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.

CREAM SODA AND RASPBERRY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Make the cupcakes: Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius. Line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
• Use a small, sharp knife to trim the ends of the lemon and then cut away all the skin and pith. Slide your knife between the membranes to release the segments, then roughly chop each segment into 3 or 4 pieces. You need 24 pieces in total. Stuff each of the raspberries with the lemon pieces and set aside.
• Add the butter, sugar and cream-soda extract to the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment in place. (Alternatively, do this in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer). Mix on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, or until pale, fluffy and aerated. Scrape down the sides if needed, then turn the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is completely incorporated.
• Scrape the bowl. Then, with the speed on medium-low, add the mascarpone, flour, baking powder and salt, and mix to combine. Turn the speed to medium and mix for 15 seconds, or until everything is smooth and evenly combined. Use two spoons to evenly divide the batter among the liners, so they are about two-thirds full. Press two raspberries, hole sides up, into the center of a cupcake so they're submerged halfway in the batter. Repeat with the remaining berries and cupcakes.
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once the cupcakes are cool, make the toppings: Blitz the raspberries into a smooth purée using a small food processor or blender. (Alternatively, mash them very thoroughly with a fork.) For the frosting, add the mascarpone, cream, sugar and cream-soda extract to the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place. Start the mixer on low, then gradually increase the speed to medium-high and whisk for about 1½ minutes, or until soft to medium peaks form. You don't want it to be runny at all. (Alternatively, do this in a bowl with a hand-held mixer.) Add the blitzed raspberries, stirring just 3 or 4 times and not more so that the frosting is streaky with red bits throughout.
• Fit a piping bag with a star-shaped piping tip (about 1 ¼-inches/30-millimeters wide) if you have one. (Alternatively, snip a hole in a piping bag or resealable plastic bag.) Place the bag tip-side down into a cup and fold the top over the rim to help keep it upright. Use a spatula to transfer the mascarpone cream to the bag and then pipe tall swirls of the cream on top of the cupcakes. Just before serving, sprinkle with the meringue and, if using, the popping candy.

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.

PASSION FRUIT & RASPBERRY ECLAIRS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6. Fold a sheet of greaseproof paper in half and then unfold to leave a crease. Sift together the flour and salt onto the paper twice. Put the butter and water in a pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and tip the entire flour and salt mixture into the pan. Reduce the heat to low and return the pan to the stove. Beat the mix with a wooden spoon or electric mixer over a low heat until it comes away easily from the sides. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Beat in the eggs a little at a time, mixing until smooth yet strong enough to stand in peaks. You may not need all the egg.
• Pipe the choux into thick eclair strips (10-12cm long and 1.5cm wide) on a non-stick baking tray, leaving a space between each. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden and crisp to the touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. You can make the eclairs up to this stage the day before and keep them in an airtight container, or they can be frozen.
• Halve the passion fruits and scoop the pulp into a small pan. Add the sugar and bring to a simmer. Cook gently for a minute or two until a thick consistency is reached. Leave until cold, then spoon the syrup into the custard, saving a little to finish the dish.
• Whip the cream to soft peaks before gently spooning into the flavoured custard. Refrigerate until needed (it will keep for up to 4 hours).
• To serve, split the eclairs lengthways and put the bases on individual plates. Spoon on the cream generously - it will happily tumble onto the plate. Now sprinkle the raspberries over and around, and drizzle with the passion fruit syrup. The lids can now be placed on top and dusted with icing sugar.

ECLAIRS II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.
• In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, stirring until butter melts completely. Reduce heat to low, and add flour and salt. Stir vigorously until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and begins to form a stiff ball. Remove from heat. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to incorporate completely after each addition. With a spoon or a pastry bag fitted with a No. 10, or larger, tip, spoon or pipe dough onto cookie sheet in 1 1/2 x 4 inch strips.
• Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and bake 20 minutes more, until hollow sounding when lightly tapped on the bottom. Cool completely on a wire rack.
• For the filling, combine pudding mix and milk in medium bowl according to package directions. In a separate bowl, beat the cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Fold whipped cream into pudding. Cut tops off of cooled pastry shells with a sharp knife. Fill shells with pudding mixture and replace tops.
• For the icing, melt the chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in 1 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in hot water, one tablespoon at a time, until icing is smooth and has reached desired consistency. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and drizzle over filled eclairs. Refrigerate until serving.