Gluten Free Eclairs / My Upgraded Recipe :)

Directions

MAKE THE DOUGH (PART 1):

1. Mix the flour, sugar, xanthan gum and salt together in a bowl and then ideally run it through a sieve (but if you don’t have one, it’s not the end of the world 😉 ).
2. Add the water and butter in a non-stick saucepan/frying pan, turn the temperature up to medium/low and slowly melt the butter, stirring constantly. Then once you reach simmering point (a very light simmer), turn the heat off completely.
3. Immediately add the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until the dough comes together. Then turn the heat back on and cook the dough briefly on low heat, mixing and mashing it constantly, to get a dryer dough / get rid of any excess liquid hiding in there. But be careful, you don’t want to overdo it and overcook the dough.
4. Then transfer it into a bowl and let it cool down (this step is important as we’re adding eggs next and we don’t want the heat to start cooking them).

MAKE THE DOUGH (PART 2 – adding the eggs):

1. Once the dough has cooled down/is lukewarm, add the eggs little by little (beaten in a bowl first) and mix with a spatula or an electric hand mixer (with mixing paddle attachments; those ones that look like hooks, not the whisks). At first it will look lumpy and not at all like dough, but this is normal. Keep on mixing until smooth. IMPORTANT: keep on adding a little egg until you reach the perfect consistency i.e. the dough should be wet enough to run very slightly downwards when you hold the spatula up, but thick enough not to actually drip into the bowl (like in the picture collage above). This quantity will vary for everyone depending on what flour blend you use, the size of your eggs and how much liquid is left in your dough before adding the eggs.

PIPE YOUR ECLAIRS:

1. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Transfer the dough into a piping bag with a large nozzle (ideally star shaped, *see TIPS above for more info) and slowly pipe it onto the baking tray into strips (about 1 inch wide and up to 5 inches long), leaving enough space between each eclair to allow for a bit of spreading. Note: add a bit of dough on each corner of the baking tray, underneath the baking paper, to secure it. This makes the piping process so much easier! 🙂
3. Cut each strip of eclair dough with scissors to make the process easier.
4. Wet your fingers and smooth any imperfections / round up the edges.

BAKE YOUR GLUTEN FREE ECLAIRS:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C (392F).
2. Fill a baking dish with boiling water straight from the kettle and place it on the shelf below your eclairs (the steam helps the eclairs crisp up).
3. Bake for 30 to 35 mins, until your gluten free eclairs have turned a nice golden colour.
4. Turn the heat off, open the oven door, remove the water dish from the oven, flip your eclairs upside down and let them sit in the oven until cool (for another 20 minutes or so). But first poke 3 holes at the bottom of each eclair to allow the steam to come out (I like to use a chopstick or skewer for this). This step is important to make sure the inside of the eclairs dry out, otherwise too much moisture can cause the bottom of the eclairs to collapse shortly after baking.

FILL YOUR ECLAIRS:

1. Once fully cooked and cooled, fill your eclairs using a piping bag with a small nozzle (through the 3 holes at the bottom).
2. Or you can cut an opening straight across each eclair which allows for more filling and is less of a hassle. 🙂

FOR A WHIPPED CREAM FILLING:

1. Add the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a large bowl (along with cocoa powder for a chocolaty version) and whip with a hand held mixer (with whisk attachments) on medium/low speed. You can also use a normal whisk of course, but it takes ages. lol

FOR A PASTRY CREAM FILLING:

1. Combine the egg yolks, cornflour, half of the sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl.
2. Add the milk and half of the sugar into a sauce pan and bring to a light simmer on medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk.
3. Pour some of the warm milk in the bowl and whisk until everything has dissolved, then add it back into the sauce pan with the rest of the milk and keep whisking (still on medium heat) until the cream has thickened. This should take about 1 minute.
4. Then, ideally run the mixture through a sieve to get rid of any potential lumps.
5. Add the butter right away (while the pastry cream is still hot) and stir until fully melted. If adding chocolate, go ahead and add the pieces at this stage too.
6. Pour the pastry cream in a bowl, cover with cling film and refrigerate for a few hours before using. Note: to prevent a film from forming on top, press the cling film onto the surface of the pastry cream.
7. Once ready to use, transfer the pastry cream into a piping bag and fill your eclairs.

FOR A SIMPLE ICING:

1. Melt the butter in the microwave.
2. Then stir in the honey, vanilla and a pinch of salt.
3. Add the icing sugar and mix with a whisk, fork or spatula. Note: if your icing sugar looks old and a little lumpy, run it through a sieve first.
4. Then add the milk very slowly, a quarter teaspoon at a time, until you  reach the right consistency (like in the picture above). It should be smooth and relatively runny, but not to the point of being watery. Kind of syrupy.
5. For a chocolate version, add a bit of cocoa powder and adjust the consistency with a tiny bit more milk.
6. Cover the top of your eclairs in icing and let them rest until the icing is dry and set.

NOTE: for an even simpler chocolate icing, you can also simply melt a little bit of butter with some chocolate chips or pieces. Heat them in the microwave in 5-10 second increments, stirring in between until the chocolate is fully melted.