Rainbow Craquelin - Pride Eclairs

Okay, strap in, this recipe has quite a few steps but if you perceiver and work your way through each element, step by step, you’ll be awarded by a batch of twelve stunning eclairs filled with strawberries, lemon and whipped cream. Not only will they be fruity, creamy and utterly delicious they’ll also be beautiful as they’re made with a layer of craquelin coloured to look like the lgbt+ Pride flag, in honour of Pride month.

If you’ve never made eclairs, or you have and they ended up looking a little ugly and misshapen, craquelin might seem like a lot of extra work but trust me, its worth it, the craquelin almost acts as insurance against user error. When choux, made without craquelin, rises in the oven the heat of the oven sets the choux. Sometimes the pastry on the outside will set before the inside is cooked and whilst it still has lots of moisture. This can cause cracking and misshapen choux. When you add a layer of craquelin it slows this process down, the outside of the choux sets slower because the heat of the oven has to get through the craquelin before it can dry out the choux. This means your choux pastry opens up more before it sets. This means better shaped choux and hollow choux, perfect if your making eclairs or really any time of choux bun. The rainbow colours obviously adds to the process and does make it more about intensive but if you make it without colouring, or maybe just with one or two colours, it really is very little extra work and absolutely worth trying.

The lemon cream is a French creation, I believe the original method comes from the famed pastry chef Pierre Herme. A type of lemon curd, Lemon Cream is made in a similar fashion but with two major differences. Firstly the cream has a higher butter content. Secondly, and most importantly, the butter is also added in a different manner. When making a classic lemon curd the butter is either added with all the other ingredients and cooked together or it is added as soon as the lemon custard has been made. Either way this leads to the butter melting into the curd. With this method the curd is cooled down for 15 minutes before the butter is slowly blended into the curd a piece at a time. This results in the butter never melting, instead it is emulsified into the curd and once chilled it becomes incredibly thick and luscious. It is perfect when you want a filling that is thicker than a traditional curd, and something that can hold it shape.

Lemon Cream
150ml lemon juice
zest of 3 lemons
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
150g caster sugar
225g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature

Craquelin
150g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
150g caster sugar
150g plain flour
gel food colouring, in rainbow colours

Choux Pastry
70ml water
70ml whole milk
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp caster sugar
70g unsalted butter, diced
70ml plain flour
2 large eggs

To Fill
250g strawberries, diced
2 tbsp strawberry jam
600ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

To make the lemon cream, add the lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water and cook, stirring regularly until the mixture reaches 80ºC on an instant read thermometer. The temperature is key because it needs to be fully cooked like a custard so the finished cream holds the correct texture. I have said here to do this stage in a bain marie but half of the time I just place the ingredients directly into a saucepan and do this over a low heat stirring constantly. It is quicker than the bain marie method but it is also more prone to catching and overcooking so if you decide to do it this way be very careful and keep the heat down low. 

Once the custard is cooked pour it into a large jug, through a fine sieve to remove the lemon zest and any cooked egg bits, allowing to cool for 15 minutes, when it should be 60c or lower. Using some form of blender (traditional jug style or stick blender both work great) blend in the butter a piece at a time. If using a stick blender do this in the jug you cooled the curd, the depth of the jug means you wont end up incorporating too much air which you're trying to avoid (the same reason it is best not to use a food processor). Once all of the butter has been incorporated pour the cream into a container, press a sheet of clingfilm onto the surface of the custard and refrigerate for at least fours hours, until the mixture thickens up. 

At this point the cream can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

To make the craquelin beat the butter in a bowl until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until smooth and combined. Add the flour and mix to form a uniform dough. Divide the craquelin evenly between 6 small bowls. Add a little food colouring to each bowl, mix until the colouring is evenly mixed. When adding the colouring you’ll need to make the colours very vibrant as they will dull somewhat as the craquelin bakes. Place each piece of coloured dough between two sheets of parchment and roll out until about a couple mm thick. Place all of the sheets of craquelin onto a baking tray and freeze. Once the craquelin pieces are frozen remove them from the freezer and working quickly cut each colour into thin strips. On a fresh piece of parchment paper line up the strips in the order of a rainbow, repeating the pattern as many times as you can. Gently roll over the craquelin with a rolling pin to secure all the strips together to form one large piece of rainbow coloured craquelin. Place back into the freezer whilst you prepare the choux pastry.

Preheat the oven to 195ºC (175ºC Fan).

