Ingredients
Choux Pastry
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½ cup (125 ml) full cream milk
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½ cup (125 ml) water
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3 tsp sugar
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1/2 tsp salt
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100g unsalted butter
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1 tsp Queen Vanilla Bean Paste
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1 cup (150g) plain flour, sifted
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4 large eggs
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Icing sugar, to dust
Ermine Buttercream
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¼ cup (40g) plain flour, sifted
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1 cup (220g) caster sugar
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Pinch of salt
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1 cup (250ml) full cream milk
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225g unsalted butter, softened
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1 ½ tsp Queen Peppermint Extract
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Queen Teal Food Colour Gel
Chocolate Whipped Cream
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1/3 cup (50g) icing sugar mixture
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1/3 cup (45g) cocoa powder
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2 cups (500ml) thickened cream
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2 tsp Queen Vanilla Bean Paste
To Assemble
Method - Choux Pastry
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1
Preheat oven to 190°C (fan forced). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
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2
Place milk, water, sugar, salt, butter and Vanilla Bean Paste in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add flour mixing with a wooden spoon until combined. Return to stove over low heat and cook, stirring constantly until dough pulls away from the sides of the pan.
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3
Transfer dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on a medium speed for 3 minutes to cool the mixture down. Add eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to incorporate into the batter before adding the next.
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4
Spoon batter into a piping bag fitted with a French tip or large round tip. Pipe 10cm logs onto prepared baking tray 3cm apart using scissors to cut the dough. Bake for 10 minutes before opening the oven door to let the steam escape. Bake for the rest of 30 minutes with the oven door slightly ajar with a wooden spoon.
Method - Ermine Buttercream
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1
Whisk together flour, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Add milk and whisk until combined. Place on low heat and allow the mixture to come to a boil, whisking continuously. Once boiling, cook for 2 minutes, remove from heat and whisk for a further minute. Quickly pour mixture into a clean, shallow bowl or tray, placing a layer of cling wrap directly onto the mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to cool to room temperature.
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2
Beat butter in stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment for 5 minutes, or until fluffy and lightened in colour. Set aside.
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3
Add cooled pudding a tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all the pudding has been added, add Peppermint Extract and Teal Food Colour and mix for another 3 minutes.
Method - Chocolate Whipped Cream
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1
Whip icing sugar, cocoa, cream and Vanilla Bean Paste to firm peaks. Spoon into piping bag fitted with a 7-8mm round piping tip.
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2
Using a small sharp knife pierce 2-3 holes in the bottom of each éclair. Fill eclairs by piping cream into holes.
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3
Fill piping bag fitted with a large petal piping tip with buttercream and pipe ribbons onto eclairs. Top with Midnight Magic Sprinkles to serve.
Recipe Tips:
A french piping tip helps the eclairs to rise evenly, if you do not have one, pipe out eclairs with a large round tip, take a fork and draw the tines lightly down the length of each éclair. The quick dusting of icing sugar will help encourage caramelisation on the outside of the pastry and let the éclairs puff up properly.
Poking a few holes in the bottom fresh from the oven allows any steam to escape while cooling, so they don’t collapse or go soggy.
When making ermine buttercream, the pudding mixture must be completely cool before adding to butter or it will split.
Baked, unfilled eclairs can be frozen for up to a month. Simply thaw and refresh in the oven at 180°C degrees for 5-8 minutes before cooling and filling.
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