Category: Sweet Pastry

These éclairs have a delicate Earl Grey crème pâtissière filling and are topped with a simple icing with a few lavender petals. They are best eaten on the same day but will keep for a day or two if you can’t eat them all in one sitting…

For the choux pastry

For my guide on how to make choux pastry, click here. The quantities on this choux pastry recipe should make about 12 éclairs. Make the éclairs, poke a hole in the base of each one and leave to cool whilst you make the pastry cream.

For the Early Grey crème pâtissière,

• 375ml whole milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 75g caster sugar
• 50g cornflour
• 3 Earl Grey tea bags

Gently heat the milk in a large saucepan with the teabags. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a separate bowl, then add the cornflour and whisk. When the milk is steaming hot, squeeze out the tea bags and discard. Pour a small amount of the milk into the egg mixture and whisk quickly. Then pour all the egg mixture back into the milk, turn the heat up high and whisk constantly over the heat. The mixture will start to thicken. Keep whisking until it is thick and glossy, then pour into a clean bowl. Cover with cling film (the cling film needs to be touching the surface of the crème pâtissière) and chill in the fridge.

Once cool, fill a piping bag with a small nozzle with the crème pâtissière. Use a skewer to create 2 more holes on the base of the éclairs. Gently squeeze the crème pâtissière into each of the 3 holes. You should be able to feel the éclairs become heavier and will swell a little. Fill all the éclairs.

For the glaze,

• 200g fondant icing sugar
• 2-3 tbsp water
• a handful of lavender petals

Whisk together the icing sugar and the water in a saucepan over a low heat until the mixture is smooth.

Pour into a wide bowl and leave to cool slightly. If you dip the éclairs when the glaze is too hot, it will run down the sides of the pastry. When the glaze has cooled down but is still runny, dip an éclair into the glaze holding the base carefully. Hold the éclair vertically as you lift it out. Use your finger to smooth the sides of the glaze, then place back on the wire rack. Scatter over a few lavender petals (not too many as the éclairs will taste soapy) and leave to set. Enjoy!

These tartlets are based on a cocktail I had in London recently. It was a gin cocktail with blackberries and lavender and tasted delicious. The tartlets have a sweet shortcrust pastry base, a hidden layer of blackberry jam and are filled with a blackberry and lavender crème mousseline. They are then topped with a little vanilla crème mousseline, fresh blackberries and lavender petals. 

For the Shortcrust Pastry

Click here for my post on making a sweet shortcrust pastry. Make one portion of pastry as per the instructions. Chill the pastry, wrapped in cling film, for at least one hour. Once the pastry has chilled, dust your work surface with flour and roll out the pastry to about the thickness of a pound coin. I used four pastry rings with a diameter of about 5 inches, greased with unsalted butter. Prepare a baking sheet with baking paper. Cut out circles of pastry and place in the rings, directly onto the baking paper. Press the pastry firmly against the rings, then use a sharp knife to cut excess pastry off the top. Repeat with the remaining 3 rings and place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 mins.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prick the bases of the chilled tartlets with a fork, line with baking paper and baking beans and bake for about 12 mins. Remove the beans and the paper, then bake for about 4-6 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden. Leave to cool.

For the Blackberry, Lavender and Vanilla Mousseline

• 500ml milk
• 1 tbsp lavender petals
• 4 egg yolks
• 135g caster sugar
• 50g cornflour
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 250g unsalted butter
• 8-10 frozen blackberries
• 8 tbsp blackberry jam

Infuse the milk with the lavender petals for at least one hour. Sieve the milk to remove the petals then heat the milk gently in a saucepan. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, then whisk in the cornflour. Once the milk is simmering, pour a small amount into the egg mixture and whisk together, then pour the entire contents into the saucepan and turn up the heat. Whisk continuously until the mixture is thick. Pour into a clean bowl and whisk in the vanilla. Cover with cling film (the film needs to be touching the pastry cream) and chill in the fridge.

Once the cream is cooled, pop the butter (at room temperature) in an electric mixer and whisk until it is smooth and creamy. Keep whisking the butter and add the pastry cream a little at a time until fully incorporated. The mixture may look a little curdled but keep whisking and it will become smooth. Remove about a third of the mousseline and keep to one side.

In a saucepan, gently heat the frozen blackberries with a couple of tablespoons of water, until they are mainly liquid. Sieve the blackberries to remove any seeds and keep the liquid to one side to cool. When cold, slowly add the liquid into the remaining mousseline until smooth and violet in colour.

Now to put everything together. Take your cooled pastry tartlets and spoon a couple of tablespoons of the blackberry jam onto the base and smooth to create a layer. Now carefully spoon the blackberry and lavender mousseline onto the jam and smooth over with a palette knife. Put the vanilla mousseline into a piping bag and pipe little blobs around the edge of the tart. Add fresh blackberries to decorate then sprinkle lavender petals over the top.