For the choux pastry place the water and milk into a saucepan and mix in the salt and sugar. Place over low/medium heat and cook until the butter has melted. Turn up the heat and bring the liquid to a rolling boil. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the flour in one go, mixing immediately forming a soft dough. Place the pan back on the heat and cook for 1-2 minutes more until the dough leaves a fine film on the base of the pan. A tip I learnt from pastry chef Francisco Migoya is that you can also check the pastry is ready by checking its temperature. The point of cooking the choux pastry in this manner is to gelatinise the flour. This happens to the flour when the dough hits between 74-79ºC. At this point scrape the dough into a bowl and beat for a few minutes to cool enough that the dough wont cook the eggs. 

Add the eggs to a small bowl and whisk together to combine. Pour a little of the eggs into the pastry and beat together until fully combined. It may look a little separated or like cottage cheese but keep beating, it will eventually come together. Repeat adding more of the egg until the dough has a sheen and is silky and smooth. When lifted from the bowl using a wooden spoon or spatula the dough should easily fall from the spoon forming a v-shaped ribbon when it does.

Scrape the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a round French star tip.

Line two large baking trays with parchment paper and on the back of each piece of paper draw six 11cm long lines, spaced well apart. Using these lines as your guide pipe the pastry into 12 eclairs, trying to keep your piping as neat and even as possible. Remove the craquelin from the freezer and cut out twelve 11x2.5cm pieces. Lay these atop the eclairs. Bake the eclairs in the oven for 35 minutes. Turn off the oven, open the oven door briefly to allow any steam to escape before closing the door and allowing the eclair shells to cool down slowly in the oven. This helps dry out the eclairs and prevents them collapsing or going soft too quickly. Cool them in the oven for about 30-60 minutes.

Once cool use a serrated knife to carefully slice off the tops of each eclair.

For the filling stir the strawberry jam through the diced strawberries and scrape the lemon cream into a piping bag with the end snipped off. Divide the strawberry mixture between the twelve eclairs, spreading the strawberries out so there is a thin layer in the bottom of each eclair shell. Pipe a layer of lemon cream atop the strawberries and use an offset spatula to smooth into a flat even layer. Place the cream and vanilla into a large bowl and whisk until the mixture has thickened and just holding the barest of soft peaks. If you overwhisk the mixture here it will likely go grainy when piped. Scrape the cream into a piping bag fitted with a plain round piping tip and pipe four rounds of cream atop each eclair. Finish by placing the tops of the eclair atop the cream.

Once assembled the eclairs should be served the same day but all of the elements (except the strawberries and cream) can be made in advance and refrigerated/frozen for a few days ahead of time.

Coffee Choux Buns

Happy New Year! I know I am a month late whisking you all a happy 2022 but I unexpectedly ended up having a a slow start to the year. No, not covid related thankfully. I simply had finished a big project, which had get me busy most of the previous year, and I was a little burnt out, I needed a break. What pulled me back to the kitchen was however something simple, a petit little choux bun. Scrolling through instagram I stumbled across someone enjoying a week in Paris, and of course I was following along wishing I could be there too. They had posted a picture of a choux bun, topped with craquelin and a simple disc of chocolate for decoration. It was incredibly simple but beautiful and it reminded me just how much I love this type of choux pastry. So here we are.

Choux is the only twice cooked pastry, cooked first on the hob and then baked in the oven. Depending on how it’s cooked it can be soft or crisp and it can be used in both sweet and savoury applications. In my mind it is the easiest pastry to make but a tricky one to perfect, there are a lot of key little details which are key to a successful bake. If you’ve ever tried to make a picture perfect eclair that is straight and without cracks you’ll understand what I’m talking about. Thankfully, so long as you don’t burn the choux pastry, it will always taste the same no matter how ill-shaped it may be. To get a perfectly formed choux bun there are a number of tips and tricks that can be employed, the one I want to talk about today is craquelin, a crumble like dough that is rolled out thin and frozen before cutting into discs and placing atop the choux. As the pastry bakes the craquelin melts and covers the pastry. This does three things. Firstly it adds an additional crisp texture to the buns, like a thin crisp cookie coating the pastry, secondly it allows the pastry to expand as much as it possibly can, resulting in hollow choux ready to be filled. Finally, the craquelin helps the pastry keeps it shape. If you bake a choux bun or eclair with craquelin on top the pastry you will keep them neat and evenly shaped. It’s a little bit of a miracle worker. Thankfully it is also super easy to make. 

These choux buns are simple but I cant tell you how much I love them. The pastry is light and crisp but the filling, oh the filling! An easy whipped cream flavoured strongly with coffee and sweetened with condensed milk. The resulting flavour is like the best coffee ice cream you’ve ever had. 

