gluten free eclairs
gluten free profiteroles
In France, eclairs are the size of soccer fields or more specifically, airport runways. You almost need a baguette bag to carry one eclair, they are that big. You would expect that one eclair could be dessert for a whole family, but it isn't so at all. I saw the tiniest and most petite women eat a whole eclair often. In my little bakery nearby, the eclairs are dainty and short. I like them better that way. It is enough to make you happy and less than enough to make you wish you hadn't eaten the whole thing. And it is quite clear there is no need to share. But alas, they do not bake gluten free.
In honor of the craving we have, this is the recreated gluten free eclair, and just to be a smarty pants, we added a pate choux profiterole to the plate too. Great for those who can't figure out which one to take home. Eat them both!
The dough is the same, and is pretty easy to make, gluten free or not. The custardy filling is easy too. The hard part for both is the amount of time and attention they need. Also, be prepared for a kitchen hurricane! This takes so many bowls and pots, I often wish for a dish washing elf (Lulu?). If you have the time and want to impress, well, everyone, make these! And best of all, you can make a ton of them for pennies compared to the cost of purchasing them from a bakery.
Gluten Free Custard Filled, Chocolate Profiteroles & Eclairs
the cast of characters
Ingredients - Pate a Choux Dough for eclairs and profiteroles
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 stick butter cut up into 8 pieces
- teaspoon of sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup gluten free flour
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 3 large eggs
Ingredients - Vanilla Custard Filling
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup half/half
- Large (moist) vanilla bean scraped, or teaspoon vanilla
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar (a matter of taste)
- 1/4 (scant!) cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons butter cut into pieces
Ingredients - Chocolate Glaze or Ganache
- 1 cup cream
- 8-9 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
Directions - Pate a Choux Dough
In a good size saucepan heat the milk, water, sugar, salt and butter. Bring to a light boil. While that heats up, mix the flour with the xanthan gum. As soon as it boils add the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon like crazy, and keep stirring until the dough comes together and is shiny. The bottom of the pan will develop a crust, but keep stirring over low heat for about a minute more.
the liquid
adding the gf flour to the simmering liquid
keep stirring the shiny pate a choux dough
Dump the ball of dough into a large bowl or stand mixer. Let it sit for no more than 5 minutes to cool slightly. Add the eggs while mixing on medium speed one at a time, incorporating the egg fully before adding another one. The dough will look like it is falling apart but by the time you finish it will look fine. Keep mixing for about another 30 seconds after the last egg is added until the dough comes together. It will look shiny and sticky, but won't form a ball.
add one egg at a time
last of the eggs
If you can pipe, use a 1/2 inch tip and pipe the dough onto parchment or silpat covered baking sheets into little mounds for pate a choux, or little logs for eclairs. Depending on how big you want to make them, you can get anywhere from 4 of each to 6 of each.
piped profiteroles ready for oven
Immediately place in a 375 degree oven and leave it until they are nice and brown. That should take about 25 minutes, but check after 15 minutes. 
profiteroles nicely browned
eclairs lightly browned
Remove them from the oven and slice a little slit into each one to let the steam escape and place it back in the oven which is now turned off, but still warm. Leave them in there for another 30 minutes to continue drying. Remove and let the eclairs cool. Once cool, use a serrated knife and slice the tops off so that they can be filled. Remove the inner dough until you have a nice little cavity to fill with pastry cream. Leave them out to dry a little bit while you prepare the pastry cream.
off with their heads
Directions - Pastry Cream
Heat up the milk and half/half until warm and add the vanilla and the beans. Turn the heat off and cover. Leave it for about 15 minutes to infuse the milk with vanilla.
infusing milk with vanilla bean
Prepare two bowls, one slightly bigger than the other. In the larger one add some ice and set the smaller bowl on the ice. It should be large enough to hold the pastry cream mixture. Add to that bowl, a mesh strainer which you will use to push the cream through to eliminate any lumps. 
ice bath and strainer for pastry cream
Meantime, mix the sugar and cornstarch together and add the egg yolks and mix with a whisk until smooth. Add some of the hot vanilla milk to the sugar/egg mixture to temper the eggs and warm them up. Then add that to the warm vanilla milk and turn the heat up to medium. Keep whisking the mixture until it comes to a boil. Simmer at a low boil for a minute or two and remove from the heat. 
whisk until thick
Immediately turn the pastry cream into the mesh strainer and stir and push it through into the bowl that is sitting on the ice. Once all the pastry cream is in the bowl, stir to cool the mixture a bit. Remove the bowl from the ice and add the butter and whish to incorporate as it melts. Then return the bowl to the ice and let it sit for about 15 minutes, stirring often until the pastry cream is chilled.
straining gets rid of lumps
strained, smooth pastry cream
Using a small spoon, fill each pate choux and eclair as much as you like and place the top back on. Line them up on a wire rack on the baking sheet for the chocolate topping fun.
happily stuffed, ready for chocolate
Directions - Chocolate ToppingPlace the chocolate in a bowl and heat the cream in a small saucepan until it simmers to a low boil. Pour that over the chocolate and leave it alone for a minute. Then begin stirring until the cream and chocolate are totally smooth. Add the butter and the light corn syrup and stir until incorporated.
Let the mixture sit for a minute or two until still warm but not hot. Using a spoon pour chocolate over each pastry. Let them set for a few minutes.
simmering the cream
adding the hot cream to chocolate, keep stirring!
ah, chocolate
Refrigerate. Leave out for a short time before serving for best flavor. They taste even better the second day.Bon Appetit!
eclairs taste great with espresso
profiteroles taste great with more espresso
Comments
anyone want dessert?
Holy cow. ME. Those look lovely. And with espresso... dear god.
You mad, mad, wonderful FOOL you! You have filled my brain with visions of eclairs and profiteroles! But my frustration as of this moment is akin to watching Julia Child cook on TV, then dish it up all that fabulous and say "Bon Appetit" in that cheerful sadistic voice, leaving me scrabbling at the TV or computer screen whimpering because I can't get at it! WAH! It's past eleven p.m. and I want an ECLAIR!
Thanks for the recipes. Being gluten and casein intolerant is a bitch. What is more disturbing is the fact that all gluten free recipes contain high levels of fat and sugar and stuff like xanthan gum
Still.... they look great and as usual I'll just watch while I eat lettuce wraps filled with scrambled egg.
Still.... they look great and as usual I'll just watch while I eat lettuce wraps filled with scrambled egg.
oh lord in heaven. how dare you, girl??? :) when i just ate two enough chocolate covered, custard filled donuts last night. had a huge downward spiral, of my own making, so those donuts were jsut the capper of my eating.
these are gorgeous. i would prefer the giant eclairs from france but if the tiny ones are served profiterole style, i'm there. i will never ever ever make these. but it's such a treat to read about and view them. and i'm allergic to gluten, like so many people.
love love love and gratitude to you and to lulu and pheobe who, of course need to skip the chocolate part.
these are gorgeous. i would prefer the giant eclairs from france but if the tiny ones are served profiterole style, i'm there. i will never ever ever make these. but it's such a treat to read about and view them. and i'm allergic to gluten, like so many people.
love love love and gratitude to you and to lulu and pheobe who, of course need to skip the chocolate part.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Rated
my absolute favorite thing on EARTH ... this is how the hubs gets out of trouble, you know ... big, fluffy, creamy, chocolatey glazed eclairs!!!
xoxoxoxoxo I love yoU!!!!!!
xoxoxoxoxo I love yoU!!!!!!
Clearly the idiot that didn't make this an EP and put it smack in the middle of the fucking cover has never worked with pate a choux and has certainly never fussed over the creation of a perfect pastry cream. I give them all the finger!!!
thanks everyone.
And mucho thanks to you Ann. I really appreciate the sentiment. I think I will go eat about 10 of these...
This stuff is really good for the biceps with all that stirring. And it does take a bunch of time, so good to do when you feel the urge to hang out in the kitchen most of the day. But truly worth it when everyone at the table grins from ear to ear at dessert time. And they can have seconds cause there are just that many!
So in an economy like this where pennies matter, these are great because making them yourself takes pennies and you get so many out of the deal.
And mucho thanks to you Ann. I really appreciate the sentiment. I think I will go eat about 10 of these...
This stuff is really good for the biceps with all that stirring. And it does take a bunch of time, so good to do when you feel the urge to hang out in the kitchen most of the day. But truly worth it when everyone at the table grins from ear to ear at dessert time. And they can have seconds cause there are just that many!
So in an economy like this where pennies matter, these are great because making them yourself takes pennies and you get so many out of the deal.
You need your own TV show. These are seriously impressive. Why is this not on the cover?
WOW! Are you some kind of a baker, or what???? Fantastic! I would never in a million years have the patience to do those lovelies. Never. And the puny sized kitchen in this house wouldn't even begin to hold all the equipment for all those processes. But I can look, and admire, and be jealous as hell!!
(Yes, I'm the man of the house, and the chief cook, baker and dish washer. Hey, somebody has to do it if your frau heads out to work each day to bring home the eclairs (well, just the bread).
