Browsing Tag

choux pastry

27th April 2017 // 2 Comments

Recipe: Strawberry Milkshake Cream Puffs!

Pretty Strawberry Milkshake Cream Puffs recipe by Juniper Cakery

Yep, it’s still unicorn month on our blog which means lots of rainbow and sparkle themed recipes and tutorials. This week we decided to a make something a little fancy for the unicorns who enjoy the finer things in life. Introducing our Strawberry Milkshake Cream Puffs recipe! Don’t worry though… it’s still fun and great for all ages.

Cream Puffs are perfect for a grown-up unicorn party

Cute Strawberry Milkshake Cream Puffs recipe from Juniper Cakery

Strawberry milkshake cream puffs recipe!

Makes approximately 18 cream puffs

Ingredients needed for the choux pastry:

  • 100g diced butter
  • 300ml water
  • 150g plain flour
  • 4 medium eggs lightly beaten

Ingredients needed for the strawberry cream filling:

Ingredients needed for the ‘icing’:

Choux pastry recipe from Juniper Cakery

Step 01:

To start this Strawberry Milkshake Cream Puffs recipe pre-heat your oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/Gas mark 6. In a saucepan add your diced up butter along with the 300ml of water and heat until the butter has melted. Once melted turn the heat up so that the ingredients come to a boil.

Step 02:

As soon as the butter and water mix boils (you really don’t need to leave it too long) add in your plain flour and mix until a ball of somewhat shiny dough forms. Nothing should stick to the sides of your saucepan at this point.

Raspberry and Lemon Meringue Eclairs recipe by Juniper Cakery

Step 03:

This step takes a bit of energy and a lot of arm work! Slowly add in your beaten egg whilst mixing the dough vigorously. Your dough should get slightly stiffer and glossier as you add the eggs!

Indulgent Raspberry and Lemon Meringue Eclairs recipe by Juniper Cakery

Note: You don’t want your eggs to cook separately and end up with lumps of scrambled egg in your pastry. To help stop this when you add and mix in the egg take your saucepan off the heat. Once the egg has incorporated into the mixture add the heat then repeat until all of the lightly beaten egg has been added in. Make sure that you are constantly and vigorously stirring too!

Step 04:

Lightly spritz your silpat / silicone baking mat with a little bit of water (an unused spray bottle really helps). You could just flick water on using your fingers or a clean pastry brush too.

How to bake cream puffs by Juniper Cakery

Step 05:

Scoop the choux pastry into a piping bag fitted with a large plain round tip and pipe equal sized balls of dough onto your baking trays.

Cream puffs recipe by Juniper Cakery

Step 06:

Now place in your pre-heated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes!

How do you know your cream puffs are ready? Well, you’re going to have to remove one from the oven and slice it open. They tend to weigh or feel a lot heavier than they look. The inside of your eclair should also feature a lovely hollow middle and should feel a little dried out – perfect for fillings!

Vanilla bean paste

Easy strawberry whipped cream filling by Juniper Cakery

Step 07:

Create your pink strawberry cream filling by adding your double (heavy or whipping) cream to the bowl of a stand-up mixer. Add in the vanilla bean paste and strawberry essence too! We also included a drop of pink food colouring before whipping as this helps minimise the risk of over whipping the cream.

Note: If you do over whip your cream and end up with a clumpy looking filling it’s easy to fix! Yay! Just add a tablespoon or two of unwhipped double cream (though you can also use full fat milk) and whisk for a few seconds before checking.

How to fill cream puffs by Juniper Cakery

Step 08:

To fill your cream puffs add the whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a bismark / filling piping tip (we used a 230 by Wilton). Insert the tip into the base and slowly pipe your strawberry whipped cream into the choux pastry puff! You should see the level base of the puff begin to fill a little. Remove the tip and bag and you should see a little cream poking out!

