Name: Luxury éclairs
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 100 g water; 50 g butter; 75 g flour; 3 eggs (only part of the last egg); salt (pinch); 30 g decorative sugar; 500 g milk; 100 g sugar; 1 egg; 45 g custard powder; 2 leaves gelatine; 250 g cream (half-whipped); 1 1/2 tbsp pistachio (or liqueur of your choice); 200 g cream; 30 g icing sugar; 1 packet vanilla sugar; 15 grapes (green); 15 grapes (black); 50 raspberries

Method

Get cooking

Making the choux pastry

Bring the water and butter to the boil with a little salt.
Remove from the heat, add all the flour at once and stir. Return to a moderate heat and keep stirring. The dough is ready for the next step when you hear it sizzling and it lightly catches on the bottom. This can take a few minutes. Keep stirring.
Put the dough in a cold bowl and add the first egg. Keep stirring until fully absorbed. If you do not change pans, the egg is likely to cook. The dough can then go back into the warm bowl. The bowl no longer needs to be on the heat.
Add each subsequent egg once the previous one has been fully absorbed. Add the final egg little by little until the mixture reaches the right thickness. It has the correct consistency when it hangs from the spatula in a triangle.
Pipe the mixture onto a baking tray using small circular movements. Try to start and end with a smaller circle. Make 4 in total.
Sprinkle each piece of piped mixture with decorative sugar.
Bake at 200°C in a preheated oven until the éclairs are golden brown and light. This normally takes about 25 minutes.

Preparing the crème royale

Put the gelatine in a glass of water.
Heat the milk with 2/3 of the sugar.
Meanwhile, mix the remaining sugar, egg and custard powder until smooth.
Pour a little of the partly warmed milk into the sugar mixture and stir well.
When the milk boils, remove from the heat, immediately add the mixture and stir well. Return to a low heat and keep stirring until thick.
Remove from the heat. Remove the gelatine from the water, squeeze it out and add to the mixture. Stir well until absorbed.
Spread on a baking tray and leave to cool. Stir regularly to prevent a skin forming.
Meanwhile, half-whip the cream.
Beat the cooled cream to loosen it, then add the half-whipped cream spoonful by spoonful until thoroughly incorporated.

Filling the éclairs with crème royale and fruit

Use a good bread knife to cut the tops off the éclairs and place them nearby. Leave the bases clear so you can pipe in the crème royale.
Pipe the crème royale into the éclair bases with a size 12 star nozzle and add a few pieces of raspberry.

Adding a top layer of whipped cream and fruit

Mix cream and sugar and half-whip. Allow to firm up further in the fridge if desired.
Using a size 12 star nozzle, pipe a top layer onto the éclairs, going just beyond the edge. Finish with pieces of fruit along one side.

Finishing

Replace the tops at an angle on the éclairs.

Background

More choux pastries [wpupg-grid-with-filters id="soezen"] Source and inspiration: CVO Gent – Cooked and Shortcrust Doughs course.

Luxury éclairs

Ingredients

Choux pastry

Crème pâtissière, crème royale or crème prise version

Whipped cream for finishing

Fruit of your choice; here