Vanilla Cream For Mini Eclairs With Strawberries Food

MINI ECLAIRS WITH STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Bring milk, water, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat, and stir in flour. Return to heat, and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from sides of pan, about 4 minutes. Transfer to the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed to cool slightly, about 1 minute. With machine running, add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip.
• Pipe twenty 2 1/2-inch-long eclairs onto each sheet. Bake until eclairs rise and are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
• Split eclairs in half lengthwise using a serrated knife. Pipe vanilla cream onto eclair bottoms. Spoon macerated berries on top of cream, and sandwich with eclair tops. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately.
• Bake the mini eclairs the day you plan on serving them.

STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM ECLAIRS

Steps:

• For the eclairs: Put the water, milk, butter, superfine sugar and salt into a saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a gentle boil; this should take about a minute. As soon as it reaches a boil, add the flour and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it forms a glossy ball of dough, about 2 minutes.
• Put the ball of dough into a large bowl and allow it to cool for 2 minutes. Next, slowly add one-quarter of the beaten egg mixture and mix together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is homogeneous. Keep adding the egg a little at a time until the dough reaches the dropping stage--when you lift the wooden spoon out of the bowl, the mixture should fall off the spoon in 3 seconds. You may not need all of the egg, so be careful to add it slowly as to not make the mixture too runny.
• Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a French star tip nozzle (see Cook's Note). Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper and pipe ten 5-inch lines of dough on it. Put the baking sheet in the freezer for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 205 degrees C/400 degrees F.
• Just before you add the eclairs, throw 2 tablespoons of water in the bottom of the oven to create some steam. Immediately place the eclairs in the oven and lower the temperature to 160 degrees C/320 degrees F. Bake until the eclairs are golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Allow to cool.
• For the filling: Add the cream, superfine sugar and vanilla to a bowl and whisk until it reaches very soft peaks. Place the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a French star tip nozzle or other decorative tip.
• Assembly: Slice the cooled eclair shells in half lengthwise to make top and bottom shells. Dust the top shells lightly with powdered sugar. On the bottom shells, lay down some sliced strawberries, then pipe the whipped cream in a swirling motion on top. Place the top shells on the cream, then pipe more whipped cream on the tops in small dollops and decorate with more fresh strawberries.

VANILLA CREAM

Steps:

• Whisk yolks until smooth. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add milk in a slow, steady stream. Cook, stirring, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken, about 5 minutes.
• Pour 1/3 of milk mixture into yolks, whisking constantly. Return mixture to saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thick, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in vanilla.
• Pass vanilla cream through a fine sieve into a bowl. Press plastic wrap directly on surface. Refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.

MINI ECLAIRS

Steps:

• To make the buns, heat the milk, butter and 150ml water very gently in a medium-sized saucepan until all the butter has melted. Get the flour and some salt ready, then increase the heat and bring the liquid to the boil. As soon as it is boiling, remove from the heat and beat in the flour and a pinch of salt with a wooden spoon. Keep beating until the mixture is smooth and comes away from the sides of the pan. Cool for 5 mins.
• Gradually add the eggs, mixing well between each addition until the mixture reluctantly drops off the spoon. Don't add all the egg unless you need to. Spoon into a piping bag with a 1.5-2cm star or round nozzle and set aside until ready to bake.
• To make the filling, bring the milk just to the boil in a saucepan with the vanilla paste or split pod. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and flours in a mixing bowl. Pour on the hot milk while continuously whisking the egg mixture. Discard the pod (if using) and return the mix to a wiped-out saucepan. Cook over a gentle heat, stirring, until the mix is thicker than a custard - it will get lumpy, but just carry on stirring and beat out the lumps. Transfer to another mixing bowl and lay cling film directly on the surface. Leave to cool, then chill.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Line a couple of baking sheets with baking parchment. Pipe on 8-10cm long lengths of the dough, about 2cm wide - leaving space to expand between each one. Put in the oven for 5 mins, then reduce heat to 200C/200C fan/gas 6 and bake for 10 mins more until golden, puffed and crisp. Using a skewer, poke 3 small holes along the base of each bun. Put back on the baking sheets, base up, and return to the oven for a further 8-10 mins until slightly crisper. Cool. Can be frozen for up to a month, or stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days - just crisp up in a hot oven again when ready to fill.
• Add the cream to the thick custard filling and beat with an electric whisk until it holds its own shape again. Put into a piping bag with a tiny nozzle, then pipe some filling into the bottom of the buns using the skewer holes you made before (see Secrets of success, below). When it squirts back out, that bit is probably full.
• Stir the liqueur, if using, into the icing sugar, plus just enough water to make a pretty thick icing. Divide among as many bowls as you want colours, and colour each batch as you like. (Depending on your colouring, you may need to add a drop more water to icings so that they are thick but runny.)
• Dip the top of each eclair in icing to cover, or use a teaspoon to spread a little on - use less at first and wait for it to spread and settle. Add sprinkles and decorations, then gently sit on wire racks to set. Eclairs are best eaten on the day they are filled and decorated, before they go soggy.

VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream and the half and half. Gradually whisk in the sugar until blended.
• Whisk in the vanilla. Refrigerate, covered, until very cold, at least 3 hours or as long as 3 days.
• Whisk the mixture to blend and pour into the canister of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Eat at once or transfer to a covered container and freeze up to 8 hours.

VANILLA CREAM FOR MINI ECLAIRS WITH STRAWBERRIES

Steps:

• Combine cream, vanilla seeds and pod, and sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Discard pod. Whisk cream mixture on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip.