The lightning and the nun

L'éclair (lightning) and la religieuse (nun). It looks intimidating but it really isn't! And choux pastries are rather fun to make. I learnt how to make choux pastries from Dominique Ansel's Masterclass but have made a few modifications to his recipe. This recipe walks you through the process of making éclairs. The recipe will make about 6 éclairs! For the religieuse, the process is the same but when it gets to the piping stage, pipe a dome instead!

For the creme patissiere:

1 cups whole milk

Vanilla extract/beans

1/4 cup of granulated sugar

2.5 tablespoons flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 large egg (whisked)

1 large egg yolks

1/8 cup whipping cream

Choux Pastry:

1/2 cup water

1/2 stick unsalted butter

Pinch of salt

3/4 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

For the Chocolate Glaze:

500g dark chocolate

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Some honey

Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C

Make the pastry cream:

In a pot, bring the milk and vanilla to a gentle boil. Err on the side of less vanilla first. Then taste the milk. You can always add more if it isn't strong enough but if you add to much to begin, your creme patissiere is going to end up tasting like medicine.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, salt, egg and egg yolks. Slowly pour in some of the hot milk at a time, whisking vigourously until thick. Pour it slowly to ensure you do not scramble the eggs! Strain the cream through a fine-mesh sieve into another bowl. Leave in the fridge to chill!

You can be creative here. For example, the ones featured in this blog are filled with with a banana creme patissiere. Same process, only while bringing the milk and vanilla to a boil, I blend in 2 bananas. You can also flavour your creme patissiere with passion fruit, strawberries etc.

Make the choux pastry:

In a pot, put in the butter, sugar, salt, and water to a gentle boil over medium heat. Take the pan off the heat. Add in the flour. Stir quickly with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes until the dough is well mixed and forms a ball. Transfer dough to a large cool mixing bowl. Use your wooden spoon to mix until the dough is slightly cooled. This should take a couple of minutes. Once cooled, add an eggs into the bowl, stirring the mixture until well combined before adding the next egg and doing the same. The dough shouldnt be dripping wet but be glossy and just falling off the spoon.

Transfer your choux pastry to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. If you don't have the right equipment as I usually do not, put it into a large ziplock bag and cut off one of the corners to pipe. You want the hole to be somewhere about as long as the tip of your finger to the first joint.

Pipe 5 inch-long lines of choux pastry onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 325°F or 160°C and bake for another 25 minutes or until golden brown. Take them out to cool once done. For la religieuse, pipe a dome instead!

Finish the pastry cream:

Whip the heavy cream till you get stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into your creme patissiere til it is nicely combined. Transfer it into a piping bag till and chill till needed.

Make the chocolate glaze:

Place the chocolate, honey and butter in a wide glass bowl or really any durable bowl. Get a small pot of water over a medium heat to bring it to a gentle bowl. Put the glass bowl over the pot. This is called a bain-marie. As the water bowls, the steam heats the bowl and the heat melts the chocolate and butter gently. Melting your chocolate with such a technique lets you control the heat and prevents it from burning (as is possible if you use a microwave). Use a spoon to stir the melting chocolate and butter ever so often. What you should get is a nice, thick, glossy and shiny chocolate glaze. Leave the bowl over the pot and turn the heat to the lowest temperature.

Assemble éclairs:

Make a small hole in either end the éclair shells with the small end of a chopstick. This is where you would most definitely need a piping tip. Pipe pastry cream into each end of the éclair, being careful to fill it all the way without bursting your eclair when you overstuff it.

Dip the tops of each shell into the chocolate glaze. You can serve it now; the chocolate glaze will stay shiny for awhile unless you put it in the fridge. (: Bon appétit!