Home Made Eclairs with Pistachio Pastry Crème & Peanut Brittle
This recipe is dedicated to my sister-in-law, who is the only person I know who would always chooses something made out of choux pastry from a menu.
Her preference is a traditional round profiterole, so I thought I’d tempt her with something a little more unusual.
She always loves cream in the centre of the choux bun, so I thought I’d change that up and pipe it on top instead, and fill the centre with a decadent pistachio patisserie crème.
I’m not one for over fancy, and even though these may look elaborate, taking the recipe step by step and reading the instructions carefully, and the end result are tubes of light pastry filled with a smooth filling and topped with texture and Chantilly cream.
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Creamy, crunchy with melt in the mouth choux pastry.
What You Need
Eclair Recipe
Makes Approx. 5-6 – See Tip Box
65g Plain Flour
50g Butter – Chopped into small pieces – See Tip Box
120ml Cold Water
2 Large Eggs - See Tip Box
Draw guide lines on a sheet of non- stick paper.
Peanut Brittle
200g Castor Sugar
100g Unsalted Peanuts
Pistachio Pastry Crème
250ml Full Fat Milk
50g Egg Yolks – About 3-4 egg yolks
50g Castor Sugar
35g Butter – See Tip Box
20g Pistachio Paste
15g Cornflour
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
Pinch of malden Sea salt
For the pistachio creme pat’ whisk the egg
Decoration
200g Dark Chocolate
25g Fresh Shelled Pistachio – Roughly Chopped
300ml Double Cream
3 tbsp Icing Sugar
How It’s Done
Pistachio Pastry Crème
Mix the egg yolks and the sugar together until pale and a little fluffy.
Add the cornflour to the bowl along with a pinch of Maldon Sea salt
Heat the milk in a saucepan until boiling and then very slowly stream a quarter of the milk into the egg mixture. Make sure to whisk the eggs constantly while adding the milk. This is called tempering. - See Tip Box
Once the first addition of the milk is whisked in, slowly stream the rest of the milk into the eggs, whisking constantly so no lumps form.
Return the mixture to the saucepan, and on a low to medium heat, bring it up to a gentle boil, making sure to whisk all the time.
Continue heating until the mixture thickens and is smooth
Once thick and smooth remove from the heat and immediately stir in the small pieces of butter, the pistachio paste, and vanilla.
Whisk the mixture until everything is combined, the butter has melted in and the pistachio creme pat’ is smooth.
Scrape all of the creme pat’ into a bowl, and lay a piece of foil directly on top pf the creme so as not to let a skin form.
Set it aside in the fridge to cool completely and thicken up before using it.
As it gets cold, it should become set
Whisk until the butter is melted in.
Eclair
Set the oven to 200c
Cut out a piece of baking tray with non-stick baking parchment.
Draw guide lines on the parchment, and turn it over so the lines are underneath but you can see the guide lines through the paper
Lay the non-stick baking parchment on the baking tray and set aside until needed.
Sift the flour into a bowl.
Cut the butte into small pieces and sift the flour
Place the 120ml of warm water and the chopped butter into a heavy bottomed saucepan
Gently heat the water until the butter is melted – Don’t let the water boil for too long– See Tip Box
Once the butter has melted, and as soon as the water comes to a boil, remove it from the heat and, off the heat and all at once, dump all of the flour into the water.
Use a wooden spoon and stir vigorously until the flour is mixed in.
Put the saucepan back on a low heat, and with a wooden spoon stir the soft dough to cook it, for 1 minute – The choux dough should leave a very thin layer around the edge of the saucepan.
Remove the saucepan and scrape all the hot choux pastry into the bowl of an electric mixer.
On a low to medium speed, and using a beater attachment, let the machine run until the choux pastry cools a little to become more of a tepid temperature – See Tip Box
While this is happening prepare the eggs by cracking them into a bowl and, using a fork to beat them until they become very loose and mixed together.
Once the choux pastry is cooler, pour a couple of tablespoons of the beaten eggs into the already turned-on electric mixing bowl.
Scraping down the bowl, after each addition of eggs, and letting each addition thoroughly mix in, add as much egg as needed so that the choux pastry is thick and drops into a V shape off the paddle mixer when lifted up – See Tip Box
The mixture should be smooth drop off the paddle like a V shape.
You may not need all of the eggs, so be careful to make sure to add only small amounts of egg at a time and that each addition is incorporated before adding more.
Once the choux is the correct thickness, transfer it to a piping bag.
Cut the tip off the piping bag, and using the guide lines on the non-stick baking parchment, pipe the choux.
Use the guidelines when piping the mixture.
