Chocolate Éclairs with Crème Légère

Finished Éclairs

Today myself and Katie thought we'd make something that we've read a lot about and seen a lot of, but never actually attempted ourselves before; crème légère, which is essentially crème pâtissière, or custard (the thing we'd never made from scratch before) and whipped cream. It was a pleasant surprise how easy the crème pâtissière was to make, and how delicious it was with the extra cream folded through too! The éclairs recipe is adapted from a BBC GoodFood post, and was also surprisingly quick and simple to make, the effort is definitely worth it! 

Chocolate Éclairs with Crème Légère

Makes approx. 16 éclairs

Egg yolk mix before adding milk

Ingredients:

Éclairs:

140g plain flour

pinch of sugar

pinch of salt

125ml milk

125ml water

100g butter

4 eggs

Adding flour to choux mix

Crème Légère:

300ml milk

50g caster sugar

2 egg yolks

1.5tsp vanilla extract

4tsp plain flour

4tsp cornflour

300ml double cream

100g milk chocolate for coating

200oC oven/180oC fan oven

Method:

Chilling dough

1. Start by making the crème pâtissière filling; first heat the milk until almost boiling in a saucepan. Meanwhile, mix together the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a bowl, then stir in the flours, a couple of tsp at a time, to a smooth paste. 

2. Once the milk is almost boiling, gradually whisk it into the egg yolk mix, pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over a high heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 mins until thick; keep stirring it vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth. 

3. Pour into a bowl, lay a sheet of cling film directly on the crème pâtissière surface, then cool and chill until you’re ready to fill the éclairs.

Smooth dough with eggs

4. Put the milk, water and butter into a medium saucepan and gently heat so the butter melts but the liquid doesn’t boil. Once the butter has completely melted, increase the heat until the liquid comes to a fast rolling boil. 

5. Immediately turn off the heat, tip in the flour, sugar and salt and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until you a have a smooth dough that comes away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the pan and leave to cool until it's almost room temperature - to speed this up you can spread it over a large dinner plate and place in the freezer for one minute.

Piping dough

6. Once the dough mix has cooled, scrape it back into your pan. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and then gradually beat them into the dough mix, approx a quarter at a time. Using your wooden spoon, beat after each addition until you have a smooth, shiny mixture.

7. Line a baking tray, or two, with baking paper and draw on 16/18 10cm long lines, at least 5cm apart. Turn the paper over so the lines are on the underside of the paper, or they'll transfer onto the bottom of the éclairs.

8. Fill a piping bag with the dough (use a 1/2cm nozzle), and pipe along the guidelines. Smooth any points on the éclairs down with a wet finger.

9. Bake in the middle of a preheated oven for 20/25 minutes, or until crisp and golden.

Eclairs after baking

10. Once baked, make a small slit in the base of each eclair with a sharp knife, turn upside down and bake for another 5 minutes to dry out the pastry cases. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.

11. Whilst they're cooling, you can make the crème légère; whisk the double cream until thick and it stands in strong peaks. Fold the cream into your cooled crème pâtissière.

12. Once the éclairs are cool, spoon the crème légère into a piping bag (this time with a long, thin nozzle), and gently fill each éclair with a generous helping of the crème légère - they'll feel heavy when they're full.

Creme Legere before piping

13. Melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave in a shallow bowl and then dip each of the filled eclairs into the chocolate, so they have an even coating. Set on a plate and leave the chocolate to set - it's best to keep them in the fridge.

These won't keep for very long once they're filled, approx. 1 day before they go soggy, but they're so delicious and moreish they won't be around for long! There's lots of alternative toppings you can put on them too, such as sprinkling with flaked almonds or chopped hazelnuts - they're a great starting point for lots of experimentation.

Happy Baking,

The Baking Ginger xx

Finished éclairs!

This is just something I saw this week and fell completely in love with! Enjoy!

Supersized Carrot Cake

Finished slice of cake!

Today I made a massive carrot cake for a coffee morning tomorrow, it'll cut into 45 generous pieces, but I thought I'd just put the original recipe in here - I tripled it! It's an adaptation of the BBC GoodFood carrot cake recipe, but with extra carrots and spices to make it really moist and delicious!

It has the added benefit of being dairy free, so if you've got friends coming over with dietary requirements this is the cake for them!

Wet ingredients

Carrot Cake Traybake

 Makes approx. 16 generous portions

Ingredients

175g light muscovado sugar

175ml sunflower or veg oil

3 large eggs , lightly beaten

150g grated carrots (about 3 medium)

150g raisins/sultanas

grated zest of 1 large orange

175g self-raising flour

Adding dry ingredients

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp grated nutmeg

175g icing sugar

enough orange juice to make a thick icing

160oC fan oven/180oC all other ovens

Method

1. Line the base and sides of an 18cm square cake tin with baking parchment. The easiest way to do this is to cut a long strip of parchment and lay it across the bottom and up the sides of the tin, it also makes the cake easier to lift out when its cooked.

Monster cake ready to bake!

2. Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl, pour in the oil and add the eggs; mix until combined. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins/sultanas and orange rind.

3. To the wet ingredients add the flour, bicarb and spices. Mix until everything is combined - it'll be a very runny batter.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 40- 45 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the centre. It'll be quite a dark golden brown colour because of the muscavado sugar and spices.

