My favourite flavour combination: strawberry and matcha! Crisp choux pastry is filled with a strawberry ganache and topped with a whipped matcha cheesecake cream.
Makes 6large éclairs
Ingredients
Craquelin
30g(2 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
30g(2 tbsp) brown sugar
30g(5 tbsp) all-purpose flour
Pâte à Choux
57ml(1/4 cup) water
57ml(1/4 cup) whole milk
1/2tsp granulated sugar
1/2tsp salt
57g(1/4 cup) unsalted butter
70g(1/2 cup and 2 tbsp) all-purpose flour
110g(~2 1/2) large eggs , lightly beaten
Whipped Strawberry Chocolate Ganache
114gstrawberry chocolate , or white chocolate with 3 tbsp of freeze-dried strawberry powder
228g(1 cup) heavy cream
1/4tspsalt
Whipped Matcha Cheesecake
228g(1 cup) heavy cream
250g(1 block) cream cheese, softened
30g(1/4 cup) powdered sugar
3tbspculinary-grade matcha powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4tspsalt
Royal Icing
120g(1 cup) powdered sugar
1-2tbspwhole milk
A few drops of food colouring, optional
Instructions
Craquelin
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and mix with rubber spatula until smooth.
Roll out the craquelin dough to 1/8-inch in thickness. Using a knife, cut. Set aside.
Pâte à Choux
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
In a saucepan, combine the water, milk, sugar, salt, and butter. Bring to a light boil, remove from heat, and immediately add in all the flour. Quickly stir in the flour, using a rubber spatula, and return saucepan back over medium-high heat.
Continue to stir the mixture, without stopping, until the paste is smooth, about 1-2 minutes. It will pull away from the sides of the pan and leave a thin coating of cooked paste on the bottom when ready. The texture should resemble dry mashed potatoes.
Transfer the paste to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low for the choux to cool down.
While the mixer is running on medium, gradually stream in the lightly beaten eggs. Mix until well combined.
Transfer the pâte à choux to the prepared piping bag with a round tip. Pipe out 6 oblong strips (3 – 4 inches in length) onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving roughly 2 inches between each eclair. Add the craquelin to the choux strips.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately bake eclairs for 35 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet and turn down the oven to 325F, then bake for 10 minutes more until choux are deeply golden. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack to cool.
Whipped Strawberry Chocolate Ganache
Finely chop the strawberry chocolate and place into a bowl.
In a saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Once mixture has boiled, pour milk mixture over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 1 minute.
Whisk the chocolate mixture until thoroughly melted and combined. Set in the refrigerator to chill, at least 3 hours.
Once chilled and ready to use, transfer the ganache to the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Whip ganache to medium-stiff peaks. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium round pastry tip to pipe into choux pastries once baked.
Whipped Matcha Cheesecake
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip heavy cream, until it reaches to medium-stiff peaks. Transfer to another bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whipped cream cheese, powdered sugar, matcha powder, and vanilla on medium speed until smooth and no clumps remain, 1 - 2 minutes.
With a rubber spatula, fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
Transfer the whipped cheesecake cream to a piping bag fitted with a large star pastry tip.
Keep whipped cheesecake cool until ready to use.
Royal Icing
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk until smooth.
Assembly
With a sharp serrated knife, cut choux lengthwise. Dip the craquelin top into royal icing, allowing excess to drip off.
Pipe the choux cavity with whipped strawberry ganache until it reaches the brim of the bottom choux half.
Pipe a layers of whipped matcha cheesecake on top of the strawberry ganache.