GFCF and White Sugar Free Eclair’s

I have gotten a lot of requests for this recipe. The instructions are very specific, so please follow them closely especially in regards to temperatures. These are amazingly good and you can substitute cows milk and white sugar if you prefer.

1 cup water

½ cup dairy free butter substitute (or butter if you do not need to make them dairy free)

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup *Gluten Free Flour blend

½ teaspoon xanthan gum

4 eggs

Heat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine flour and xanthan gum (unless using another flour blend that has xanthan gum in it) in a bowl and whisk to combine

In heavy sauce pan combine water, butter and salt and bring to a rolling boil.

Reduce heat

Add the flour all at once and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until it forms cohesive dough. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes. A film will develop on the bottom of the pan and some of the oil will separate out and that is fine.

Transfer to a stand mixer and beat at medium speed until the dough temperate reaches between 120 and 130 degrees.

Add eggs one at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next egg. Once all eggs are incorporated, mix the dough on medium speed for 5 minutes.

Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

Either pipe éclairs with a pastry bag with a large round tip or a disposal bag with the end cut to allow you to pipe about 1 inch round and 5 inch long éclairs. You can either pipe the cream puffs or use a portion scoop to make the rounds. Remember they will puff in size so a 2 ounce scoop is large when cooked. You can make them smaller or larger as you prefer, just adjust cooking times appropriately.

Cook in oven for approximately 20 minutes at 450°F then reduce the oven and cook for 15-20 additional minutes at 375F until done. They should be browned and sound hollow when tapped. Not cooking them long enough will cause them to collapse when cooling. Using a skewer or chop stick, puncture a hole on each side of the éclair to allow steam to escape. Should a hole naturally form during the cooking process, it is not necessary to puncture the ends. Puncture the sides of the cream puffs too.

Turn off oven and leave in the oven with the door open for 5 additional minutes.

Cool completely before filling. These can be frozen for use later. You can place back in a 450°F oven for a few minutes to re-crisp if desired.

Gluten Free Dairy Free Pastry Cream

These are made with coconut sugar and are light brown in color. You can use white sugar if you prefer.

2 cups coconut milk (you can use regular milk if not dairy free)

½ cup coconut sugar (you can use white sugar if you prefer)

¼ teaspoon salt

6 egg yolks

3 tablespoons corn starch

2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine coconut milk, coconut sugar and salt in a heavy sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn off when it begins to boil.

Whisk egg yolks until frothy.

Sift the cornstarch over the eggs and mix in.

Temper the milk mixture into the egg mixture. Tempering is adding the hot milk in a thin stream using a ladle so that you do not curdle the eggs. Yolks cook at 165 degrees and any egg whites that are in there from separating cook at 148-158 degrees. Cooling the milk mixture slightly while you whisk the eggs and add the cornstarch will help along with the tempering. You want to raise the temperate of the eggs slowly to prevent them cooking (or called curdling).

After adding about ½ to ¾ of the milk to the eggs, add the egg mixture to the remainder of the milk in the pan and return to the stove. With the heat on medium, cook, stirring continuously, until the mixture gets thick and begins to boil. Turn the heat down and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes to cook the corn starch. Do not allow it to come to a rolling boil, just a soft boil. Do not cook longer than 2 minutes. Set a timer.

Turn off and add vanilla.

Stir to incorporate the vanilla

Pour into a 13×9″ cake pan to cool. Cover with plastic wrap, putting the wrap directly on the pastry cream to prevent skin from forming.

Cool slightly and refrigerate. Do not leave at room temperature! Once this reaches 145 degrees it needs to be held in the refrigerator.

Once the éclairs have cooled either pipe the filling into the éclairs of remove the top and fill with the filling and replace the top.

Top with powdered sugar or chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze

2/3 cup chocolate chips (gluten free and if necessary, dairy free)

½ cup coconut milk creamer (you can use heavy whipping cream if not dairy free)

½ teaspoon vanilla (make sure that your vanilla is gluten free, not all vanilla is)

Bring coconut milk to slight boil and pour over chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes to melt chocolate. Stir and add the vanilla. Stir and let cool. Spread on the éclairs and store the remaining topping in the refrigerator.

* The flour blend that I use for this recipe is:

1 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1 cup gluten free corn starch.

Mix well and then I sift several times to mix completely. You will have 1/2 cup left. You can also make a larger batch for other baked goods. I generally make a large batch by mixing 2 pounds white rice flour, 1 pound brown rice flour and 2 pounds of corn starch. Amounts are not important as long as the ratio is correct. Whisk the flours in a very large bowl and then sift 3 times to make sure it is well mixed. It makes a great GF AP Flour. Remember to add xanthan gum when using though as it is not in the mix.