If you like the look of this recipe and want to take it to the next level, over on my Patreon this week there is a fabulous rhubarb and custard choux bun that I am in love with.

Coffee Choux Buns
Makes 12-14

Coffee Cream Filling
300ml double cream
2 tbsp ground coffee
100ml condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Craquelin
50g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
50g caster sugar
50g plain flour

Choux Pastry
70ml water
70ml whole milk
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp sugar
70g unsalted butter, diced
70ml plain flour
2 large eggs

To make the coffee cream filling place the cream and ground coffee into a saucepan and place over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer then remove from the heat, cover with a lid and set aside for an hour. Pour the cream into a sealable container and refrigerate overnight. This long infusion helps to draw out a lot of flavour, resulting in a very strong coffee flavour.

To make the craquelin beat the butter in a bowl until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until smooth and combined. Add the flour and mix to form a crumble-esque dough. Use your hands to press together into a dough and press flat. Place the dough between two sheets of parchment and roll out until about a couple mm thick, it wants to be nice and thin. Place onto a baking tray and freeze while you make the pastry. 

Preheat the oven to 190º (170ºC Fan).

For the choux pastry place the water and milk into a saucepan and mix in the salt and sugar. Place over low/medium heat and cook until the butter has melted. Turn up the heat and bring the liquid to a rolling boil. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the flour in one go, mixing immediately forming a soft dough. Place the pan back on the heat and cook for 1-2 minutes more until the dough leaves a fine film on the base of the pan. A tip I learnt from pastry chef Francisco Migoya is that you can also check the pastry is ready by checking its temperature. The point of cooking the choux pastry in this manner is to gelatinise the flour. This happens to the flour when the dough hits between 74-79ºC. At this point scrape the dough into a bowl and beat for a few minutes to cool enough that the dough wont cook the eggs. 

Add the eggs to a small bowl and whisk together to combine. Pour a little of the eggs into the pastry and beat together until fully combined. It may look a little separated or like cottage cheese but keep beating, it will eventually come together. Repeat adding more of the egg until the dough has a sheen is smooth. When lifted from the bowl using a wooden spoon or spatula the dough  should easily fall from the spoon forming a v-shape when it does. You can also draw your finger or the handle of a wooden spoon through dough, it should leave a channel that stays put for at least 5 seconds. 

Scrape the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a plain round piping tip. 

Line two baking trays with parchment paper and on the back of the paper use a 5cm round cookie cutter to draw circles to use as a template. The choux buns will expand so leave plenty of space between each ring. Turn the paper over so the templates are on the back of the paper (if you forget to do this the ink/pencil can transfer onto the choux, trust me I have done this far too may times to count). Pipe rounds of the pastry onto the baking tray, piping to edges of the templates you have drawn. 

Remove the craquelin from the freezer and peel of the top layer of parchment paper. Use the same cookie cutter to cut out discs of the topping. Place the discs onto the choux pastry, pressing very lightly to secure it in place.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the craquelin is golden brown. Turn off the oven and allow the choux to sit in the cooling over for half an hour. This helps ensure the pastry remains crisp.

After 30 minutes remove the buns from the oven and allow to cool fully. To assemble, pierce a small hole in the base of each bun with a pairing knife. Remove the cream mixture from the fridge and pass through a fine mesh sieve to remove the coffee grounds (some very fine grains of coffee will remain in the cream). Pour in the condensed milk and vanilla and whisk until the cream holds soft peaks. Scrape the filling into a piping bag fitted with a plain round tip and use to fill each choux bun. Dust the finished buns with a little icing sugar.

Once assembled the buns are best on the day made when the pastry will remain crisp. You can serve them up to three days later, keeping them refrigerated. As they sit the pastry will lose its crisp texture and become soft.

Sour Cherry Pie

Sour Cherry Pie with Rye Flour Pastry
Sponsored by Doves Farm

Pie season is well and truly here, and nothing quite beats a slice of warm pie made with a super flaky crust. One of my all-time favourites is a sour cherry pie but, here in the UK, finding fresh sour cherries is nigh on impossible but thankfully there is a solution, frozen berries. One of my favourite ingredients to have in the freezer is bags of frozen sour cherries which you can buy from many organic or eastern European supermarkets (this is the brand I buy). The difference between a pie made with sweet cherries versus a pie made with sour cherries is huge, the sour cherries have that tang, that brightness, that almost Bakewell flavour with just a hint of almond to them. Sweet cherries can be amazing but I find a pie made with them can be a little one dimensional. Thankfully this recipe is pretty adaptive, and should cherries not be your thing, it would be equally delicious made with a bag of frozen black forest fruits or any other favourite frozen berry. The only thing to remember is that sour cherries are particularly tart and with other berries, you may want to reduce the sugar slightly to avoid overpowering the flavour of the fruit.

