For the next couple of weeks, we will be sharing some Valentine’s Day recipes from some Toronto chefs and bakeries.
This week’s recipe is for those delicious Tahitian Vanilla éclairs from Nugateau which we featured in our post about great places in Toronto to buy holiday desserts.
This recipe make 15-20 eclairs.
Pâte à Choux
-Water – 100 gm
-Milk – 95 gm
-Salt – 4gm
-Sugar – 4gm
-Butter – 89 gm
-Flour – 115 gm
-Eggs – 200gm (4 large eggs)
-Milk – to brush the top of éclairs
Directions
1.Pre heat the oven to 350F.
2.Sift the flour and set aside.
3.In a pot, combine water, milk salt, sugar and butter. Bring it to a rolling boil.
4.Turn off the heat, add the flour and quickly mix until all the liquid is absorbed into the flour and no visible lumps or dry flour.
5.Cook the pate on medium heat for 12 minutes stirring it all the time. Cook until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan to form a ball and the surface has shiny and glossy look.
6.Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat on mediumlow speed until the dough is just warm to the touch.
7.At this stage you may or may not need all the eggs in the recipe. Add the eggs one at a time until the first one is completely mixed into the dough. When the paste is ready, the dough will be soft and very smooth. When scooped a bit with a spatula, it should leave behind a little “V” of dough on the spatula while falling off. If the dough is still very stiff, add just little more eggs to get the right consistency.
8.Fill up a piping bag with 6B tip and pipe into 13cm logs on a tray lined with parchment paper.
9.Brush lightly with milk on top of each éclair. Mist the tray with some cold water and put the tray in the middle of the oven.
10.Reduce the temperature to 320F. Bake for 25 minutes without opening the door or Continue baking until the éclairs have nice golden brown colour.
11.Gently open the oven door to let some steam out and bake another 4 minutes. Repeat same process until no steam is visible and the éclairs feel dry and crisp on top.
12.Remove and cool on a wire rack before filling.
Tahitian Vanilla Cream Filling
-Milk – 125 gm
-35% cream – 125 gm
-Tahitian vanilla bean – 1⁄2
-Egg yolks – 60 gm (3pcs)
-Sugar – 32 gm
-Cornstarch – 24 gm
-White chocolate chopped (zephyr) – 40 gm
-Butter (soft) – 25 gm
Directions
1.Combine milk and cream in a pot.
2.Split and scrape the vanilla bean and add it to the milk.
3.Combine yolks, sugar in a bowl and mix well. Add cornstarch and mix again until combined and smooth.
4.Bring the milk mixture to a boil. Add one third of the hot milk to the eggs and mix well. Once combined add all the remaining hot milk to the eggs and mix until smooth.
5.Transfer the entire mixture to the pot again and continue cooking on medium heat until it comes to a boil. Stir continuously to avoid any lumps in the cream.
6.Once the cream comes to a boil, cook for another 30-50 seconds.
7.Remove the mixture and add it to the white chocolate. Whisk well, until all the chocolate is melted and incorporated into the cream.
8.Cover the cream with a plastic wrap all the way on the surface and chill for 20-30 minutes until the mixture feels room temperature.
9.Remove and mix in the soft butter, preferably using a whisk or a hand blender until smooth and creamy.
10.Chill the cream filling for at least 2 hours or more before using. Its good to prepare it one day ahead.
Process
Using a small knife or a small piping tip make two small holes close to both the ends of the éclair on the bottom side. Fill a piping bag with a small piping tip 801 or something similar.
Pipe the cream into the éclairs on each side making sure it’s filled all the way to the center.
Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
Glaze using a soft fondant mixed with vanilla bean seeds or a white chocolate ganache with vanilla. Decorate with toasted almonds or just a dust of icing sugar.
