May 17

Profiteroles and Eclairs

It took me a long time but I finally reached 200 posts in my blog. I needed it to be special and decided to attempt something that I have been wanting to do for a while but wasn’t confident enough to. I tried it 3 days ago and flopped badly. But I didn’t give up. Today on world baking day, I present you my 200th post.


Eclairs and profiteroles.

Fillings –

Vanilla bean cream pastry with a coat of ganache and glitter sugar

Mango mousse with a drizzle of chocolate and mango pieces

Salted caramel mousse topped with salted caramel sauce and glitter sugar.


Thank you Malvika for guiding me in my first attempt. Though I made a mess of that. But talking to you through the process gave me the confidence to try again.


Adapted the recipe from Meenazs post. Just a small change. Thank you Meenaz


A special thanks to Ameya for not letting me give up on this attempt at choux. I was in tears after the initial flop and wanted to do something else but u convinced me to not give up.


Love to my amazing friends and family who always encourage me. I have given up many times but you guys don’t let me stop.


Thank u to the Lockdown that made me restart my blog once more.


CHOUX PASTRY


150 ml water
100 ml Amul Tazaa Milk
125 ml Amul butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
4 eggs
150gm flour

  1. In a saucepan, heat water, milk, butter, salt and sugar till it scalds and the butter is completely melted.
  2. Take off heat, add the flour and mix quickly.
  3. Put it back on heat and keep mixing the roux.
  4. Cook on low flame till it stops sticking to the pan and starts sizzlong softly.
  5. When the roux leaves the pan, shut the gas and let it cool.
  6. Heat the oven to 140 degrees. I keep it low as my oven gets very hot. You can also work between 160-180 degrees.
  7. In the meantime whisk the eggs together.
  8. When the roux has cooled down and is slightly warm to touch, add the eggs in intervals, mixing continuously in between. 
  9. If you have a kitchen aid use the dough attachment and your work is sorted.
  10. I don’t have a stand mixer so I keep beating and mixing it with a wooden spoon. (In my first attempt I used a hand beater as the effort of mixing by hand was too much, the choux flopped miserably)
  11. Add the eggs little by little and mix the mixture. U have to get a tight batter that when u lift the spoon it should drop heavy in a V shape. This takes time and effort. My husband helped beat the mixture too as my arms were hurting.
  12. Fill in piping bags with a French star nozzle or even a round one is fine.
  13. Place a silicon mat on a tray and pipe the profiteroles. A small blob with a swirl action so u don’t get a peak.
  14. For the eclairs just lift and pipe small logs of equal size 
  15. Take little water in your hand and sprinkle all over the mat and the piped choux.  This helps the dough rise.
  16. Wet your finger and gently press down any peaks or adjust the shape of our choux.
  17. Bake in lower rack for 30 mins.
  18. Then move to middle rack for 8-10 mins to get better browning.
  19. Check if the choux had fluffed and is light and has a knock to it. Should be crispy 
  20. Remove and cool. Store in airtight boxes once cooled untill assembly.

VANILLA CREAM PASTRY


3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 vanilla bean or 1 Tsp extract
2 cups whole milk
2 tbsp cornflour

1 tablespoon butter

  1. Place sugar, egg yolks, flour, cornflour and vanilla in a saucepan and mix together well.
  2. In a separate saucepan, scald milk. Very slowly pour milk over egg yolk mixture, in a thin stream, beating constantly with a hand blender.
  3. Continue cooking on low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until mixture reaches the boiling point.
  4. Lower flame and cook till it gets thick like a custard, stirring constantly.
  5. Remove pan from heat, add butter and mix well.
  6. Pour into bowl and let cool, stir occasionally to prevent skin from forming over the top.
  7. Chill (with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming) until very thick (about 3-4 hours).

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

200 gms dark chocolate

150 gms Amul Cream

2 tsp butter

  1. Chop the chocolate to small even pieces
  2. Heat the Amul cream in a pan, when it just starts to bubble shut the gas.
  3. Mix the butter with the cream and pour this mix over the chocolate.
  4. Leave it for 3-4 minutes and then mix well. Let it rest for a couple of hours.

SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE by Kiran Tarun

1.5 cups granulated sugar

1/3 cup water

4 tbsp butter, cubed and room temperature

1/2 cup heavy cream, room temperature

1 tsp sea salt1 tsp vanilla extract 

  1. Add water and granulated sugar into a saucepan. Heat saucepan over medium-high.
  2. RESIST any attempt to stir with a spatula or wooden spoon while sugar melts. Let it do its thing. It’ll bubble vigorously but DON’T be tempted to stick a wooden spoon to STIR. DON’T DO IT. You’d only risk a huge clump of mess! Crystalized sugar, no bueno.
  3. Instead, swirl the saucepan once or twice to evenly melt sugar and caramelize. Do not over-do it.
  4. Once sugar caramelizes into a nice dark amber shade, remove saucepan from heat and carefully drizzle in cubes of softened butter and cream. With a wooden spoon, continue whisking even though it looks like everything would bubble over, but trust me, it will settle. Just continue whisking, carefully and AVOID BURNS.
  5. DO NOT STICK YOUR FINGERS IN FOR TASTE. You will be awarded with 3rd degree burns. No joke.
  6. Once caramel is pourable, whisk in fleur de sel and vanilla extract. Store salted caramel sauce in airtight jars for up to a week.

ASSEMBLY

  1. Make a small hole at the bottom of the profiteroles or 3 holes in the eclairs. Pipe the filling through these holes. Drizzle ganache
  2. Alternately you can slice the eclair or the top of the profiteroles and pipe the filling. Top with ganache