How to Make Éclairs

If you have never made éclairs or cream puffs before, let me tell you, they’re easy to make and are delicious! Read further to get some great tips and see just how easy they are…

To start, preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C). Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper and set aside. Place 1 cup (250 mL) of boiling water, ½ cup (125 mL) butter, ¼ tsp (1 mL) salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. (I just used my kettle to get the cup of boiling water quickly). When the butter is melted and the mixture is boiling, incorporate the flour all at once. Stir rapidly until the mixture forms a ball that comes away from the sides of the pan. It will look similar to bread dough. Be careful not to overcook this as it will cause the flour and fat to separate.

Once that’s done, remove the pan from heat and then add eggs, unbeaten, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Transferring the mixture into a mixer or food processor is ideal for this job, since long beating is secret to a tender puff. I just got a new mixer and love it, so I opted for using it for this recipe.

Form the paste into your desired shape. TIP: A word of the wise: Use a pastry bag, or sealed plastic sandwich bag with one corner cut, to squeeze the paste to make the éclairs in nicely shaped lines on your pan. It is so much easier! 1 tbsp (15 mL) of mixture makes 1 large puff or éclair; 1 tsp (5 mL) of mixture makes 1 bite size puff. Éclairs are rectangular shaped puffs 3 inches to 4 inches long by 1 inch wide.

Now it’s time to bake the éclairs. TIP:  A very hot oven is essential to puff the paste. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 30 minutes or until well risen and set. Reduce heat to 325°F (160°C) for about 10 to 15 minutes or until éclairs are dry and golden in colour. When baked, place éclairs on a wire rack until cool. When shells are cold, cut a slit in the side and fill the éclairs with sweetened whipped cream, ice cream, or custard. Sprinkle with icing sugar and drizzle with chocolate or butterscotch sauce or sweetened fruits in season.

I made whipped cream from scratch for the filling and drizzled them with chocolate sauce. YUM! Éclairs are such a nice, light dessert; perfect anytime.

This recipe will make about a dozen éclairs or 7 dozen bite-sized puffs, depending on how large you decide to make them! Another TIP: Store the éclairs in a closed container in the fridge to keep fresh. To prevent sogginess, only fill shells when ready to serve.

Here are some other filling variations:
Cream Pie filling
Lemon custard
Savory cheese spreads, chicken, fish and seafood

For a Printer-Friendly version of this recipe, please click How to Make Éclairs.

I hope you enjoy making this delicious recipe- I sure did! Stay tuned for more tips and tricks in the kitchen coming soon….

The Egg Lady

The Art of Making a Soufflé

Last week I discovered the art of making a soufflé.

If you’re like me, you’ve made a number of different egg dishes, but never ventured to make a soufflé. I made Manitoba Egg Farmers’ Toasted Almond Soufflé recipe last week, and it tasted great!

The recipe called for toasted almonds so I set my oven to 325° F (160°C) and baked the almonds until lightly browned. While doing so, I melted the butter on medium-low heat, stirred in my flour and salt, and cooked for 1 minute. Then I stirred in the orange rind and juice, and set it aside.

Then it was time to crack the eggs and separate them. Do you ever have trouble separating eggs? It can be quite troublesome if you find the yolk mixes in with the whites. Did you know that the recipe won’t rise the way it needs to if the yolk falls into the whites while separating? To prevent this problem, use this great tip and you’ll be set!

Tip:
To separate egg yolks and egg whites, use three bowls: a medium one for the yolks, a large one for the whites and a small one to transfer the whites to the large bowl. Crack the egg and separate the yolk from the white, while holding over the small bowl. Move the yolk to the medium bowl and keep the white in the small bowl. This way you can easily check to make sure there is no yolk in each egg cracked.  If the white is clean (without any yolk), transfer it to the large bowl. If it is not, simply remove the small bowl contents, wash the bowl and start again. This means you’ve only wasted one egg and not the whole lot.

After my eggs were separated, I beat the egg yolks on high speed for 5 minutes, gradually adding the orange mixture. I stirred in the almonds and set the bowl aside.

Then, in a medium bowl, I beat the egg whites until soft peaks formed; continued beating and sprinkled sugar in very gradually until stiff peaks formed. I folded in the orange-almond mixture into the egg whites and poured it all into my soufflé dish.

I put my “masterpiece” in the oven for 40 minutes and made the lovely strawberry-orange sauce in the meantime (which was very easy by the way!). I chilled the sauce in the fridge until it was time to serve.

When the timer went off, I discovered a very puffy, moist, and tasty dessert. The almonds added a nice crunch and flavour as well. I encourage you to try this recipe out for yourself, and let me know how it turns out!

Below are the full recipe details for Toasted Almond Soufflé:

Ingredients
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
3 tbsp (45 mL) all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) table cream
3/4 tsp (4 mL) grated orange rind
1/4 cup (50 mL) orange juice
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup (50 mL) finely chopped toasted almonds
3 egg whites
3 tbsp (45 mL) sugar

Instructions:
In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in flour and salt and cook for 1 minute. Add cream and cook until bubbly for 1 more minute. Remove from heat. Stir in orange rind and juice. Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks on high speed for about 5 minutes. Gradually add the orange mixture and mix well. Stir in almonds. Set aside.

In medium bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; continue beating and sprinkle sugar gradually until stiff peaks form. Fold the orange-almond mixture into egg whites. Pour into an ungreased 6 cup (1.5 L) soufflé dish. Bake in 325°F (160°C) oven for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, make the Strawberry-Orange Sauce. Makes 4 servings.

Strawberry-Orange Sauce
3 tbsp (45 mL) sugar
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) orange juice
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
1 cup (250 mL) fresh strawberries, cut in quarters

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in orange juice and cook on medium heat until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat; stir in butter until melted. Stir in cup-up strawberries. Cover surface of sauce with plastic wrap. Let sauce stand at room temperature until serving time. Serve with Toasted Almond Soufflé. Makes 1¼ cups (300 mL). 

Visit www.eggs.mb.ca/recipes-collection.html for more great egg recipes! Stay tuned for more recipe tips…

The Egg Lady