1. Pate choux

Makes about 20 eclairs.

Ingredients

250 mL water
200g plain flour
100g unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
4 eggs

Method To Assemble

1. Bring the water, butter and salt to simmer in a medium-sized pot. Sieve the plain flour into a bowl.

2. Once the water has reached simmering point, remove from the heat.

3. Then all in one go, add in the flour. Using a wooden spoon, stir until the mixture forms a large ball of dough. It will be difficult to stir in the beginning, but it will come together into a ball.

4. Return it to low heat, and continue to stir the dough on the heat, to cook the dough. Keep stirring vigorously for about 5 minutes.

5. Remove from the heat, and then transfer the dough to an electric mixer, attached with a paddle. Switch on the mixer, and beat the dough for about 8 minutes, to cool it down, on medium speed.

6. Crack the eggs into a pouring cup, and once the mixture has cooled down, add in the eggs, one at a time.

7. Do not add the next egg in, until the first egg is fully incorporated. Once all 4 eggs have gone in, stop the machine. The dough should now be silky and shiny.

8. Heat a fan forced oven to 170°C.

9. Prepare a piping bag, fitted with a star nozzle about 1 cm in diameter. Fill up the piping bag with the dough and pipe a small amount of the dough onto the baking tray, at each corner.

10. Place a sheet of baking paper on top, and press down, where you have piped the dough, on each corner. This is to prevent the paper from flying away in the oven.

11. (You may need to practice piping a few eclairs beforehand. Begin by applying pressure on the piping bag, then once you see some mix coming out from the tip, drag the mix down into a straight line. The aim is to create even lengths and thicknesses so that the eclairs remain uniform.)

12. Pipe them about 4” long. They will double in size once they are baked.

13. Once you have piped all the eclairs out, then pop them in a hot oven, and bake for about 20 minutes.

14. Cool down completely before filling. The eclairs can be kept in the freezer until ready to use.

15. Just before using, place them on a baking tray, and refresh them in a hot oven 170°C, for about 10 minutes to crisp up again. Once they are cooled, use a small piping nozzle to poke 2 holes on the bottoms of the eclairs.

2. Houjicha Creme Patissiere 

Ingredients

6 yolks
160 g castor sugar
40 g plain flour
20 g cornflour
500 mL whole milk
1 tsp vanilla paste
3 tbsp TSUBAKI / Houjicha powder
2 tbsp unsalted butter

Method To Assemble

1. Heat up the milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Meanwhile whisk the yolks and the sugar together in a separate bowl. Sieve the flour and cornflour together, then add into the yolk mixture. Whisk to combine.

2. Once the milk has heated up to almost simmering point, remove from the heat, and whisk in the Houjicha powder till smooth. Then slowly add this to the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. The idea is to bring up the temperature of the yolk mixture, gradually, without cooking the yolks.

3. Once all the milk has been added to the yolk mixture, whisk thoroughly, then return to medium heat. Keep whisking until the mixture cooks through, and bubbles. It must bubble to completely cook out the flour.

4. Remove from heat, and whisk in the butter. Once it’s completely whisked through, set aside to cool, covered completely with cling film. The cling film must be placed directly on the custard, and not over the bowl. This will prevent a “skin” from forming on top of the custard.

5. Once it's cooled down, put it in the refrigerator overnight to chill completely.

6. Before using the custard, transfer it to a mixing bowl, and use a whisk to break up the custard and stir to create a smooth texture.

7. In an electric mixer, pour in 150 mL of whipping cream and whisk up until it forms stiff peaks. Then fold this gently into the Houjicha custard. This will lighten up the mix.

8. Fill up a piping bag, fitted with a small plain nozzle, and pipe the eclairs until they are completely full.

9. Set aside in the fridge, and prepare the white chocolate glaze.

3. White Chocolate Glaze 

Ingredients

250 g good quality white chocolate, chopped
90 g cream 
1 tsp of unsalted butter

Method To Assemble

1. Heat up the cream in a small pot and pour over the chopped chocolate. Whisk until smooth and then whisk in the butter to create a glossy finish.

2. Dip the top of the eclairs into the glaze, shaking off the excess. Chill until ready to serve.