How to make choux pastry cream puffs by Juniper Cakery

Step 09:

To coat melt some Belgian white chocolate and add in your food colouring. Remember that not all food colours can work with chocolate. This is the brand and colour we used, which worked really well with our melted down white chocolate. Some brands can separate, go a murky colour or even seize up. If you’re unsure of how your colour will work you can keep your chocolate coating plain and instead add instant colour with lots of sprinkles!

Gold and pink strawberry milkshake cream puffs by Juniper Cakery

Step 10:

Take each cream puff and dip into the chocolate. Tap each whilst upside-down to help any excess chocolate from dripping down the sides. Leave to the side to set! If you want to add sprinkles, dried pieces of strawberry etc then you should add these whilst the chocolate coating is still melted. To add splattered effects wait until set!

Strawberry Milkshake Cream Puffs recipe by Juniper Cakery

Cute Strawberry Milkshake Cream Puffs recipe by Juniper Cakery

Now you can enjoy your (grown-up unicorn inspired of course) Strawberry Milkshake Cream Puffs! We pilled ours into our new gold rimmed champagne coupes / saucers from Sainsbury’s! Why not try these cream puffs teamed with strawberry gelato, extract whipped cream and fresh berries.

We finished ours with a liberal splattering of edible gold paint for a touch of luxe, but you can party up yours with sprinkles! Try freeze dried chopped strawberries or white chocolate sprinkles for a little extra flavour. Or for an afternoon tea or a bridal shower get-together you can even add edible petals and flowers to decorate.

Pink Cute Strawberry Milkshake Cream Puffs recipe from Juniper Cakery

16th March 2017 // 0 Comments

Recipe: Raspberry and Lemon Meringue Eclairs!

Delicious Raspberry and Lemon Meringue Eclairs recipe via Juniper Cakery

If you’ve been searching everywhere for the perfect treat you can surprise mum with this Mother’s Day then look no further. Our Raspberry and Lemon Meringue Eclairs recipe is pretty much irresistible. Seriously… light airy choux pastry? Check. Zesty lemon? Check. Fruity raspberry? Check. Whipped chantilly cream? Check. Plus, get extra points for piping pretty meringue rosettes on top and torching them for a slight caramelised crunch!

Raspberry and Lemon Meringue Eclairs recipe by Juniper Cakery

Raspberry Lemon Meringue Eclair recipe via Juniper Cakery

Raspberry and Lemon Meringue Eclairs recipe!

Makes approx… 10 large eclairs

Ingredients and tools needed for the choux pastry…

Ingredients and tools needed for the filling…

Ingredients needed for the pink raspberry topping…

Ingredients and tools needed for the Italian meringue topping...

Raspberry and Lemon Meringue Eclairs recipe by Juniper Cakery

Step 01:

Let’s start by making the fluffy choux pastry! Pre-heat your oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/Gas mark 6. In a saucepan add your diced salted butter and water and heat until the butter has melted. Once melted turn the heat up so that the ingredients come to a boil.

Raspberry and Lemon Meringue Eclairs by Juniper Cakery

Step 02:

As soon as the butter and water mix boils add in your plain flour and mix well until a ball of somewhat shiny dough forms. Nothing should stick the sides of your saucepan at this point.

Raspberry and Lemon Meringue Eclairs recipe by Juniper Cakery

Indulgent Raspberry and Lemon Meringue Eclairs recipe by Juniper Cakery

Step 03:

This step takes a bit of energy and strength so keep that in mind. Gradually add in your beaten egg whilst stirring the dough vigorously. Your dough should get slightly stiffer and glossier as you add the eggs!

Step 04:

Lightly spritz your silpat / silicone baking mat(s) with a little water.

Mother's Day eclairs recipe by Juniper Cakery

Step 05:

Now add the choux pastry mix to a piping bag fitted with a large plain round tip and pipe equal sized lines of dough along your baking trays. For our eclairs we were feeling pretty generous so we made sure to pipe out fat lines of the choux mixture. Generally, your eclairs can double and even triple in size in the oven so keep this in mind!

