Eclairs

When Fleur over at Homemade By Fleur tweeted a picture of her gorgeous strawberry and cream eclairs I was inspired. I'd never made choux pastry before and eclairs have always looked too difficult for a mere mortal like me to make.

However, Fleur persuaded me to make them so I rose to the challenge and got up early last Saturday to make them for a barbeque in the afternoon. I researched a few recipes and began to worry over the amount of eggs and use of milk. In the end I turned to my Baking Bible and put my trust in Mrs Berry. I was really surprised at how choux pastry is made and how easy it is. You heat butter and water in a pan, bring to the boil then add flour. You add the eggs and pipe out when cool ready to bake. There seem to be various opinions on when to leave the mixture to cool, how long to bake them for and when to pierce the eclairs.

I'm not a fan of plain cream so I sweetened it icing sugar and vanilla essence. Fleur topped hers with white chocolate but I had milk chocolate in the cupbaord so I opted for a more traditional eclair and then drizzled melted dark chocolate over them. I was very pleased with the end result and they disappeared very quickly! The sweetened cream was definitely nicer and the strawberries are very appropriate what with the sunshining (it was, I promise - very briefly!) and the Wimbledon season in full swing.