CARAMEL ECLAIRS RECIPE RECIPES

Steps:

• Start by making the custard filling. Heat the milk until almost boiling in a saucepan. Meanwhile, mix together the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a bowl, then stir in the flours, a couple of tsp at a time, to a smooth paste.
• Gradually whisk in the hot milk, pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over a high heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 mins until thick – it will go alarmingly lumpy but don’t worry, just keep stirring it vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth.
• Lay a sheet of cling film directly on the custard surface, then cool and chill until you’re ready to fill the buns.
• To make the choux buns, heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Sift the flour with the sugar and a pinch of salt into a small bowl. Put the milk and butter into a medium saucepan with 125ml water and gently heat so the butter melts but the liquid doesn’t bubble.
• Once the butter has completely melted, increase the heat until the liquid comes to a fast rolling boil. Immediately turn off the heat, tip in the sifted flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until you a have a smooth dough that comes away from the sides of the pan. Spread over a large dinner plate to cool to hand temperature.
• Allow to cool for a few minutes, then gradually add the eggs, mixing well between each addition until the mixture reluctantly drops off the spoon. Don’t add all the egg unless you need to.
• Cut 2 large sheets of baking parchment. On each one draw 2 sets of ‘track’ lines with a 10cm gap – these will be your guidelines so your eclairs will all be roughly the same size. Use the paper to line 2 large baking sheets – penside down.
• Spoon your choux mixture into a piping bag with a 1cm star or round wide nozzle, or into a disposable piping bag with a similar-size hole snipped off for piping. Pipe 2 rows of well-spaced, squashed ‘S’ shapes on each sheet between the guidelines. Bake, one tray at a time, on a high-ish shelf for 25 mins, reducing temperature to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6 as soon as they go in the oven.
• After 25 mins, poke a hole in the end of each bun, or using a small serrated knife, split down the middle and return to the oven, upside-down, to dry out for 5 mins until crisp and golden. Set aside to cool.
• While the buns are cooling, finish your filling. Whisk the cream until thick, then use your electric whisk to beat the cooled, set custard until just smooth again. Fold in the cream. Spoon your filling into a piping bag – use a small nozzle if you’re filling the buns through the holes you've pierced, or a large nozzle if you’ve split the buns in half. Carefully pipe the custard into each cooled bun – they should feel heavy once full.
• Arrange the buns on a wire rack and spread each with a little of your chosen icing. If you can’t decide, it’s really easy to split your batch of choux buns, halve icing quantities, and make a selection to keep everyone happy. See the tip below for more icing flavours.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200C. Bring milk, butter, sugar, 180ml water and a pinch of salt to the boil in a saucepan over high heat, reduce heat to low, add flour and stir continuously until dough comes away from sides of pan (2-3 minutes). Transfer to an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until room temperature (10-12 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm nozzle and pipe 15cm cylinders onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, leaving 5cm-6cm of space in between. Bake until golden and crisp, turning tray once (25-30 minutes). Remove from oven and cool.
• For ganache, bring cream just to the boil in a saucepan over high heat. Place chocolate in a bowl, pour cream in and stir until chocolate melts (3-5 minutes), then cool completely.
• For hazelnut praline, stir sugar, glucose and 100ml water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat to dissolve sugar, bring to the boil and cook without stirring until dark caramel, brushing sides of pan with a wet pastry brush if sugar crystals form (10-12 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in hazelnuts, spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper and stand until set (15 minutes). Break into small pieces and set aside.
• For salted caramel pastry cream, stir 210gm sugar and 60ml water in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and cook without stirring until caramel (4-5 minutes). Add milk, 125ml cream and 1 tsp sea salt, and whisk to combine (1-2 minutes; be careful, mixture will foam up). Increase heat and bring caramel to the boil. Whisk yolks and remaining sugar in a bowl to combine, then whisk in flour. Stir in a ladleful of caramel mixture, then transfer yolk mixture to pan of hot caramel. Cook for 1 minute, whisking continuously, then remove from heat, pour into a heatproof dish, cover closely with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming and cool to room temperature (25-30 minutes). Whisk mascarpone with remaining cream until firm and gently fold into salted caramel pastry cream. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle and refrigerate until needed.
• Halve pastries lengthways with a serrated knife, pipe filling onto bases and sandwich with the tops. Spoon ganache over the top, sprinkle with pieces of hazelnut praline and serve immediately.