Mandarin, Litchi & Pistachio Éclair

Ingredients

For Éclair

Milk 500 gm

Water 500 gm

Butter 400 gm

Refined Flour 500 gm

Eggs 16

Salt 20 gm

Sugar 25 gm

For Pastry Cream

Milk 250 ml

Egg Yolks 60 gm

Caster Sugar 75 gm

Refined Flour 35 gm

Double Cream 100 ml

Preparation

Bring water, milk, sugar, salt and butter to boil. Add flour and beat over heat until the panada is cooked. Beat in eggs. Pipe the mix on a silpat. Bake the éclairs at 2000 C for 25 minutes. Cool them on a wire rack. For the pastry cream, put the milk in a pan and heat gently, slowly bringing to boil. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until light in colour about 2-3 minutes. Add the flour whisk again until smooth. Pour half of the boiled milk into the bowl and whisk until no lumps. Pass through a fine strainer and then return to the milk in pan. Continuously whisk until it comes to boil and then reduce the temperature to simmer. Pour the cream into a shallow tray to cool wrap it with cling film. Divide the pastry cream into three parts and mix them individually with reduced purees (mandarin, litchi, pistachio). Fill the Eclairs with mandarin pastry cream, litchi pastry cream and pistachio pastry cream. Arrange them in the sequence of Indian National Flag.

(Courtesy: Chef Vivek Chauhan, Pastry Chef, The Imperial New Delhi)