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Copyright, 2015
June 5, 2015
Rob
Pâte à choux
4

Recipe: Pistachio and strawberry éclairs

I’m back on the blog after a short break, during which I enjoyed the magic atmosphere of the film festival here in Cannes. The city changes completely during the festival: lots of photographs, journalists, movie stars, police security and then even cheap shops start selling tuxedos!

Zara selling Tuxedos in CannesWe have two crazy, glamorous weeks a year, where lots of people try to crash the private beach parties. Once again, I failed miserably in getting an invitation to those so I just ended up baking at home as usual. 🙂

I had been waiting for strawberries to come back since last September, when I found this recipe by Christophe Adam: pistachio and strawberry éclairs.

Recipe-pistachio eclairs1

Christophe Adam has been modernizing éclairs in the last years and I absolutely love the looks of his pastries, all very colourful and original.

These pistachio and strawberry éclairs  are decorated with strawberry slices and a whipped pistachio ganache which hides a small spongecake soaked in a strawberry and orange blossom water syrup. Sounds fancy uh? 🙂

Recipe-Eclairs01

I won’t lie to you: this recipe takes time. Oh, and you also need to be able to make choux pastry, a spongecake and a whipped ganache… but everything is possible if you follow my step-by-step recipe! 😀 Have fun!

Recipe-pistachio eclairs2

 

Pistachio and strawberry éclairs

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Ingredients

Choux pastry

105gWater
105gMilk
105gUnsalted butter
2gSalt
4gGranulated sugar
105gStrong flour
~190gEggs (~4 eggs)

Pistachio paste

70gPistachios
30gGrapeseed oil

Whipped pistachio ganache

2gGelatin (= 1 sheet)
430gHeavy cream (35% fat)
100gWhite couverture chocolate
30gPistachio paste

Pain de Gênes spongecake

40gGranulated sugar
100gAlmond paste (50% sugar)
100gEggs (~2 eggs)
30gStrong flour
2 pinchesBaking powder
20gUnsalted butter
1 dashMilk

Strawberry syrup

25gWater
15gGranulated sugar
5gOrange blossom water
100gFresh strawberries

Decoration

30Fresh strawberries
Mint or basil leaves

Directions

Choux pastry

1
Bring to a boil the milk, water, salt and butter in a saucepan. Make the sure the butter is fully melted.
2
Remove from the heat and immediately add all the flour
3
Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon then put the pan back on the heat and continue stirring the dough
4
Keep drying the dough up on the heat only for a few minutes until it comes away from the sides of the pan and leaves a thin film on the bottom of the saucepan
5
Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and let it cool down for a few minutes
6
Add an egg and stir until it is completely absorbed in the dough
7
Add all the other eggs one at a time. Slightly beat the last egg before adding it then pour it slowly little by little on the dough, checking frequently if the dough has reached the right consistency
8
When the dough is shiny but firm (i.e. not runny), it is ready to be piped. Pipe 11cm stripes using a star tip on a parchment-lined pan.
9
Bake at 170°C for at least 40 minutes or until the éclairs are dry and not too soft.

Pistachio paste

10
Toast the pistachios 15-20 minutes at 150°C and then let them cool down at room temperature
11
Mix the pistachios at high speed for a few seconds: remove some coarsely chopped pistachios and keep them for the decoration.
12
Add the oil and keep on mixing for a few minutes until the pistachios become a thick paste and start releasing their "oil". Store the pistachio paste in an air-tight container.

Whipped pistachio ganache

13
Let the gelatin soak in cold water for around 10 minutes before using it
14
In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil on medium heat
15
Place the white couverture chocolate and pistachio paste in a bowl
16
Pour half of the boiling cream over the white couverture chocolate and pistachio paste and stir to form an emulsion
17
Add the remaining half of the hot cream and stir again until it's all incorporated, then add the gelatin. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

Pain de Gênes spongecake

18
In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the sugar and ground almond paste to form a thick dough
19
Add the eggs one by one while mixing. Scrape the bowl often if needed.
20
Add the flour and baking powder sifted together then mix again until they are incorporated
21
Melt the butter
22
Add the milk and melted butter (max 45°C) into the mixture. The result must be rather airy and not too liquid.
23
Spread the batter on a parchment-lined pan and bake for 8 minutes at 180°C. Let the spongecake cool down on a wire rack.

Strawberry syrup

24
Heat the water and sugar in a saucepan on medium heat and let the mixture boil for one minute
25
When the syrup is at room temperature, add the orange blossom water and the pureed strawberries

Assembling the éclairs

26
Cut the baked éclairs in two
27
Cut the spongecake in 2x9cm rectangles and dip them in the strawberry syrup
28
Place the dipped spongecake rectangles inside the éclairs halves
29
Whip the pistachio ganache over an ice bath until it becomes thick and can be piped easily. At this stage it might be needed to refrigerate the whipped ganache for a while before piping.
30
Divide the whipped ganache in two piping bags fitted with star tips of different sizes and use them alternately over the éclairs so that the spongecake is completely covered
31
Add some strawberry slices of different sizes over each éclair
32
Finally decorate with some coarsely chopped pistachios

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Recipe: Pistachio macarons (with Italian meringue)

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Recipe: Tarte Tropézienne

July 13, 2014
Choux pastryChristophe AdamÉclairsFrenchOrange blossom waterPain de GênesPistachiosSpongecakeStrawberriesSyrupWhipped ganache
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4 Comments General

4 Comments

  • Tihomir GantchevTiho
    June 5, 2015 7:29 pm

    Looks great!! I am sure it taste amazing!

    Reply
  • Sonja
    July 6, 2015 7:52 pm

    Thank you for such a lovely recipe and a delightful treat, your instructions and photographs are clear and helpful, thanks for a lovely blog.

    Reply
    • Rob
      July 8, 2015 3:16 pm

      Thank you Sonja! I’m very glad you like the recipes and the blog! 🙂 Happy baking! 😉

      Reply

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Hi, my name is Rob, I work in IT but I love baking and I also got a pastry diploma. I created this blog to keep track of my journey from complete beginner to world pastry champion (I'm not there yet).

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