Prep Time | 40 minutes
Cooking Time | 30 minutes
Serves | 8 people
- Melt the butter in a medium pan over a low heat. Add 130ml water, the salt and the sugar and bring to a gentle boil. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Add all the white rice flour in one go and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to make smooth heavy dough.
- Put the pan back on a low heat and beat the dough for about a minute to slightly cook the dough – it should come away from the sides of the pan to make a smooth, glossy ball. Tip the dough into a large mixing bowl and allow it to cool a little . Add the pectin but do not stir.
- Beat the eggs in a bowl until lightly frothy then add to the dough mix preferably using an electric mixer, but a whisk or spoon will suffice. The dough should be very shiny and paste like, and fall from a spoon when lightly shaken.
- Spoon the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a 1.25cm plain nozzle and pipe 10 cm lengths onto a greased baking tray.
- Sprinkle the tray, not the pastry, with a few drops of water, and bake in the pre-heated oven at 200°C/ 390°F/ Gas Mark 6 for 15 minutes.
- Without opening the door reduce the temperature to 170°C/325°F/ Gas Mark 3 and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden-brown and crisp.
- Remove the tray from the oven and carefully make a small hole in the side of each éclair to allow the steam to escape. Return to the oven and bake for further 5 minutes or until the pastry is completely crisp. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- For the filling, whip the cream with the sugar in a bowl until just stiff.
- Once the eclairs have cooled, cut down the length of one side of each éclair and pipe in the whipped cream.
- For the ganache icing, in a small pan, bring the cream almost to the boil, remove from the heat and add the chocolate pieces, leave to stand for a couple of minutes to allow the chocolate to melt, then stir. The consistency should be like thick double cream; if it is a little too thick, you can add 2-3 tsp of boiling water and stir until glossy again. Set aside to cool a little until thick enough to top the eclairs without running off. You can also decorate the Chocolate Eclairs with sprinkles or chopped nuts if desired!
- Enjoy!
Choc Chip Cookies
Rub in the margarine and Pure flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.Stir in the sugar, then add the chocolate chips and mix until they are thoroughly coated.Add the vanilla essence and enough water to bind the mix together - be careful, it won’t need...
