Raspberry Almond Cream Éclairs
Equipment
- 2 Medium saucepan
- 1 Baking sheet
- 1 silicone baking mat or 1 sheet parchment paper
- 1 Stand mixer or 1 hand mixer
- 3 Mixing bowl
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 1 Rubber spatula
- 1 Wire rack
- 1 Fine mesh sieve
- 1 large piping bag
- 2 small piping bag
- 1 large round piping tip about 1/2 inch
- 1 small round piping tip
- 1 Skewer or paring knife
Ingredients
- 120 ml water
- 120 ml whole milk
- 115 g unsalted butter cubed
- 6 g granulated sugar
- 3 g fine sea salt
- 150 g all-purpose flour sifted
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 250 g fresh raspberries divided
- 40 g granulated sugar for raspberry sauce
- 5 ml lemon juice
- 250 ml whole milk for pastry cream
- 60 g granulated sugar for pastry cream
- 20 g cornstarch
- 2 large egg yolks
- 15 g unsalted butter for pastry cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 80 g almond paste grated
- 250 ml heavy cream cold
- 20 g powdered sugar
- 40 g sliced almonds toasted
- 120 g white chocolate chopped, for glaze
- 30 ml heavy cream for glaze
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Combine water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a full simmer.
- Stir in flour all at once and cook, stirring vigorously, until the dough pulls from the sides and a film forms on the pan, about 2 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl and cool 5 minutes, then beat in eggs one at a time until smooth and pipeable.
- Spoon the pâte à choux into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe twelve 12 cm logs, spacing well.
- Smooth any peaks with a damp fingertip and mist lightly with water.
- Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes, reduce to 175°C, and bake 15–18 minutes more until deeply golden and dry.
- Turn off the oven, poke each éclair with a skewer to vent, and dry inside the oven with the door ajar for 10 minutes, then cool on a rack.
- For raspberry sauce, simmer 150 g raspberries with 40 g sugar and lemon juice for 3–4 minutes, then press through a sieve and chill.
- For pastry cream, heat milk to steaming; in a bowl whisk sugar, cornstarch, and yolks until pale, then slowly whisk in hot milk.
- Return mixture to the saucepan and cook, whisking, until thick bubbles appear, then whisk in butter and vanilla.
- Press pastry cream through a sieve into a bowl, lay plastic wrap on the surface, and chill until cold.
- Beat almond paste with 2 tablespoons of the chilled pastry cream until smooth, then fold into the remaining pastry cream.
- Whip heavy cream with powdered sugar to soft peaks and gently fold into the almond pastry cream to make almond diplomat cream.
- Stir 2–3 tablespoons raspberry sauce into the cream to ripple or leave plain and reserve the rest for filling and garnish.
- Fit a small round tip to a piping bag and fill with the raspberry almond cream.
- Poke two or three holes in the bottom of each éclair and pipe in cream until each feels heavy but not bursting.
- For glaze, warm white chocolate with 30 ml cream until melted and smooth, then tint with a spoonful of raspberry sauce to a pale pink.
- Dip the tops of éclairs into the glaze, let excess drip, and set on a rack.
- Garnish with toasted sliced almonds and a few fresh raspberries, then chill 30 minutes to set before serving.
Notes
Weigh ingredients for best consistency, and aim for a shiny, pipeable choux that slowly forms a V-shape off the spatula when lifted; if too stiff, beat in 1 teaspoon of beaten egg or milk at a time. Bake éclairs until fully dried and well browned to prevent collapse, and always vent them while warm. Chill the pastry cream fully before lightening with whipped cream to keep it stable, and avoid overfolding to maintain volume. Raspberry sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon so it doesn’t weep into the glaze; reduce briefly if thin. Éclairs are best the day made but can be filled up to 4 hours ahead; store unfilled shells airtight for 1 day or freeze up to 1 month and recrisp in a 160°C oven for 5–8 minutes.
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