Strawberries and Cream Eclairs

20 standard portions

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Ingredients

• 1 stick (4 ounces unsalted butter, cut into cubes)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated white sugar
• 1 cup 8 ounces water
• 1 cup 5 ounces all purpose flour
• 4 large eggs (you may need 1 more egg)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 10-12 strawberries (chopped into small pieces)

Method

1. Place butter, water, salt and sugar in a pan on low heat.
2. Keep stirring till the butter melts. Once the butter melts, increase the temperature and bring it all to a boil.
3. As soon as the mixture starts simmering, remove pan from heat and all the flour at once.
4. Beat constantly and vigorously till the dough comes together.
5. Now put the pan back on the gas stove. Continue to cook the dough by beating it constantly. You want to cook till the dough dries out, it will take 2 minutes or so. You will know it's done when you see a thin film of dough on the bottom of the pan.
6. Now immediately transfer the dough into the steel bowl of you stand mixer. Beat for a minute or so on medium speed so that the dough cools down a bit. Beating also helps in developing the gluten.
7. With the mixture running on medium speed, start adding the eggs one at a time. Add the next egg only after the first one has been well incorporated.
8. Once all eggs are incorporated, the dough will be elastic and shiny. It should also pass the "string test" - if you place a little dough in between your thumb and forefinger and then pull them apart, the dough should form a string. If the dough hasn't reached this stage, you may need to add 1 more egg.
9. Transfer dough into a pastry bag fitted with 1/2 inch round tip or a french tip. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and pre-heat oven to 425 F degrees.
10. Pipe tubes 4 x 1 inches or 5 inches for bigger eclairs. Remember to leaves at least 2 inches of space between each eclair as they puff up during baking.
11. Most likely your eclairs will have pointy ends/tails, to correct this, dip your finger into water and gently tap the dough to fix it.
12. Bake the eclairs at 425 F degrees for around 12 minutes or till the eclairs start showing little color. Then reduce the temperature to 375 F degrees and baked for additional 12-15 minutes or till evenly brown. Take out of the oven and allow the eclairs to cool down.
13. Place the steel bowl and whisk attachment in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
14. Start beating the cream at medium speed. Add in sugar, vanilla extract and increase the mixer speed to medium-high.
15. Continue to beat till the cream develops stiff peaks. Be careful not to over-beat.
16. Cut each eclair shell into half. Fill the bottom half with whipped cream and strawberries. Place the upper half on top. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately!