1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Fill a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an 18mm (3⁄4in) nozzle (tip) with the chilled choux pastry. Pipe 12cm (43⁄4in) éclairs onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking (parchment) paper or a silicone liner (bake-o-glide). Spray the éclairs lightly with vegetable or sunflower oil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
2. Wash and hull the strawberries and slice finely.
1. Split each éclair using a sharp serrated knife (see Filling, Dipping & Splitting).
2. Place the vanilla Chantilly cream in a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an open star nozzle (tip) and pipe the cream onto the base of each éclair.
3. Top with the sliced strawberries.
4. Position the tops of the éclairs and dust with a little icing (confectioners’) sugar. Serve.
When strawberries are not in season they can be replaced with other seasonal fruits. Or you could even use a layer of good-quality strawberry preserve instead.
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Fill a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an 18mm (3/4in) nozzle (tip) with the chilled choux pastry. Pipe 12cm (43⁄4in) éclairs onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking (parchment) paper or a silicone liner (bake-o-glide). Spray the éclairs lightly with vegetable or sunflower oil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
2 Purée the raspberries and sieve to remove the seeds. Fold gently through the vanilla Chantilly cream and set aside.
3. Make small rolled roses and leaves for each éclair using white sugarpaste (see Sugarcraft Techniques). Gently dust the roses in pink lustre dust and the leaves in green.
1. Place the raspberry cream in a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an open star nozzle (tip). Split each éclair using a sharp serrated knife and pipe the raspberry cream into the base of each éclair (see Filling, Dipping & Splitting).
2. Warm the raspberry chocolate ganache gently until of a dipping consistency and place in an open shallow bowl. Dip the tops of each éclair in the ganache to coat and place on top of the cream-filled bases.
3. Mix the icing (confectioners’) sugar with a little water to a fairly thick consistency and place in a small piping (pastry) bag. Drizzle in lines across the raspberry ganache (see Piping Techniques) and top each with a rolled rose and leaf. Serve.
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Fill a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an 18mm (3/4in) nozzle (tip) with the chilled choux pastry. Pipe 15cm (6in) éclairs onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking (parchment) paper or a silicone liner (bake-o-glide). Spray the éclairs lightly with vegetable or sunflower oil and bake in the oven for 50 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
2. Make medium and small blossoms from white sugarpaste and set aside to dry (see Sugarcraft Techniques). Mix a little orange lustre dust with rejuvenator fluid and use a small paintbrush to paint a dot in the centre of each blossom.
1. Pierce the base of each éclair three times, once at either end and once in the middle.
2. Place lemon syllabub filling in a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a filling nozzle (tip), such as a Wilton 230, and use to fill each éclair (see Filling, Dipping & Splitting).
3. Warm the pale yellow fondant glaze gently until of a dipping consistency and place in an open shallow bowl. Dip the top of each éclair in the fondant to coat.
4. Mix the icing (confectioners’)sugar with a little water to a fairly thick consistency, colour pale green and place in a small piping (pastry) bag. Pipe a scattering of small green leaves across the tops of the éclairs.
5. Add the white sugarpaste blossoms, sticking each in position on the base of a leaf. Serve.
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Fill a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an 18mm (3⁄4in) nozzle (tip) with the chilled choux pastry. Pipe 10cm (4in) éclairs onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking (parchment) paper or a silicone liner (bake-o-glide). Spray the éclairs lightly with vegetable or sunflower oil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
2. Prepare a batch of royal icing and colour it purple. Place in a small piping (pastry) bag fitted with a no. 43 nozzle (tip).
1. Whisk the chilled mango & passion fruit crème patissière with an electric hand mixer until smooth and place in a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a filling nozzle (tip), such as a Wilton 230.
2. Pierce the base of each éclair once at each end and fill with mango & passion fruit crème patissière (see Filling, Dipping & Splitting).
3. Warm the yellow fondant glaze gently until of a dipping consistency and place in an open shallow bowl. Dip the top of each éclair in the fondant to coat.
