Pistachio and raspberry eclairs

Ingredients

Choux pastry:

• 120 ml water
• 50 g butter
• 1 pinch of salt
• 75 g flour
• 2 eggs

Pistachio mousseline cream:

• 350 ml milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 75 g sugar
• 30 g cornflour
• 150 g butter
• 2 tablespoons pistachio paste

Craquelin:

• 50 g brown sugar
• 40 g softened butter
• 50 g flour
• pink food colouring
• 125 g raspberries
• icing sugar

Materials

• Piping bag
• Plain nozzle
• Shaped nozzle
• Eclair template

Preparation

• The pistachio mousseline cream:
  Bring the milk to the boil. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture becomes light and creamy. Then incorporate the cornflour and mix well.
• Now gradually pour the boiling milk over the mixture. Stir well, then pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
  
• Return the cream to the saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly until it thickens. Once the ideal consistency is reached, remove from the heat.
• Add 50 g of butter to the still-warm cream. Leave the remaining butter out of the fridge to soften. Cover the cream with cling film and let it cool to room temperature.
  
• The craquelin:
  Cream the softened butter and brown sugar together. Then add the flour and mix until a dough forms. Finally, add the pink food colouring and mix well.
• Now roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper (it must be 2 millimetres thick). Then place in the refrigerator.
  
• The choux pastry:
  In a saucepan, heat the water with the butter and salt. When the butter has melted, add all the flour and stir well until the dough comes away from the sides of the saucepan.
• Now remove the saucepan from the heat and add the eggs, one at a time. Remember to stir each time you incorporate an egg (stir vigorously as the elasticity of the mixture is at stake during this step).
  
• Lay a sheet of baking paper on the baking tray, with the eclair templates underneath.
  Then fill a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle with the choux pastry and pipe the eclairs.
• Take the craquelin out of the fridge and cut pieces the same size as your eclairs. Be careful, the craquelin must remain hard, if it is too hot, do not hesitate to put it in the freezer to prevent the butter from melting quickly.
  
• Now place a piece of craquelin on top of each eclair (if it breaks, don't worry; it will even out during baking).
• Bake for 35 minutes at 350°F (180°C).
  At the end of baking, do not immediately take the tray out of the oven, your eclairs may deflate. So leave the oven door half-open for at least 10 minutes before taking them out.
  
• When the eclairs have cooled, you can finish making the mousseline cream:
  
  Add the room-temperature pistachio paste and beat with an electric mixer. Add one-third of the remaining softened butter and beat at maximum speed.
• When the first piece of butter is well incorporated, repeat the operation until it is finished. After you have incorporated all the butter, continue to process the mixture for two to three minutes, until you obtain a thick cream.
  
• Now cut your eclairs in two lengthwise. Then fill a pastry bag with the mousseline cream and fill them generously.
• Lay a few raspberries on top of the cream, taking care to place them on the ends so that they can be seen.
  
• Close the eclairs and dust them with icing sugar.
• Et voilà, the eclairs with pistachio cream and raspberries are ready!
  

Questions

Photos of members who cooked this recipe