"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival."
- C. S. Lewis
We meet when we were 29 (Tones is a month and a day older than me - she'll kill me for telling you that!) ... look how young we all look!!!!
Turning the big '3-oh' was a bit of an issue with me so she came with me to Paris (along with Miss KH and a 'random' lol). It was tres brilliant! We went to Moulin Rouge on the night of my birthday and Toni did my hair in a lovely French Roll, she did my make up too ... I still have that top by the way ;0)
And this photo still makes me laugh.
Then came the time for Toni to go back to Australia (not my best photo!) ... I didn't like that very much.
Then I went to visit and stayed in Toni's parents haunted home ... I was a little bit scared! But Jess was there to protect us both ;0)
Toni took me to sample my first ever pie from Harry's Cafe De Wheels too, the real one, not the one that pretend one in Sydney.
And then, I got married, and Toni flew all the way around the world just to be with me! Toni laced me into my dress and held my hand in the car on the way to the church. I LOVE this photo ... almost as much as I love my Toni.
Hang in there Hun ... the night is always darkest before the dawn, and in the meantime I made real chocolate eclairs for you, even if you can only enjoy them virtually!
Homemade Eclairs
140g plain flour
Pinch of sugar
125ml milk
100g butter
4 eggs
For The Custard Filling (Mine have whipped cream in the middle ... Custard???)
300ml milk
50g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tsp each plain flour and cornflour
300ml double cream
Start by making the custard filling. Heat the milk until almost boiling in a saucepan. Meanwhile, mix together the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a bowl, then stir in the flours, a couple of tsp at a time, to a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in the hot milk, pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over a high heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 mins until thick – it will go alarmingly lumpy but don’t worry, just keep stirring it vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth. Lay a sheet of cling film directly on the custard surface, then cool and chill until you’re ready to fill the buns.
To make the choux buns, heat oven to 220C/fan 200C. Sift the flour with the sugar and a pinch of salt into a small bowl. Put the milk and butter into a medium saucepan with 125ml water and gently heat so the butter melts but the liquid doesn’t bubble. Once the butter has completely melted, increase the heat until the liquid comes to a fast rolling boil. Immediately turn off the heat, tip in the sifted flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth dough that comes away from the sides of the pan. Spread over a large dinner plate to cool to hand temp.
Once the dough mix has cooled, scrape it back into your pan. Using your wooden spoon, beat in each egg, one by one, until you have a smooth, shiny mixture.
Cut 2 large sheets of baking parchment. On each one draw 2 sets of ‘track’ lines with a 10cm gap – these will be your guidelines so your éclairs will all be roughly the same size. Use the paper to line 2 large baking sheets – pen side down. Spoon your choux mixture into a piping bag with a 1cm wide nozzle, or into a disposable piping bag with a similar size hole snipped off for piping. Pipe 2 rows of well spaced, squashed ‘s’ shapes on each sheet between the guidelines. Bake, one tray at a time, on a high-ish shelf for 25 mins, reducing temp to 200C/fan 180C as soon as they go in the oven.
After 25 mins, poke a hole in the end of each bun, or using a small serrated knife, split down the middle and return to the oven, upside down, to dry out for 5 mins until crisp and golden. Set aside to cool.
While the buns are cooling, finish your filling. Whisk the cream until thick, then use your electric mixer to beat the cooled, set custard until just smooth again. Fold in the cream. Spoon your filling into a piping bag – use a small nozzle if you’re filling the buns through the holes you’ve pierced, or a large nozzle if you’ve split the buns in half. Carefully pipe the custard into each cooled bun – they should feel heavy once full. Arrange the buns on a wire rack and spread each with a little of your chosen icing (see below).
Makes 24
Classic Chocolate Eclairs
Melt 100g plain chocolate and 25g butter together in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Once melted, remove from the heat and stir in 75ml double cream and 1 tbsp sifted icing sugar. Once cooled a little, spread over the tops of the buns and leave to cool.
Caramel Crunch Eclairs
Melt 100g golden caster sugar in a pan with 2 tbsp golden syrup and 2 tbsp water. Once melted, increase the heat, bubble until caramel coloured, then remove from the heat and stir in 4 tbsp toasted flaked almonds. Carefully dip the top of each bun into the hot caramel, spooning over a little extra to cover if you wish. Cool on a wire rack.
Coffee and Walnut Eclairs
Once you’ve beaten the eggs into your choux mixture, stir in 85g finely chopped walnuts. Add 2 tbsp strong coffee to the custard filling, and make an icing by mixing 140g icing sugar with enough strong coffee to get a thick but runny consistency for drizzling over filled buns.
• The secret to a crisp, well risen choux bun is to be fearless. No tentative mixing, just throw in the flour and give your arm a good workout, beating as hard as you can. Then after a rest, repeat to add the eggs.
Good Food Mag, March 10
Posts
0 comments:
Post a comment to: Classic Chocolate Eclairs