Raspberry Eclairs

Holiday season is upon us and I’m busting out everything from fast and easy to stepped up desserts.

Yes, these raspberry eclairs are a bit more work, but I promise you, they are well worth it. And they’re also great if you need a show-stopping dessert and don’t want to mess with anything too time consuming.

Can you believe Christmas is less than 9 weeks away? Hello, where have I been? Time is zooming by me faster than the creeping crows feet on my face. Wah, but true. With that, stepped up desserts like this one can’t take up too much time.

When you give this a go, don’t skip the raspberries, they make this dessert. To save time, you can make the pate choux three days ahead and keep them tightly covered on the counter. The rest of this recipe comes together quickly and easily. This is a good thing since the baby is becoming more aware and tugging at me for attention and entertainment. For those of you with kids, remember those days when you had to hide and throw your voice so the baby wouldn’t know you were near. Yup, I’m there – tip toeing around and using Sponge Bob’s voice instead of mine as needed.

For more inspiration and recipe ideas  like this one, head over to Driscoll’s Berries website.

Raspberry Éclairs

Yield: Makes: 2 dozen (2 1/2 inch éclairs)

Ingredients:

Pâte à Choux

• 1 cup water
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Pinch salt
• 1 ½ cups bread flour
• 3 large eggs plus 2 large egg whites

Honey Whipped Cream (stabilized)

• 4 teaspoons cold water
• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup honey

Chocolate Glaze

• 6 oz (about 1 cup) dark chocolate 65% cacao, chopped and melted
• 5 ½ oz (about 1 cup) white chocolate, chopped and melted

Directions:

Preparation: Heat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pâte à Choux

1. Place water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Remove pan from heat, add bread flour and stir until combined. Return pan to stove over medium heat and stir in circular motion until dough forms a ball at the center of pan.  Transfer dough to stand mixer bowl and let rest 5 minutes.
2. Fit stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Add in one egg at a time and mix on medium until fully combined before adding remaining eggs and egg whites. Dough should be smooth, if not, continue to mix until dough is free of lumps.
3. Place dough in a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (Ateco 9 pt, ¾ inch). Pipe 24 (2-inch) lines, two inches apart onto parchment lined pan. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and pierce each one with a paring knife to release the steam.

Honey Whipped Cream

1. Place cold water in a microwave-safe shallow bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water. Let stand until gelatin has bloomed (the water will absorb the powdered gelatin and the mixture will become solid). Place bowl in microwave and heat for 10 seconds on low-power or until mixture dissolves and resembles syrup consistency. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. Place heavy cream in a chilled bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks from. Turn off mixer and add honey. Turn mixer to low and beat until combined. Slowly add gelatin mixture while beating cream. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Assembly

1. Split éclairs horizontally in half and fill each bottom portion with whipped cream. Slice raspberries in half and layer on top of whipped cream. Dip top half of éclairs into melted dark chocolate and drizzle horizontal white chocolate lines on top. Drag a toothpick through the white chocolate lines vertically. Place chocolate glazed tops onto remain

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