache,

Follow the recipe on this link for making the chocolate ganache.

Dip the tops of the filled eclairs in the Chocolate Ganache, and allow any excess ganache to drip off.

Place on a wire rack and repeat until all have been dipped. Dip some raspberries into the ganache and attach them on top of your eclairs (optional for extra flavour/colour). Otherwise sprinkle with grated chocolate, confetti…etc…

Transfer to a serving platter. Chill until ready to serve, if you can resist…