4. Pipe a snail trail (see Piping Techniques) of purple royal icing down the centre of each and scatter over freeze-dried mango. Serve.
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Fill a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an 18mm (3⁄4in) nozzle (tip) with the chilled choux pastry. Pipe 10cm (4in) éclairs onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking (parchment) paper or a silicone liner (bake-o-glide). Spray the éclairs lightly with vegetable or sunflower oil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
2. Soak 125g (41⁄2oz) raisins in dark rum for 4 hours (or overnight), then drain and reserve the liquid. Blitz in a food processor or with a stick blender until fine.
1. Beat the chilled vanilla crème patissière together with the blitzed raisins and 15ml (1 tbsp) of the reserved rum using an electric hand mixer. Place in a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a filling nozzle (tip).
2. Pierce the base of each éclair once at each end and fill with rum & raisin crème patissière (see Filling, Dipping & Splitting).
3. Finely dice the remaining raisins.
4. Warm the pale cream fondant glaze gently until of a dipping consistency and place in an open shallow bowl. Dip the top of each éclair in the fondant to coat and scatter with the finely chopped raisins. Serve.
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Fill a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an 18mm (3⁄4in) nozzle (tip) with the chilled choux pastry. Pipe 10cm (4in) éclairs onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking (parchment) paper or a silicone liner (bake-o-glide). Spray the éclairs lightly with vegetable or sunflower oil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
2. Mix together a little orange lustre dust with rejuvenator fluid or clear alcohol to form an orange-coloured paint.
1. Beat the chilled orange crème patissière with an electric hand mixer until smooth and place in a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a filling nozzle (tip) such as a Wilton 230.
2. Pierce the base of each éclair once at each end and fill with orange crème patissière (see Filling, Dipping & Splitting).
3. Warm the white fondant glaze gently until of a dipping consistency and place in an open shallow bowl. Dip the top of each éclair in the fondant to coat.
4. Dip a stiff paint brush into the orange paint and flick the bristles to splatter orange across the fondant tops. Serve.
Paint made with dusts and rejuvenator fluid or clear alcohol dries out quickly, so it can’t be made up in advance. Use for decorating as soon as it is mixed.
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Fill a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an 18mm (3⁄4in) nozzle (tip) with the chilled choux pastry. Pipe 15cm (6in) éclairs onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking (parchment) paper or a silicone liner (bake-o-glide). Spray the éclairs lightly with vegetable or sunflower oil and bake in the oven for 50 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
2. Roll out the lime green sugarpaste thinly and cut out large, medium and small circles (see Sugarcraft Techniques). Carefully cut out the centres of half of the large green circles and set aside to dry.
1. Beat the prepared lime crème patissière with an electric hand mixer until smooth and place in a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a filling nozzle (tip) such as a Bismarck or Wilton 230.
2. Pierce the base of each éclair three times, once at each end and once in the middle. Fill with lime crème patissière (see Filling, Dipping & Splitting).
3. Warm the white fondant glaze gently until of a dipping consistency and place in an open shallow bowl. Dip the top of each éclair in the fondant to coat and position a variety of lime green circles on the top of each. Serve.
When cutting out the centres, try to lift out the smaller cutter with the sugarpaste centre still held within it; these can then be gently eased out and used for decoration, too. If the centre doesn’t release after cutting, it can be gently lifted out with a cocktail stick.
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Fill a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an 18mm (3⁄4in) nozzle (tip) with the chilled choux pastry. Pipe 10cm (4in) éclairs onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking (parchment) paper or a silicone liner (bake-o-glide). Spray the éclairs lightly with vegetable or sunflower oil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
2. Place the summer fruits and caster (superfine) sugar in a bowl, mix together and mash gently with a fork.
1. Split each éclair with a serrated knife (see Filling, Dipping & Splitting).
2 Beat the chilled vanilla crème patissière with an electric hand mixer until smooth and gently fold in the softly whipped double cream. Place in a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a serrated open nozzle (tip).