Add a few drops of water in between each of the piped choux pastry - See Tip Box
Put the tray in the hot oven and let it bake for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, and without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 180c and let the eclairs bake for another 30 – 40 minutes until the eclairs are a deep golden brown and dry to the touch – See Tip Box
Once baked, remove the tray from the oven and close the oven door.
Use a sharp knife and pierce the sides of each éclair and cut a slit in the side of each éclair.
Place the eclairs back on the tray and back into the oven for 5 minutes – See Tip Box
After the time is up, remove the tray from the oven and let them cool completely before filling or decorating.
Golden and light in texture
Brittle
In an even layer, lay the peanuts in a silicone mat and set said until needed.
Place the castor sugar into a heavy bottomed saucepan and on a low to medium heat, let the sugar heat up until it becomes a thick caramel which is a deep golden colour – See Tip Box
The caramel should be a deep colour
As soon as the caramel is ready, pour it over the peanuts.
Set the brittle aside to go cold and hard. As it gets cold it will harden up.
Let the brittle get completely cold and set before whizzing it.
Once completely set hard, break it into chunks, and put into a food processor.
Whizz it for a few seconds until it starts to look a little like sand.
Set it aside until needed.
Put the whizzed brittle aside until needed
Chantilly Cream
Pour the double cream into a bowl and add the icing sugar.
Use an electric whisk or a ball hand whisk to beat the cream until it holds soft peaks.
Place the bowl in the fridge until needed.
Melt the Chocolate
Break the chocolate up into small pieces and put the pieces into a microwavable bowl.
Place the bowl into the microwave and heat in 30 second bursts, mixing it after each 30 seconds.
Don’t over heat the chocolate. The best way to ensure this doesn’t happen is to stop heating it when there are still a few chocolate pieces un-melted in the bowl.
As the chocolate is stirred, those pieces will melt, the chocolate won’t be burnt, making it perfect to coat the eclairs.
Dip the tops of each eclair in the melted chocolate
Assembly
Take the cold eclair and holding it gently but firmly, lay the very top of the éclair in the melted chocolate, so that the very top is coated.
Lay the éclair on a piece of non-stick baking parchment.
Repeat this with all the rest of the eclairs.
Let the chocolate set completely before filling and decorating – See Tip Box
Using a spoon, fill a piping bag with the pistachio crème patisserie.
Cut a little bit off the tip of the piping bag, and gently push the tip of it through the slit in the side of the éclair.
Squeeze the piping bag, gently, until the inside of the éclair is full.
Repeat with the remaining eclairs.
Spoon the prepared Chantilly cream into a separate piping bag.
To make the look cream fancy, add a fancy tip to the piping bag- but this is optional.
Pipe Chantilly cream over the top of the set chocolate
Pipe a nice patten on top of the chocolate
If you want to stop decorating here, that’s your choice. Without the rest of the decorations, the eclairs will still taste amazing.
Arrange a few pieces of the crushed brittle and then the chopped pistachio on top pf the piped cream, to finish off the decorating – This too is optional.
Serve at room temperature but store in the fridge.
Keep for up to three days.
Decorate with pieces of brittle and chopped pistachios
Tip Box
How many eclairs – Depends on the size piped, and this will depend on the size of the hole cut in the tip of the piping bag.
Adding the boiling milk to the eggs - Is called tempering. This is a process to make sure that something hot, when added to something cold, in this case the eggs, do not curdle when first added.
Butter – I use salted butter, if you don’t, add a very small pinch of salt to the choux pastry along with the flour, and to the pistachio pastry crème along with the castor sugar
Adding the Eggs to the choux – All the beaten egg may not be needed; it depends on the thickness of the mixture after each addition of the eggs. So, it is important to check the consistency of the mixture after every addition of a couple of tablespoons of egg.
Not too sweet
Don’t let the water boil for too long– This may seem like a strange thing to say, but as the water is measured at 120ml, as the water boils it will then become steam, and as it becomes steam the water content will evaporate, and this will change the recipe. So, heat very gently, giving the saucepan a swirl every now and then until just boiling and the butter has melted.
Mix the choux until tepid – It’s important not to pour any of the beaten eggs into a hot choux pastry. If the beaten eggs are put into the choux mix too soon, when it’s hot, the eggs will cook and the mixture will curdle.
Baking – 1) All ovens vary so adjust cooking time accordingly.
2) Adding a few drops of water to the tray when baking, means that steam is formed as soon as the tray hits the hot oven, and this steam will help the pastry to rise.
Return to the oven for 5 minutes - Once a cut has been made in the side of the eclair, returning the choux pastry back to the oven for an extra 5 minutes ensures that the inside isn’t stodgy, heavy and wet.
Helping the chocolate to set – It’s Important to let the chocolate on the top of the éclair set hard before trying to decorate them. To help the chocolate set, place the tray holding the eclairs in to the fridge for 30 minutes.
Decorate and eat