These sweet pastry tartlets have a raspberry and rose cream filling and are topped with raspberries and crushed pistachios.

For the Pastry (makes 6 tartlets with a 3 inch diameter)

• 100g plain flour
• 50g unsalted butter (cubed) plus extra for greasing the moulds
• 25g caster sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg

To make the pastry, pop the flour, sugar, salt and the butter into a food processor and blitz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. This won’t take long so be careful not to overwork the flour, just a few pulses will do. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg slightly with a fork. Pour about half of the egg into the food processor and blitz together. If the mixture doesn’t come together add a little bit more egg and blitz again. Stop adding egg once the pastry comes together into a ball. Sprinkle some flour on the pastry, and wrap in cling film. Pop in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, brush the moulds all over with softened butter. Once the pastry has chilled, sprinkle your workspace with flour and roll out the pastry. For small tartlets, a thinner pastry is best so try to roll it out until it’s about 2-3mm thick. Cut out the pastry with a circular cutter that’s a little larger than your moulds. Ease the pastry into the moulds and press firmly against the base and the sides. Put the pastry back in the fridge to chill again for another 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Prick the base of the chilled tartlets two or three times with a fork. Trim the edges with a sharp knife. Line each tartet with baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Place on a tray and bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and paper, then bake for a further 3-5 minutes until golden and dry to the touch . Once baked, leave in the moulds to cool down.

For the filling

• 100ml double cream
• 50g mascarpone cheese
• 2tbsp icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp rose water
• a punnet of raspberries
• 25g pistachios

Whisk the cream, mascarpone and icing sugar together until all combined and forms soft peaks. Add the rose water and mix in. Rose water is very strong so you can add more if you like, but best to taste as you go to stop your cream tasting too soapy. In a separate bowl, roughly crush up some raspberries with a fork. For 6 tartlets, I used 12 raspberries. Add the raspberries to the cream and fold in.

Spoon or pipe the cream into the pastry shells and smooth over with a palette knife. Top with a couple of raspberries. Finally, crush up some pistachios in a pestle and mortar and sprinkle over the top. Keep these tartlets chilled (because of the cream) and enjoy!

These éclairs are filled with a coffee crème pâtissière and glazed with a thin layer of white chocolate fondant icing. My friend Becky suggested the white chocolate topping. She used to make éclairs like this when she worked in a hotel and they were very popular. After making some, I can totally understand why – they are delicious!

Choux pastry

First of all, you will need to make a batch of choux pastry. For my choux pastry recipe, click here.

When piping out the choux on to the baking paper, I used a scraper with a straight edge to measure out éclairs of equal length and it helped to keep the lines straight. If you don’t have a suitable straight-edged scraper, you could always draw lines using a ruler on one side of the paper, an equal distance apart, then turn the paper back over and pipe along the lines.

Bake the choux in a preheated oven at 180℃ for about 30 minutes. The choux should be risen and a deep golden colour. 

Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Pierce the bottom of each éclair in the middle with a small piping tip to allow steam to escape. Whilst the choux are cooling, make the coffee crème pâtissière.

Coffee Crème Pâtissière

• 300ml milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 60g caster sugar
• 40g cornflour
• 3 tbsp espresso coffee

Gently heat the milk in a large saucepan. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a separate bowl, then add the cornflour and whisk. When the milk is steaming hot, pour a small amount into the egg mixture and whisk quickly. Then pour all the egg mixture into the milk, turn the heat up to max and whisk constantly over the heat. The mixture will start to thicken. Keep whisking until it is thick and glossy, then pour into a clean bowl. Add the espresso and whisk together. Cover with cling film (the cling film needs to be touching the surface of the crème pâtissière) and chill in the fridge.

Once the crème pâtissière is cool, transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. Make 2 more holes in the bottom of the éclairs with the smaller tip. Then pipe the crème pâtissière into each éclair using the three holes. You will be able to feel the éclairs become heavier as you fill them up. 

For the white chocolate glaze, you will need…

• 125g white chocolate
• 200g fondant icing sugar
• 2-3 tbsp water

Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. In a separate pan, gently heat the fondant icing sugar and the water. Whisk them together until there are no more lumps of the sugar. Pour in the melted white chocolate and whisk together until smooth.

Leave to cool slightly. If you dip the éclairs too quickly in this mix, the glaze will be too hot and just run down the sides of the éclairs. When the glaze has cooled down a bit but is still runny, dip an éclair into the glaze, holding the base carefully. Hold the éclair vertically as you bring it out of the glaze, so any glaze running off, falls off one side. Use your finger to smooth the sides of the glaze, then place back on the wire rack to set. If you fancy, pop some coffee beans on top to finish off, then eat immediately!