The method below works great for frozen berries because as they defrost they tend to release a lot of juice and we all know that a soggy pastry is not what we are looking for. By pre-cooking the filling, you lessen the chances of a soggy bottom. It also happens to be a great element to prepare ahead. 

You’ve got a delicious filling, the next step is a flaky and fully flavoured pie crust. Flaky, we will get to, but fully flavoured is easy. You can make amazing pastry with plain flour, especially when made with good quality organic flour, like Doves Farm. Buying organic flour can make a big difference to your baking and it doesn’t just have to be for the month of Organic September, the flavour improvements alone can be more than enough but one of the main reasons I prefer to use organic flour is it’s better for us. In the UK over 300 pesticides can be used in non-organic farming but only 15 are licensed for organic farming. Defra found that 60% of supermarket wholemeal bread had traces of 3 of the UK’s leading pesticides. Buying organic flour and baking your own bread means you know exactly what you are eating. Talking of bread organic flour is also better for making sourdough as the microbial activity needed for sourdough starters is much higher in organic flour, it’s a no brainer as far as I am concerned. In pie crust, the flavour will often come mainly from the butter, but to add another layer of flavour and make a much more interesting pastry I love to add some Doves Farm Organic Wholemeal Rye Flour. Rye has such a wonderful depth of flavour that makes a rich nutty pastry that is a great foil to the fruit filling. For the flour I use 2/3 plain flour and 1/3 rye flour, this ratio makes for a pastry that is easy to handle but has all the benefits of flavour that comes with using rye flour.

Making a flaky pastry isn’t hard but you do need to keep some simple things in mind, mainly the temperature and size of the butter pieces. If you are someone that worries about hot hands you can make a great head start by chilling everything, the flour, the butter, the bowl and the water. Also, don’t worry about throwing the mixture back in the fridge if you’re worried about it warming up, the pastry will wait for you. It is always better to take your time than to rush the process. When it comes to the butter, the key thing to remember is the bigger the butter pieces are at the start the more flaky the pastry will be at the end. When you initially add the butter, resist the urge to rub it together with the flour to make a breadcrumb texture, that will eliminate any potential flakiness and this pastry is all about the flakiness. 

Doves Farm Organic Plain White Flour is available from Sainsbury’s, Ocado and dovesfarm.co.uk and Organic Wholemeal Rye Flour is available from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Ocado and dovesfarm.co.uk.

Flaky Rye Pie Dough
200g Doves Farm Plain Flour, plus extra for dusting
100g Doves Farm Wholemeal Rye Flour
2 tbsp caster sugar 
250g unsalted butter, diced into 1cm pieces
2 tbsp vodka
1 large egg, for glazing
demerara sugar for sprinkling

Sour Cherry Filling
1kg frozen sour cherries
200g caster sugar
3 tbsp cornflour
1/2 tsp almond extract 

For the sour cherry filling place the cherries and the sugar into a large saucepan and heat over medium heat until the fruit has released its juice but the fruit is still whole. Pour the contents of the pan through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and set aside for a few minutes until all the juice has drained into the bowl. Pour the liquid back into the pan and whisk in the cornflour. Cook on medium-high heat until the mixture is reduced and thickened to a gel-like consistency. Scrape into the bowl with the fruit and stir gently to combine. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until needed.

For the pastry place the Doves Farm Plain Flour and Doves Farm Wholemeal Rye Flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl and mix together. Add the butter and toss in the flour to coat and, using your fingers, press each piece of butter flat. Put the bowl into the freezer for 10 minutes for the butter to firm up.

Remove from the freezer and mix the vodka with 6 tbsp of ice-cold water. Pour over the dough and, using a spatula, stir gently together until a shaggy dough is formed. Tip this mixture onto the worksurface and use your hands to bring together. On a lightly floured work surface roll out into a square roughly 30x30cm. Cut into 4 smaller squares and stack them together. Flatten with a rolling pin and wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for an hour. 

Once the dough is chilled roll into a rectangle roughly 20x40cm and roll up like a Swiss roll. Cut into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Press the larger piece into a rectangle and the smaller into a round, wrap both in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least an hour before using, but preferably overnight. 

Remove the smaller piece of dough from the fridge and, on a lightly floured worksurface, roll out until 2-3mm thick and about 5cm wider than the pie plate (I use a deep 9-inch plate). Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and carefully unroll it into the pie plate, trimming the overhang to about 2.5cm. Chill. Remove the second piece of dough and roll out into a rectangle as thick as before. Cut into strips (the width is up to you but I find strips about 2.5cm wide are easier to work with and look a little more modern).

