If you are French, il va de soi (it goes without saying) that you have eaten an éclair before.
What about if you aren’t French. Have you ever tasted one? Did you like it? What do you think?
It all depends on the éclair you will tell me. And I agree.
I am French and I have eaten many éclairs. A lifetime of éclairs. Toute une vie.
I went to boarding school. This is what happens for many youngsters living in isolated parts of rural France. High schools can be far from home, and commuting every day a drag. By the age of 13, every Monday, I would pack my bag for the week, and drive to my high school town to study maths, industrial design and physics. High school days were long, with classes from Monday to Saturday morning, 8:30 to 5. We felt lucky to have Wednesday afternoons off, which was when we would hang out au café de la Montagne to question the world. On jouait aussi au babyfoot (we also played foozball). I loved to be the goalkeeper, and I was pretty good at it. But anyway, beside the fun of hanging out au café , trying to change the face of things, we still enjoyed our weekly visit to la patisserie de Mr Streiff to buy delicious pastries. And this is why I ate so many éclairs. For 3 years, every Wednesday, among all the possible pastries, my choice would fall on un éclair. Chocolat and vanille were my favorite flavors. How many éclairs did I eat, if I count one per week, for a total period of 10 months, during 3 years? A pretty good number! You would think that I know my way around them. Only until I heard about Sadaharu Aoki.
Do you remember my discovery of this Japanese pastry master and these?
It is impossible for me to forget! In fact, I especially remember his éclair au thé Matcha.
If you recall, Sadaharu Aoki has a few shops in Paris, from a stand at Galeries Lafayette Gourmet, to shops rue Vaugirard and boulevard Port Royal. During my last trip to the French capital, I enjoyed visiting his shops and devoured many pastries in one time, which is actually quite unusual for my savoury tooth. No complaint here though, as I chose to do it. And, amongst many of his patisseries, I particularly enjoyed this classic French pastry: l’éclair.
Sadaharu could have chosen to use the most traditionally known flavors such as chocolat, café, vanille et praliné, but he didn’t. Instead, he used Matcha tea and Black Sesame. Beside the attraction I have for Matcha tea generally speaking, my girls’ eyes were systematically drawn to the shiny coat of green covering his éclair. Yes le vert is also one of the colors I particularly enjoy.
So what?
Being attracted to this green éclair leaves me nowhere.
Exactly!
I do not live in Paris!
For someone like me who only visit Paris twice a year, it means that I am left with only a few occasions to fulfill the spontaneous, uncontrollable éclair craving. What do I do with it? Paris, ce n’est pas la porte à côté ! (Paris is not next door!)
Not having the ability to walk down the street to buy an éclair when I feel like it, I decided to challenge myself with baking some. Histoire d’être la pâtissière d’un jour. (To be a pastry maker of a day).
L’éclair
An éclair is a small pastry made with pâte à choux with an elongated shape instead of the more traditionally known round one. Once baked, the choux is cut in 2 halves and filled with crème pâtissière, before it is iced with a fondant icing. “No rocket science here,” I thought.
I had made pâte à choux and crème pâtissière before, and felt confident about this part. Easy! Facile ! As a matter of fact, pâte à choux is one of the doughs I enjoy working the best. I like to see the wet dough dry quickly in the pot as I mix it with energy, before it stretches in long elastic threads. But I had never tried my hand at using fondant or making any type of glaçage (icing). And, not only didn’t I know how to proceed but I did not even have a recipe. I felt clueless. Stuck. If I were patient, I might have succeeded and obtain the beautiful shiny icing coat I was expecting. In the right order of things, I would have searched for an icing recipe *beforehand* and not “while doing it”. But I am not known to be particularly patient. In fact, I often rush and think afterwards. Personne n’est parfait (No one is perfect).
So I improvised.
I mixed confectioner’s sugar with water, and added Matcha tea. The mixture ran too thin. “How am I supposed to make fondant?,” I thought. The icing did not work. I became frustrated and discouraged, close to giving up. “Why, I thought, didn’t I think before , for a change?” Complètement frustrant.
I sighed.
Had a bite of my éclair.
And smiled.
Mmm, c’est pas mauvais ! Not bad!
My éclairs might not have looked pretty, the way I had wanted them to, but they were good. In the end, I had managed to get my éclair fix.
For the pâte à choux :
You need:
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 oz butter
- 2.5 oz flour
- 2 eggs
Steps:
- Heat the milk, water, sugar, salt and the butter cut in pieces in a pot.
