choux pastry - (I half the recipe) adapted from Laura Calder
3/4 cups water
85g butter
2 tsp sugar
3/4 cups flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten
pinch of salt
milk for glaze
- Heat the oven to 375 F/190 C.
- Put the water, salt, butter, and sugar in a roomy saucepan, bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the flour all at once, beating until it forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Return the pan to the heat for a minute or two and beat to dry it out a little. (Removing moisture will allow the paste to absorb more egg, which will ultimately make the puffs lighter.)
- Remove the pan from the heat. Beat in the eggs, the equivalent of one at a time, until fully incorporated. (Do not try to add them at once because they can't be incorporated quickly enough, it makes a total mess, and furthermore you may not need all of them.) Mix until the batter is smooth and glossy. Spoon the dough into a piping bag.
- Mix a bit of milk into any remaining egg (if no egg left, use only milk). Have at the ready with a pastry brush for glazing. Pipe the dough into finger like logs on a non-stick baking sheet, leaving a good 2-inches/5 cm between them so they have room to expand.
- Brush the tops with the glaze and press any snouts down with a fingertip. Bake for 20 minutes then lower the heat to 180C and bake for another 15 to 20minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
choux pastry before baking
coffee pastry cream2 cups milk
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp coffee extract (less if you don't want strong)
pinch salt
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
- Put the milk in a saucepan. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the milk and throw in the pod. Bring just to a boil, remove from the heat, cover, and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Beat the yolks and sugar to pale thick ribbons. Gradually beat in the flour. Whisk the milk into the egg mixture in a thin stream. Add the coffee extract and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens.
- Strain and set aside to cool. Cover with cling film directly on top to prevent a skin from forming. When cool, fold in the whipped cream and transfer to a piping bag with a small tip.
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
4 tbsp water, more if needed
1/2 tsp coffee extract
toasted cacao nibs (optional)
- Put the icing sugar in a bowl. Mix together the water and coffee extract and stir it in to make a thin icing. Add more water if necessary.
- Slice the eclairs in half lengthwise. Spread the bottom generously with pastry cream, as if you're making a fat sandwich. Spread the glaze on top of the top piece and lay it on the cream.
ugly shape after baking :-S
This is my eclairs cookbook not Laura's though. This is the look I want haha you can really see the difference mine was really ugly.
By the way, I have read that the choux taste even better if you use milk instead of water. I will try that next time.