Raspberry And Cream Éclairs Recipes

RASPBERRY AND CREAM ÉCLAIRS

Steps:

• Make the raspberry cream: Add 1 tablespoon cold water to a small bowl; sprinkle the gelatin evenly on top. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, smash 1/2 cup fresh raspberries in a large bowl. Add the cream cheese, honey, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and half the freeze-dried raspberry powder and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
• Heat 1/4 cup heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium-high. Stir in the gelatin mixture and cook until the gelatin is completely dissolved, about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly, then stir into the cream cheese mixture until combined. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Prepare the puffs: In a medium saucepan, bring the butter, granulated sugar, salt and 3/4 cup water to a simmer over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon to encourage the butter to melt. As soon as it comes to a boil, add the flour, stirring constantly, until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring the dough occasionally to cool.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Off heat, add the eggs to the pan, one at a time, stirring vigorously between each addition with a wooden spoon. The dough will break apart and slide around in the pot before it comes back together. Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large round or star tip.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Pipe the dough into 4 1/2-inch-by-3/4-inch lengths about 3 inches apart. With a damp fingertip, flatten any points. Bake until deep golden brown and puffed, rotating the sheets halfway through, 20 to 24 minutes. They should be very light and crisp. Turn the oven off. Poke each éclair on either end with a toothpick to allow some steam to release. Return the puffs to the oven and prop the oven door open slightly with the handle of a wooden spoon. Allow the puffs to dry out completely, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Prepare the glaze: Mash the fresh raspberries and run them through a fine-mesh sieve, reserving all the juice and discarding the seeds. Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt to the reserved juice and whisk until smooth.
• Finely chop the remaining 1 cup fresh raspberries. Whip the remaining 1/2 cup cream to soft peaks. Gently stir the chilled raspberry cream to loosen it, then fold in the raspberries and the whipped cream. Transfer the cream to a pastry bag fitted with a large fluted tip. Slice the top third off each éclair and fill the lower portion with cream. Dip the top of the top piece in the glaze, letting any excess drip off, and replace it. Sprinkle with the remaining raspberry powder. Serve immediately.

CHOCOLATE-GLAZED RASPBERRY ECLAIRS

Steps:

• In a small heavy saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat., In a small bowl, whisk a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to pan, whisking constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes. Immediately transfer to a clean bowl; stir in butter. Press plastic wrap onto surface of filling; refrigerate until cold., Preheat oven to 425°. For pastry, in a large saucepan, bring water, butter, milk, sugar and salt to a rolling boil. Add flour all at once and beat until blended. Cook over medium heat, stirring vigorously until mixture pulls away from sides of pan and forms a ball. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes., Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny. Transfer to a piping bag with a large round tip. Pipe twelve 4-1/2-in. strips about 3 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°; bake until golden brown, 8-10 minutes longer. Pierce side of each eclair with tip of knife. Cool on wire racks. Split eclairs open. Pull out and discard soft dough from inside tops and bottoms., For the glaze, in a microwave, melt chocolate chips, cream and corn syrup; stir until smooth. Stir raspberries into chilled pastry filling, mashing berries lightly. Fill eclairs just before serving. Dip tops in chocolate glaze; replace tops. Top with additional fresh raspberries. Let stand until set. Refrigerate leftovers.

RASPBERRY & CARDAMOM ECLAIRS

Steps:

• Make the eclairs and crème pâtissière using our classic recipe.
• Pick out 10 raspberries and set aside. Press the remaining raspberries through a sieve into a large bowl, extracting as much juice as possible. Add the fondant icing sugar and enough water to make a thick icing. Cover with cling film. Transfer the raspberry jam to a piping bag and pipe a line along the bottom half of the split eclairs.
• Pour the double cream into a bowl and add the icing sugar. Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods, pound them using a pestle and mortar, then tip into the cream. Beat with an electric hand whisk to stiff peaks. Fold through the crème pâtissière, then transfer to a piping bag. Pipe generous blobs over the base of each eclair.
• Spread the glaze over the top of the eclairs (be careful as they will be delicate). Position the tops on the cream. After every four or five eclairs, decorate the tops while the icing is still wet. Halve the raspberries and put on one end of each eclair. Sprinkle over some freeze-dried raspberry pieces to finish. For more help, see our how to make choux pastry and eclairs video.

LEMON AND RASPBERRY éCLAIRS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Grease two large baking trays with butter.
• For the choux pastry, put the butter and 150ml/5½fl oz water in a small pan over a low heat. Bring slowly to the boil, tip in the flour, then remove from the heat. Stir vigorously.
• When the mixture becomes a smooth paste, return the pan to the heat, stirring constantly. The mixture will dry out a little and form a soft ball that comes away from the sides of the pan.
• Remove the pan from the heat again, leave the mixture to cool slightly, then gradually add the eggs, beating really well between each addition until the mixture is smooth and glossy. (You may not need all the eggs, the mixture should be a piping consistency.)
• Sprinkle the baking tray with water (a water spray with a fine nozzle is good for this).
• Spoon the éclair mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 1cm/½in plain nozzle. Pipe the mixture onto the baking sheets into 7.5cm/3in lengths, leaving room between each éclair for them to spread a bit.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 190C/170C(fan)/Gas 5 and bake for a further 20 minutes. Split each éclair in half lengthways and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the filling, whip the cream to soft peaks. Divide the cream into separate bowls and fold the lemon curd into one bowl of cream and the raspberry powder into the other.
• Once the éclairs have cooled, spoon the lemon cream into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm/½in plain nozzle and pipe the lemon cream into the bottom half of six éclairs, then spoon the raspberry cream into the piping bag and pipe into the bottom half of the remaining éclairs.
• For the icing, place half the icing sugar in a bowl and mix with enough lemon juice to form a very stiff icing. Colour with the yellow food colouring and spoon into a disposable piping bag.
• Tip the remaining icing sugar into a bowl and add enough water to make a very stiff icing.
• Colour with the pink food colouring and spoon into a disposable piping bag. Snip the ends off the piping bags and pipe on top of the raspberry éclairs. Spread the icing out using a palette knife dipped in boiling water, so the top is smooth.
• Repeat with the yellow icing on the remaining six eclairs. Place on top of the lemon cream filled eclairs.
• Drizzle the melted white chocolate over the raspberry éclairs in a zig zag pattern. Drizzle swirls of melted dark chocolate over the lemon éclairs. Serve.