The "1000" Eclair & Paris Brest
Introduction: The "1000" Eclair & Paris Brest
Congratulations with Instructable for the 1000th Contest!!! It's a very exciting news and I'm so proud of the growth of this community. I started my Instructable journey in 2015 when I lived in San Francisco, and now I've moved to Sydney and I'm still engaged to the community for creative ideas and crazy projects. It's also exciting that Instructable had grown more worldwide over the years.
To celebrate the 1000th contest, I made these special Eclairs & Paris-Brests to represent "1000". Both Eclairs and Paris-Brests are a type of choux pastry, same as the one used for profiteroles, and the only difference is the shape (and of course the filling which is up to your own preference). Eclair is always in an oblong shape, and it is named "Eclair" (which means lightening or flash) because they're always eaten in a flash. Paris-Brest however is always in a round, donut shape, and the name "Paris-Brest" is named after the bicycle race Paris-Brest-Paris, and the shape represents the wheel of the bicycle.
Traditionally eclairs are always filled with custard or pastry cream, and Paris-Brest are always filled with creme mousseline, a richer filling contains hazelnut praline. Here I used an Almond Mousseline for both desserts. Eclairs are normally dipped in melted fondants or icing, and Paris-Brest are always finished with dusted Icing sugar. To bring up the gold finish on the 1000 however, I decorated them with homemade marzipan which I will also show you how to make in this Instructable.
As this project contains several main parts, below is the outline for all component:
* Make Choux Paste
* Pipe and bake Eclair & Paris-Brest
* Make Almond pastry cream
* Make Almond Mousseline from the pastry cream
* Pipe in the filling for Eclair & Paris-Brest
* Homemade Marzipan
* Cut out marzipan and decorate
Now let's begin this delicious Instructable :)
Supplies
You will need:
Pot, spatula, whisk, Piping bag, nozzles (Star nozzle), Oven Tray, knife, mixer / blender, mixing bowl, sieve
Step 1: Choux Paste - Part 1
INGREDIENTS:
Milk 125g
Water 125g
Egg 5 ea
Unsalted Butter 100g
Plain Flour 190g
Sugar pinch (optional)
Salt pinch
(This recipe will yield about 6 Paris-Brest and 8-10 Eclairs)
METHOD:
1. Mix Milk, water, sugar, salt, and cubed butter into a pot
2. Heat pot on the stove, till butter all melted and the liquid comes to a simmer
3. Turn off the heat, pour in sifted plain flour, and quickly whisk the mixture till they're all combined and free of lumps
4. When the mixture is smooth, turn on low heat again to cook the choux paste
Step 2: Choux Paste - Part 2
METHOD Ctnd:
5. 517
With the stove on low heat, keep cooking the choux paste. You'll notice that the mixture becomes drier and drier, and start to turn yellow.
6. Cook till it's all yellow in color, and non stick to the spatula anymore. You will notice a thin layer of paste on the bottom of the pot, and this means the paste is fully cooked.
7. Turn off the heat, and let the mixture cool down a little bit before adding the eggs.
8. Lightly whisk the eggs, and add to the warm (not hot) paste gradually. I suggest 1 egg at a time, but for the last bit please add it in very small quantity to adjust the consistency of the choux paste.
9. Keep mixing after each batch of egg mixture. The final stage should be a soft but not liquidy paste. The best way to examine it is to hold your spatula high, the drip from the paste should be slowly and in a thick ribbon. After the paste dripped into the pot, you should have a triangle shaped batter holding on to the spatula as well.
NOTE:
The consistency of the choux paste is probably the key step in making a successful final product. Don't add the last batch of egg in one go, add 1 tbsp for the last egg and check the consistency regularly. If after all the eggs are added in, the paste is still too dry, then you can put in 1 tbsp of milk to adjust the consistency. 255