Last week, I started to make these éclairs as I have a book at home called ‘Last dinner on the Titanic’. I used the éclair recipe from the book, as April 14th is the 100th year anniversary of the Titanic hitting an iceberg. I thought it would make an interesting blog post that would reflect a bit on the last meal eaten by those poor souls that were lost that night. I was just about to pipe the éclairs, when I realised I couldn’t find my cloth piping bag. The best piping bag I have is this old cloth piping bag. I was delighted when I finally found it. This isn’t just any piping bag. This is my Mum’s piping bag. It’s the one she used to use when she made éclairs when we were kids. My Mum passed away last year, so now everything belonging to her is so full of history. I don’t think I’ve ever used this piping bag without smiling or crying and remembering and reflecting on her life. I love the way these types of benign artefacts take you away from the banal to a moment in time. I guess history is always around us, we just need to take a step back and tune into it.Other than the Titanic, there is another reason why April 14th is an historical day of sorts. Yesterday, the OH and I finally got married and had a beautiful marraige at my home. There was alot of cheese, and even the bride and groom wore aprons. It was so much fun 🙂 I promise to post some photos soon.
Here’s how:
Choux Pastry
– 150g plain flour
– 1 teaspoon of sugar
– 250ml of cold water
– 100g butter
– 4 eggs
Crème patisserie
– 150 ml milk
– 100ml double cream
– 20g plain flour
– 15g cornflour (cornstarch)
– 3 free range large egg yolks
– 40g caster sugar
– 240ml of stiff whipped cream
Chocolate topping
– 85g of dark chocolate
Choux Eclairs
Line a baking sheet with silicone paper. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Sieve the flour and sugar onto a plate. Place the butter and cold water into a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Next, pour the flour and sugar from the plate into the pot of boiling water and butter. Stir well.
Take the saucepan off the heat. Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon until forms a ball. This should take just a few minutes.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together. Keep the pot off the heat and beat the eggs into the mixture, a little at a time, until smooth. You need to beat it quite vigorously to get it all to blend together. You should end up with a thick and shiny paste. The mixture should drop off the spoon when tapped off the side of the pot.
Using a piping bag, pipe the mixture onto the lined baking sheet and bake at until golden brown both top and bottom. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Using a sharp knife, make a small hole in the side of each bun to release any steam. Leave to cool.
Crème patisserie
In a large heavy based saucepan, heat the milk and cream together, until just about to boil. Sift the flour and cornflour together onto a large plate Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a medium sized bowl then mix in the flour. Add a splash of the hot creamy milk and whisk well until the mixture is smooth, then gradually whisk in the rest of the milk. Pour back into the pan and whisk over a medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes until thickened and smooth. Transfer to a bowl, cover and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming. Once cool, mix the whipped cream and crème patisserie together.
Slice the elairs in half. Melt the dark chocolate over a saucepan of boiling water. Once melted, brush the dark chocolate onto the top of the eclairs. Leave to set.
Pipe the crème patisserie into the bottom of the eclair. Place the chocolate half of the eclair on top, and serve on an old fashioned plate.
