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Christmas
Miniature Coffee and Chocolate Éclairs
Puffs:
1 C. water
1/2 C. butter
1 C. flour
4 eggs
Add water and butter to a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add flour and stir.
Stir over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute. Cool.
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each egg is added. Mixture
should be smooth.
Preheat the oven to 425° F. Butter a baking sheet and spoon the choux
pastry into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip. Pipe the pastry out
into shapes about the size of your index finger; space about 1/2 inch
apart. Pass two tines of a fork slightly into the top of each eclair.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until puffed and golden. Remove to a rack
to cool.
Espresso Pastry Cream:
2 C. whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
6 large egg yolks
1/3 C. sugar
1/3 C. (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 C. cornstarch, sifted
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
Pour milk into heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean;
add bean. Bring to simmer. Remove from heat and discard bean.
Using electric mixer, beat yolks and both sugars in large bowl until
very thick, about 3 minutes. Add cornstarch; blend well. Gradually whisk
half of hot milk into egg mixture. Add mixture to pan; whisk over medium
heat until thickened and boiling, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in espresso mixture.
Transfer to medium bowl. Place plastic wrap directly onto surface of
pastry cream; chill until cold, at least 3 hours. (Can be made 2 days
ahead; keep chilled.) Whisk pastry cream until smooth before using.
Makes about 2 1/4 cups.
To assemble the éclair: After the pastry has properly cooled, fill the
pastry bag with pastry cream. Punch a hole in one end of each éclair and
pipe the pastry cream into the hole until you feel the pressure of cream
against the sides of the cake. Place back on the rack.
Brush the top of each cake with the chocolate glaze and let dry. Serve
these as soon as possible. They may sit at room temperature for about 2
hours. Or they can be refrigerated if needed. It is not recommended.
Chocolate Glaze
6 T. whipping cream
6 T. light corn syrup
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
Bring cream and corn syrup to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Reduce heat
to low. Add chocolate; whisk until smooth. Remove from heat. Let cool
until glaze thickens slightly but can still be poured, about 25 minutes.
Makes about 1 1/3 cups.
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Chess Pie
Big Soft Ginger Cookies
Apple Mincemeat Crumble
Cranberry Eggnog Cheesecake
Christmas Nut cake
Miniature Coffee and Chocolate Éclairs
Lo-cal Molasses Cookies
Winter Birch Tree Cookies
Vanilla Oranges
Twelfth Night Cake
Jamaican Christmas Pudding
Cranberry Orange Cake
Christmas Eve Dessert
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