Remove the pie tin from the fridge and sprinkle the ground almonds into the base of the pie, spreading so it covers the base evenly (this helps to soak up excess juices and ensure a crisp base) and scrape in the cherry filling, spreading into an even layer.

Now it’s time for the lattice crust and, thankfully, it’s easier than it looks. Lay enough strips vertically onto the pie to cover and fold every other strip back on themselves. Add a strip perpendicular to the first batch, on top of the unfolded strips. Unfold the folded strips – they should now run over the top of the piece you’ve just put in, and fold back the opposite horizontal pieces, that weren’t folded back last time. Repeat this process until the whole pie is covered.

Trim the lattice crust so the strips of pastry end sat on the rim of the pie plate. Roll up the overhanging dough into a thin sausage, that sits on the rim of the pie plate. Use the thumb and forefinger of one hand and the forefinger of the other to crimp the pie. Brush the pie with the beaten egg and sprinkle liberally with demerara sugar. Chill for 30 minutes or until the pastry is firm.

Heat the oven to 200ºC (180ºC Fan). Bake on a baking tray for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 180ºC (160ºC Fan) and bake for 1 hour or until the pastry is a deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Allow to cool fully before serving. 

Baileys Apple Pie Custard Slices

Sponsored by Baileys

When Baileys sent me a bottle of their new limited edition Baileys Apple Pie flavour I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I made a batch of caramelised apples, a cinnamon custard to which I added 50ml (0.9 units) of the Baileys and it may just be my new favourite version of the humble custard slice, they were pure autumn!

When making this recipe the key to getting them neat is simple, chill the custard for at least four hours, it needs the time to fully set so the slices come out without the custard smooshing everywhere. The second tip is optional but it really helps. When you cut the slices use a serrated knife to gently saw through the top layer of pastry and then use a chefs knife to cut through the custard and bottom layer of pastry. This helps prevent the pastry from breaking into big chunks.

Once made the slices can be refrigerated for a couple days but the pastry will be at its crispest when served as close to making as possible. 

Baileys Apple Pie Limited Edition is available from major supermarkets now, but be quick, as once it’s gone, it’s gone!

Caramelised Apples
2 granny smith apples, peeled cored and diced
20g unsalted butter, diced
20g light brown sugar

Custard Slices
500g block of puff pastry
500ml whole milk
125g caster sugar
35g custard powder (or cornflour)
1-2 tsp cinnamon (depending how strong you prefer the flavour)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
35g unsalted butter
50ml Baileys Apple Pie Limited Edition (0.9 units)

To prepare the apples place the diced apple, butter and sugar into a small roasting tray and bake, at 200ºC (180ºC Fan), for about 15-20 minutes or until there is no liquid remaining and the apples are golden. Remove and set aside to cool.

For the pastry roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured worksurface, rolling into a rectangle a little bigger than 18x9inches. Trim the pastry to size and cut out two 9 inch squares. Place each square onto its own parchment lined baking tray and dock with a fork. Top each piece of pastry with a second sheet of parchment and another baking tray, preferably one that nests neatly with the first. This prevents the puff pastry from rising too much, creating nice neat layers. If you don’t have spare baking trays you can also weigh down the parchment and pastry with metal cutlery. 

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes before removing the top baking tray and parchment paper, exposing the pastry, and placing back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes or until golden brown. Make sure you bake the pastry to a nice rich golden brown, it helps the pastry stay crisp when sandwiching the custard but it also gives the pastry flavour. Once cool use a serrated knife to trim to 8 inches. 

Line a 8-inch square baking pan with a single piece of foil and place one of the pastry pieces into the bottom. 

For the custard place the milk into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile place the sugar, custard powder and cinnamon into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the egg and yolk and whisk until smooth. Once the milk is at temperature pour the milk over the egg mixture while continuing to whisk. Scrape the custard back into the pan and cook, over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thick and starting to bubble. Cook for a minute or two more to ensure the starch of the custard powder is fully cooked. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter, Baileys Apple Pie and caramelised apple pieces and whisk to combine. Scrape the custard into the tin and spread into an even layer and top with the second piece of puff pastry, pressing gently onto the custard to secure it in place. Refrigerate the custard slices for at least four hours before serving. 

To serve use the foil to carefully lift the slices from the tin. Peel away the foil from the sides and transfer the slices to a chopping board. Use a serrated knife to mark and cut the slices into into 10 pieces. Dust with icing sugar and serve.