- Bring to a boil.
- Away from the heat, add the flour in one time and mix well with a wooden spoon.
- The dough should detach from the sides of the pot.
- Add one egg and mix well before adding the second. The dough should be elastic and not wet.
- Preheat your oven at 400 F.
- Use a decoration bag to pipe your choux in the form of éclair (long fingers) on a greased cookie sheet. Mine measured about 4″. Leave space between them.
- Cook them for about 30 mns (check the color, which should be golden). After this time, open the oven slightly and continue to cook for 10 mns. Take your éclairs out of the oven and let them cool down on a rack.
For the Matcha Tea Custard Cream
You need:
- 1 cup + 1 Tbsp milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 vanilla pod
- 2 oz sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1 tsp Matcha tea
Steps:
- Bring the milk to a boil with the vanilla pod cut in 2 halves.
- Stop the heat and let infuse for 15 mns. Filter the milk and remove the vanilla pod.
- In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar and the salt.
- Add the flour and mix well.
- Transfer in a pot and pour the hot milk on top of this preparation.
- Beat and heat until boiling pot.
- The cream will start to thicken. Continue to cook for 1 to 2 mns.
- Remove from the heat and pour the cream in a bowl sitting in a dish full of iced water.
- Once the cream has cooled down a bit, add the Matcha tea powder and mix well. Cover with Cling paper and place in the fridge until ready to use.
Finishing Steps
- Cut your éclairs open and pipe in Matcha tea cream, using a confectioner’s bag.
- For the icing, I will not give a recipe since I am still looking for one. If you have one, use it and let me know about it!
The rest is easy, just the pleasure to eat.
Pour la pâte à choux :
Ingrédients :
- 60 ml eau
- 60 ml lait
- 1 pincée de sel
- 1 càs de sucre
- 60 g de beurre
- 70 g de farine
- 2 oeufs
Étapes :
- Faites chauffer le lait, l’eau, le sucre, le sel et le beurre coupé en morceaux dans une casserole.
- Amenez à ébullition.
- Hors du feu, ajoutez la farine en une fois, et mélangez avec une spatule en bois.
- La pâte doit se détacher des parois de la casserole.
- Ajoutez un oeuf et mélangez bien avant d’ajouter le second. La pâte doit être élastique et décrire des rubans.
- Préchauffez votre four à 200 C.
- Utilisez une poche à douille pour former vos éclairs sur une plaque de cuisson recouverte d’une feuille cigare. Les miens mesurent environ 10 cm. Espacez-les.
- Faites cuire pendant environ 30 mns (ils doivent avoir une couleur dorée). Ensuite, entre-ouvrez votre four et continuez la cuisson pendant 10 mns. Sortez les éclairs du four et laissez-les refroidir sur une grille.
Crème pâtissière au thé matcha
Ingrédients :
- 250 ml de lait
- 2 jaunes d’oeufs
- 1/2 gousse de vanille
- 60 g de sucre en poudre
- 1 pincée de sel
- 20 g de farine
- 1 càc de thé matcha en poudre
Étapes :
- Faites bouillir le lait avec la vanille fendue et gratée.
- Arrêtez le feu et laissez infuser pendant 15 mns, puis filtrez le lait.
- Dans un bol, mélangez les jaunes d’oeuf avec le sucre et la pincée de sel.
- Ajoutez la farine et mélangez.
- Transférez dans une casserole et versez le lait chaud sur cette préparation.
- Fouettez et faites chauffer jusqu’à reprise de l’ébullition.
- La crème épaissit. Continuez à faire cuire pendant 1 à 2 mn.
- Retirez-la du feu et versez-la dans un bol placé dans un bac contenant de l’eau glacée. Cela permet d’éviter la formation d’une peau sur la crème.
- Une fois qu’elle est un peu refroidie, ajoutez la poudre de thé matcha et mélangez bien. Recouvrez-la d’un film alimentaire avant de la mettre au frigidaire jusqu’au moment où vous vous en servez.
Finition
- Coupez vos éclairs en deux et fourrez-les avec la crème patissière (en utilisant une poche à douille).
- Pour le glaçage, je ne donne pas de recette car je cherche toujours. Si vous en avez une, utilisez-la et transmettez-la moi. Je serais curieuse d’en savoir plus !
L’essentiel après, c’est de déguster.