5. Leave to cool slightly in the tin, turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Baked, pre-icing

6. Make the icing and cover the top of the cake with it. Leave to set then cut into pieces. 

This cake is best enjoyed with a cup of tea (what cake isn't?!), it'll keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container, but it's better eaten sooner rather than later - its too easy and tasty not to give it a go!

Happy Baking!

Iced - before slicing

The Baking Ginger xx

Two Way Lemon and Raspberry Cupcakes

Finished cupcakes

I made these for some new neighbours who've moved in next door, just as a way to say hello; they were much appreciated!

I couldn't decide whether to make lemon cupcakes with raspberry cream or raspberry cupcakes with lemon cream so I decided to do both - if you want to make them all the same way just double the flavouring you use for the cake and the cream, but the basic ingredients stay the same.

Two Way Lemon and Raspberry Cupcakes

Makes 12

Basic batter

Ingredients:

4oz self raising flour

4oz marg/butter

4oz caster sugar

2 eggs

1tsp baking powder

1 or 2tbsp milk

grated zest of 2 lemons

juice of 1 lemon

punnet (approx. 125g) raspberries

300ml double cream

Adding raspberries

2tbsp icing sugar

170oC fan oven/180oC all other ovens

12 hole bun tin, lined with cupcake cases

Method:

1. Combine all of the basic ingredients in a large bowl and beat into a smooth batter. You might need to add a splash of milk to get it to dropping consistency (when the batter drops off the spoon when picked up). 

2. Divide the batter in half. 

Ready for the oven

3. To one half add the zest of one lemon and the juice of half. Leave the other plain as you’ll add whole raspberries to it once it’s in the cases. 

4. Using teaspoons fill each cupcake cases until it’s 2/3 full of either the lemon or plain batters; to each case of plain batter case add a small amount of mixture then add 2 whole raspberries, then top up with the remaining portion of batter. 

5. Repeat until all of the batter is used then place the trays into the middle of a preheated oven for 10/15 minutes until the 

cupcakes are golden brown. 

Baked and cooling

6. Leave the cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack whilst you make the toppings. 

7. Whip the cream to soft peaks, but ensuring it is firm enough to be shaped on top of the cupcakes. Sieve in the icing sugar and whisk gently until incorporated. 

8. Split the cream into two. To one half add the zest of the other lemon and a splash of lemon juice. In a separate bowl smash the remaining raspberries with a fork, add half of the sweetened cream and fold together so the cream starts to turn pink, whilst leaving some chunks of raspberry intact. 

Cream toppings

9. Once they’re completely cool top the lemon cupcakes with the raspberry icing and the raspberry cupcakes with the lemon icing.

These will keep for a day or two, if it’s warm keep them in the fridge so the cream doesn't melt. 

They're a really simple variation on a classic cupcake,very easy to play around with depending on what your fancy or the occasion you're baking for!

Happy Baking,

The Baking Ginger xx

Cakes on Gran's old cake stand

Nutella Filled Shortbread

Nutella Filled Shortbread

Kate asked me to make some kind of Nutella based biscuit housing today, and this is what I invented!

It's a basic shortbread recipe pimped with vanilla and filled with enough Nutella to make a small horse hyper. 

They're really easy - the only time consuming thing is chilling the Nutella down and the dough too - it's an essential step or you'll end up with an epic chocolate mess, which isn't always a bad thing...

Quenelle of Nutella

Nutella Filled Shortbread

Makes 9 generous biscuits, depends on the size of your Nutella fillings

Ingredients:

4oz butter/marg
2oz caster sugar
6oz self raising flour

1 capful vanilla essence

9tsp nutella (or as many as biscuits you're aiming for - chilled in fridge for at least 2 hours or freezer for 1)

Nutella and Dough

Caster sugar for sprinkling

Baking tray with grease proof paper

170oc fan oven/180oc for any other oven

Method:

1. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until it becomes light and fluffy.

2. Beat in the vanilla essence.

3. Gradually add the flour, stirring well after each addition. The dough will become much stiffer, but keep going until all of the flour is incorporated.

Mid-roll

4. Put the dough in the fridge for at least two hours to chill (along with the Nutella if it's not already chilling).

5. When everything is chilled make a quenelle of Nutella by passing it between two teaspoons until it's in a smooth oval shape, leave on one of the teaspoons whilst you shape the dough.

6. Take a small handful the dough, roll it between your hands into a ball and then flatten into disk about the thickness of a pound coin.

7. Put the quenelle of Nutella into the centre of the dough disk, bring the edges of the dough up around the Nutella and crimp together.

Ready to bake

8. Gently roll the Nutella filled shortbread between the palm of your hands to make it a uniform shape and then flatten slightly, place on the baking tray and sprinkle with caster sugar.

9. Repeat for the rest of the dough and then bake in the middle of a preheated oven for 10/15 minutes or until they turn a light golden brown.

10. Cool slightly on a wire rack, and then dig in!

Finished biscuits!

These are best enjoyed warm, when the Nutella is still molten - yum!

These are dead easy, and so flipping worth it!

Happy Baking!

The Baking Ginger xx