Wonderful
Monte
(Yes, I'm the man of the house, and the chief cook, baker and dish washer. Hey, somebody has to do it if your frau heads out to work each day to bring home the eclairs (well, just the bread).
Wonderful
Monte
Thanks Lisa. I appreciate that. I wish you lived nearby so I could share that silly kitchenaid mixer with you.
Monte - you are a sweetheart. My grandmother and mother were great bakers and I try. My kitchen is kind of puny too and when I do stuff like this I end up using the tops of coffee pots or other appliances as counter space and even have to invade the dining room table. Just not enough kitchen space. But sometimes you just have to do that for the heck of it. Or because I'm a little bit nuts. Depends upon who you ask, or which day you ask....
Monte - you are a sweetheart. My grandmother and mother were great bakers and I try. My kitchen is kind of puny too and when I do stuff like this I end up using the tops of coffee pots or other appliances as counter space and even have to invade the dining room table. Just not enough kitchen space. But sometimes you just have to do that for the heck of it. Or because I'm a little bit nuts. Depends upon who you ask, or which day you ask....
Those look beyond yummy! The recipe is so far outside of my comfort zone , I wouldn't dare try this at home. you are the Master of the Pastry. I am the Master of the Disaster.
This is probably waaaaay out of my league, but I'd really like to try to make these. A couple questions:
1. Is the difference between an eclair and a profiterole simply the shape?
2. Am I understanding correctly that your recipe will make 4 to 6 of EITHER or both?
3. It looks like you've baked them on a special pan liner. What is it and do I need one?
4. What brand of chocolate would you recommend? Some of them are so grainy.
Thank you!
1. Is the difference between an eclair and a profiterole simply the shape?
2. Am I understanding correctly that your recipe will make 4 to 6 of EITHER or both?
3. It looks like you've baked them on a special pan liner. What is it and do I need one?
4. What brand of chocolate would you recommend? Some of them are so grainy.
Thank you!
Hey Lisa - they are totally easy to do. Just be prepared for a mess and a bit of time.
Yes, the are the same exact dough. I made both shapes for people could see that they make both. The size and number depends on how big you make them. The eclair dough for example went on the cookie sheet about 1.5 x 3 inches big. The round ones about 2.5 inches. They need just a bit of space in between but not much.
This is a recipe that I now double. But if I were doing it for the first time it might be easier to follow this recipe because the handling isn't too much trouble. You should get about 8 good size round or eclairs from this recipe.
When you pop them in the oven, leave them in until they look nice and brown. You won't overcook them. Then quickly do the slits and pop them back in to dry out with the oven turned off.
You will know if it worked when you slice their heads off and pop out the dough (if looks like popovers inside). Taste it. Should taste like yummy popovers.
The liner is my trusty silpat. To do the same thing just use some parchment. Don't grease it. Just cut a piece to fit the bottom of your cookie sheet.
I used Whole Foods chocolate chips because they have terrific flavor. Same as cooking with wine. Just get the ones that taste the best to you. It will look grainy at first when you dump the hot cream on the chocolate, but then once you stir it up, it smooths out.
Hope this answers your questions.
Honestly, it is just task intensive but not big feat to make. You can abuse them a ton and they will still come out. These are one of those pastries that look complicated but are as easy as good cookies.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions and how they came out!
Yes, the are the same exact dough. I made both shapes for people could see that they make both. The size and number depends on how big you make them. The eclair dough for example went on the cookie sheet about 1.5 x 3 inches big. The round ones about 2.5 inches. They need just a bit of space in between but not much.
This is a recipe that I now double. But if I were doing it for the first time it might be easier to follow this recipe because the handling isn't too much trouble. You should get about 8 good size round or eclairs from this recipe.
When you pop them in the oven, leave them in until they look nice and brown. You won't overcook them. Then quickly do the slits and pop them back in to dry out with the oven turned off.
You will know if it worked when you slice their heads off and pop out the dough (if looks like popovers inside). Taste it. Should taste like yummy popovers.
The liner is my trusty silpat. To do the same thing just use some parchment. Don't grease it. Just cut a piece to fit the bottom of your cookie sheet.
I used Whole Foods chocolate chips because they have terrific flavor. Same as cooking with wine. Just get the ones that taste the best to you. It will look grainy at first when you dump the hot cream on the chocolate, but then once you stir it up, it smooths out.
Hope this answers your questions.
Honestly, it is just task intensive but not big feat to make. You can abuse them a ton and they will still come out. These are one of those pastries that look complicated but are as easy as good cookies.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions and how they came out!
YUM! These look delicious! I'm going to have to try this out.
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