3. Divide the summer fruits between the éclairs, spooning the mixture onto the bases.
4. Pipe five to six bulbs of crème patissière mixture along the lengths and replace the tops. Serve.
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Fill a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an 18mm (3⁄4in) nozzle (tip) with the chilled choux pastry. Pipe 10cm (4in) éclairs onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking (parchment) paper or a silicone liner (bake-o-glide). Spray the éclairs lightly with vegetable or sunflower oil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
2. Roll out the peach and pink sugarpastes thinly and cut out a variety of small medium and large hearts (see Sugarcraft Techniques). Set aside to dry.
1. Beat the chilled raspberry & cranberry crème patissière with an electric hand mixer until even and add to a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a filling nozzle (tip) such as a Bismarck or Wilton 230.
2. Pierce the base of each éclair once at each end and fill with the raspberry & cranberry crème patissière (see Filling, Dipping & Splitting).
3. Warm the white fondant glaze gently until of a dipping consistency and place in an open shallow bowl. Dip the top of each éclair in the fondant to coat and scatter over the sugarpaste hearts. Serve.
These decorations can be made well in advance – once dried they can be stored in a jar or container (not airtight) and will keep for several weeks. Any excess left over after decorating can be kept for future use.
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Fill a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an 18mm (3⁄4in) nozzle (tip) and pipe 12cm (43⁄4in) éclairs onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking (parchment) paper or a silicone liner (bake-o-glide). Spray the éclairs lightly with vegetable or sunflower oil and bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
2. Prepare the apple decorations. Roll balls of red sugarpaste, roughly 1cm (1⁄2in) in diameter. Using a skewer or the wrong end of a paintbrush poke a hole into the top of each. Roll a thin sausage of brown sugarpaste for the stalk and set it into the hole in the apple. For the leaf roll a small ball of green sugarpaste, flatten the ball between your fingertips and pinch one end to form the sharp point of the leaf. Score a central vein down the centre of the leaf and secure in position on the top of the apple using a small dab of water. Set to one side.
1. Slice the tops off the éclairs, dividing them into roughly two thirds for the base, one third for the top.
2. Beat the chilled vanilla crème patissière with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Place in a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a 1cm (1⁄2in) round open nozzle (tip).
3. Fill the base of each éclair with apple pie filling (see Filling, Dipping & Splitting) and pipe small bulbs of vanilla crème patissière on top.
4. Warm the caramel glaze to a pourable consistency if necessary and place in a shallow bowl, at least as wide as the length of the éclairs.
5. Dip the top surface of each éclair top into the caramel glaze and place into position on top of each filled éclair base. Add an apple decoration to the top of each. Serve.
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Fill a piping (pastry) bag fitted with an 18mm (3⁄4in) nozzle (tip) with the chilled choux pastry. Pipe 15cm (6in) éclairs onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking (parchment) paper or a silicone liner (bake-o-glide). Spray the éclairs lightly with vegetable or sunflower oil and bake in the oven for 50 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
2. Roll out the yellow sugarpaste and cut out two medium-pointed five-petal blossoms for each éclair. Roll out the lime green and cut one small blossom for each. Using a cocktail stick (toothpick), imprint lines along each petal. Set the yellow blossoms on top of each other, slightly offsetting the petals, and place the green blossom in the centre. Carefully pick up the pieces and pinch together gently from the back to ruffle the petals. Set aside to dry in the recesses of an egg box.
1. Whisk the prepared tropical crème patissière with an electric hand mixer until smooth.
2. Split each éclair with a sharp serrated knife (see Filling, Dipping & Splitting) and spoon the tropical crème patissière into the base of each.
3. Top the crème patissière with a mix of sliced tropical fruits.
4. Warm the orange fondant glaze gently until of a dipping consistency and place in an open shallow bowl. Dip the top of each éclair in the fondant to coat and place on top of the fruit filling.
5. Apply a dab of water to the centres of the flowers and sprinkle on the dragées. Add a tropical flower to the top of each éclair and serve.