Central Market loves me. I don’t mean they give me lots of samples (which they do) or that they are nice to me, etc… I mean I am on a first name basis with all employees and 90% of my money goes in their pocket. When I’m lazy I turn to CM for prepared foods – especially their éclairs. Eclairs are a headache to make. You have to plan ahead so the pastry cream has time to chill, the pate a choux though easy to make is hard to tell when it’s done, you have to deal with piping bags… it’s generally a pain. Thus, I usually buy a CM éclair a week to forego the 6 hours it takes to make them. However, at $3.99 a pop, our éclair addiction is fast becoming somewhat like a costly smoking habit. Last weekend I sucked it up and made éclairs. Lots of them. About 40 miniature éclairs, actually. The mini éclairs are the perfect bite size party food and they're so small no one feels guilty about eating just a few of these morsels. The minis did not last a single night amongst friends; they were that good!
Éclairs
Make the cream first:
Lightened Pastry Cream
(from The Joy of Cooking)
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. corn starch
4 large egg yolks
1 1/3 cups milk
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream (not needed until ready to fill pastries)
Chocolate ganache (recipe follows)
Beat the sugar, flour, cornstarch, and egg yolks on high speed until thick and yellow, about 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat milk and vanilla bean over medium heat. Remove the vanilla bean. Gradually add 1/3 of the milk to the egg mixture, stirring to combine. Add the egg/milk mixture back to the pan and remaining milk. Cook while whisking constantly. Scrape the corners and bottom of the pan to prevent scorching. Once custard begins to thicken, continue to cook for an additional 45 to 60 seconds. Add vanilla extract, if a vanilla bean was not used.
Pour custard into a clean bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap or waxed paper to prevent a skin from forming.
Refrigerate until cold--up to 2 days. At this point, check on your custard. It should be the consistency of pudding. If it’s not, put the pastry cream back in a pot, add a little cornstarch (1 t or so) and cook slowly over medium heat until it thickens. Cool in the fridge.
Before filling eclairs, beat the heavy cream to stiff peaks and fold into the cold custard.
Choux Pastry
(from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook)
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 cup (100g) butter
* 1 tsp sugar
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 1/4 cup flour
* 4 eggs, plus 1 egg white if needed
Preheat oven to 340°F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine 1 cup water, butter, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, and immediately remove from heat. Stir in flour. When flour is combined, return to heat. Cook, stirring constantly for 4 minutes. It is ready when it pulls away from the sides and a film forms on the bottom of the pan.
Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on low speed, until slightly cooled, about 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, on medium speed, letting each one incorporate completely before adding the next. Add final egg a little at a time until the batter is smooth and shiny. Test batter by touching it with your finger and lifting to form a string. If a string does not form, the batter needs more egg. If you have added all the eggs and the batter still doesn’t form a string, add the extra egg white, 1 tbsp at a time, until it does.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round or star tip with pate a choux batter; pipe out oblong shapes, about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide, onto prepared baking sheets at 2-inch intervals.
Bake until golden (this took a while, maybe 30 minutes. For crispier eclairs, which I prefer, poke a little hole in the side of the eclair 10 minutes before the end of the baking. Make sure the eclair shells are very brown and sound hollow when tapped.). Let cool on wire racks.
The pastries can be kept in airtight containers for 2 days, without filling.
When the eclair shells are completely cool, cut in half and pipe the custard cream in the middle. You can at this point put some berries in with the cream, or replace the top on the eclair and top with chocolate ganache (8 oz. chocolate, 1/2 cup heavy cream, melted together slowly over a double boiler until just melted).
My grade: A
Recipe grade: A- (it's hard to know when the eclair shell is baked enough)
Diagnosis: Worth making, though a multi-step process.
Éclairs
Make the cream first:
Lightened Pastry Cream
(from The Joy of Cooking)
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. corn starch
4 large egg yolks
1 1/3 cups milk
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream (not needed until ready to fill pastries)
Chocolate ganache (recipe follows)
Beat the sugar, flour, cornstarch, and egg yolks on high speed until thick and yellow, about 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat milk and vanilla bean over medium heat. Remove the vanilla bean. Gradually add 1/3 of the milk to the egg mixture, stirring to combine. Add the egg/milk mixture back to the pan and remaining milk. Cook while whisking constantly. Scrape the corners and bottom of the pan to prevent scorching. Once custard begins to thicken, continue to cook for an additional 45 to 60 seconds. Add vanilla extract, if a vanilla bean was not used.
Pour custard into a clean bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap or waxed paper to prevent a skin from forming.
Refrigerate until cold--up to 2 days. At this point, check on your custard. It should be the consistency of pudding. If it’s not, put the pastry cream back in a pot, add a little cornstarch (1 t or so) and cook slowly over medium heat until it thickens. Cool in the fridge.
Before filling eclairs, beat the heavy cream to stiff peaks and fold into the cold custard.
Choux Pastry
(from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook)
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 cup (100g) butter
* 1 tsp sugar
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 1/4 cup flour
* 4 eggs, plus 1 egg white if needed
Preheat oven to 340°F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine 1 cup water, butter, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, and immediately remove from heat. Stir in flour. When flour is combined, return to heat. Cook, stirring constantly for 4 minutes. It is ready when it pulls away from the sides and a film forms on the bottom of the pan.
Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on low speed, until slightly cooled, about 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, on medium speed, letting each one incorporate completely before adding the next. Add final egg a little at a time until the batter is smooth and shiny. Test batter by touching it with your finger and lifting to form a string. If a string does not form, the batter needs more egg. If you have added all the eggs and the batter still doesn’t form a string, add the extra egg white, 1 tbsp at a time, until it does.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round or star tip with pate a choux batter; pipe out oblong shapes, about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide, onto prepared baking sheets at 2-inch intervals.
Bake until golden (this took a while, maybe 30 minutes. For crispier eclairs, which I prefer, poke a little hole in the side of the eclair 10 minutes before the end of the baking. Make sure the eclair shells are very brown and sound hollow when tapped.). Let cool on wire racks.
The pastries can be kept in airtight containers for 2 days, without filling.
When the eclair shells are completely cool, cut in half and pipe the custard cream in the middle. You can at this point put some berries in with the cream, or replace the top on the eclair and top with chocolate ganache (8 oz. chocolate, 1/2 cup heavy cream, melted together slowly over a double boiler until just melted).
My grade: A
Recipe grade: A- (it's hard to know when the eclair shell is baked enough)
Diagnosis: Worth making, though a multi-step process.
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