Mother's Day eclairs recipe from Juniper Cakery

Step 06:

Now place in your pre-heated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes!

To test if your eclairs are ready you’re going to have to remove one from the oven and slice it open. They tend to weigh or feel a lot heavier than they look. The inside of your eclair should also feature a lovely hollow middle and should feel a little dried out - perfect for fillings!

Pink raspberry glaze for eclairs, profiteroles and donuts via Juniper Cakery

Pink raspberry glaze for eclairs, profiteroles and donuts from Juniper Cakery

Step 07:

While you wait for your choux pastry eclairs to cool down you can begin making and prepping your fillings and raspberry glaze.

To make your pink raspberry glaze add 100g of icing sugar to a bowl along with a few drops (remember to taste test) of raspberry essence, pink food colouring and 2 tablespoons of water. Consistency-wise you want it to be a cross between slow runny honey and toothpaste. Too thin and it will be almost translucent and run everywhere. To thick and it won’t spread across the top of your eclairs very well at all.

When ready cover with cling film and set aside.

Step 08:

Making Chantilly cream is ridiculously easy. We added 300ml of double whipping cream to the bowl of a stand-up mixer along with some vanilla bean paste (put in as much or as little as you like, but always remember to taste test) and with the whisk attachment whip until soft peaks form.

If you begin to over whip your cream (it will look clumpy and grainy) you can save it by just adding in around 3 tablespoons of non-whipped double cream (full fat milk will help too if you’ve used up all your cream).

When ready scoop it into a disposable piping bag fitted with a plain round tip and set aside.

Step 09:

Yay! Now your eclairs should be cool and ready to begin filling. Take each eclair and with a small sharp knife cut in half before smothering lemon curd onto the inside of both halves.

Learn how to make eclairs by Juniper Cakery

Step 10:

Once you’ve added your lemon curd pipe a dollops of Chantilly cream alternating between fresh raspberries onto the bottom half of your eclair! When done gently sandwich together the top and bottom pieces.

Recipe for raspberry and lemon eclairs by Juniper Cakery

Step 11:

Now it’s time to add that cool bright pink raspberry glaze! We wanted a bit of messy / carefree look so we simply spooned ours on top. You can easily spread the glaze around just using the back of a teaspoon or a palette knife. When done add freeze dried raspberry pieces or even fun sprinkles!

Step 12:

For the insanely light and silky Italian meringue add the egg whites from 4 medium sized eggs and whip until stiff peaks form. Whilst these are whipping add the granulated sugar to a saucepan along with the 6 tablespoons of water and turn the heat on to high. Use a candy thermometer to keep a check on the temperature. You want your sugar syrup mixture to reach 118C / 356F. When it does slowly pour it down the inside of your mixing bowl whilst your whipped eggs are on a low speed.

If you’re still waiting for your sugar mixture to heat up and your eggs are all whipped keep those egg whites moving and switch your mixer to a low setting!

How to make meringue eclairs by Juniper Cakery

Step 13:

Now add your Italian meringue to a disposable piping bag fitted with a closed star piping tip. Pipe little rosettes along top top of each eclair. Start piping from the centre of where you want each individual rose and swirl around to finish on the outside.

Step 14:

For the final finishing touch lightly toast the tops of your italian meringue rosettes with a cooks’ blow torch! Yay!!!

Pink lemon meringue eclair recipe by juniper Cakery

One of the best things about choux pastry is that it is insanely versitile. You can change fillings and toppings for different flavour combos… we love the idea of a Snickers inspired dessert with salted caramel, chopped peanuts and belgian chocolate whipped cream! Plus, there’s no sugar in the bake itself so if you were feeling particularly adventurous you could play with savoury ideas like crème fraîche, sautéed mushrooms, chives, poached eggs and cream cheese!

Pretty raspberry and lemon meringue eclair recipe by Juniper Cakery


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