SALTED CARAMEL ECLAIRS RECIPES

Steps:

• To prepare pastry cream, combine first 4 ingredients in a saucepan; stir with a whisk. Stir in milk, 1/2 cup half-and-half, and vanilla bean. Cook over medium heat until mixture boils, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low; cook 1 minute or until thickened, stirring constantly. Pour into a bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface; chill.
• Preheat oven to 425°.
• To prepare dough, weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 1 cup water, 3 tablespoons butter, and 2 teaspoons granulated sugar in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; add flours. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture is smooth and begins to pull away from sides of pan. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes.
• Place mixture in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed 1 minute. Add 2 eggs and 2 egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape sides of bowl; beat 1 minute.
• Spoon into a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip. Pipe 10 (4 1/2 x 1-inch) logs onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°. Remove pan from oven; place another baking pan underneath to prevent overbrowning. Immediately return to oven, rotating pan. Bake an additional 25 minutes or until éclairs are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pan, and place on a wire rack; pierce top of each with the tip of a knife (to allow steam to escape). Cool completely.
• To prepare glaze, combine brown sugar, 1/4 cup half-and-half, 1 tablespoon butter, and syrup in a saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Simmer 10 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Remove from heat. Stir in bourbon, vanilla extract, and half of salt. Cool 10 minutes.
• Using a serrated knife, cut éclairs in half lengthwise. Discard vanilla bean. Fill bottom of each éclair with 2 tablespoons pastry cream. Spread 2 teaspoons glaze over top of each pastry (if glaze is too cool, microwave at HIGH 15 seconds or until spreadable). Replace tops, glaze side up; sprinkle evenly with remaining sea salt. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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.