I am a huge fan of choux pastry as evidenced by the amount of posts I have written about them on here… It’s my go-to “Impress your Friends” pastry – simply because it’s so easy to make and it makes a big impression on everyone when you bring them to the table… “You MADE these? From scratch? No… you just filled them, right?” is a common reaction 😉
This week for Tuesdays with Dorie we were tasked with making “bubble éclairs“, essentially three profiteroles piped really close together and baked so they join up in the oven to create a bubble-like éclair. I had no problem making the choux pasty (I mean, I taught my Grade 6 students to make these on the second last day of school last year so, really, anyone can make them!) but I did struggle a little with getting the puffs to join together when they baked…
Mine ended up being a little less like éclairs and more like “pull apart profiteroles” which actually was fine as I served these pretty much on the spot on my front porch after I had taken the photos. I made 1/2 of the recipe which produced 6 “éclairs” each about 5″ long (the recipe says it will make 16 so not sure if I piped them larger than they should have been? In any case it was a perfect size).
I filled four of them with a passion fruit crème pâtissière (Dorie’s recipe with about 1 teaspoon of freeze-dried passion fruit powder (I bought this home with me from a recent trip to Australia and don’t know where you can buy it here, sadly…) and topped them with a little glaçage (basically icing sugar and water stirred to make a pourable glaze) that I coloured yellow. And added some sprinkles. Because sprinkles make everything (even misshapen bubble éclairs) look better! The crème was spectacular. I mean as in, it’s lucky it got piped into the puffs. By the spoonful-type stuff if you know what I mean… Strangely, though my neighbours couldn’t get enough of these, Mr Neil was not a fan. He much preferred these:
Bubble chouquette-éclairs. Plain, topped with a little pearl sugar…
Me? I loved the cream-filled ones. Though I realise my presentation needs a little work….
Practice, as they say, makes perfect so there might just be another batch of these in my immediate future….
Get the recipe for Dorie Greenspan’s Bubble Eclairs here or on page 230 of Baking Chez Moi.
Tuesdays with Dorie participants don’t publish the recipes on our blogs, so you’re encouraged to purchase Baking Chez Moi for yourself which you can do on Amazon or Amazon Canada or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository. Then join us, baking our way through the book!
Please note: The product links from Amazon, Amazon.ca and The Book Depository are affiliate links, meaning if you click over and purchase something, I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price which goes towards maintaining eat. live. travel. write. Thank you in advance!
The pull-apart factor was fun, but a little messy (especially since I filled mine with whipped cream).
I need passion fruit powder in my life… A few stores around here sell freeze dried fruits and vegetables that I process to make a powder, but passion fruit was definitely not one of them.
They look delicious!
They look just great. I thought it was caramel on top. I love the sprinkles makes them so playful.
I will not be making them as bubbles again the pulled aparat and it was just so hard to fill them.
These look so festive! Passion fruit creme sounds so good and it sounds like they were fantastic tasting and very tropical. I loved the pull apart factor and that was also our preferred method of eating them.
I love how fun your iced and sprinkled eclairs look! Great idea!
Awww, I just love the bright and colourful ones with the sprinkles and icing – they make me happy just looking at them.
These are pretty much the happiest looking éclairs ever! I’m definitely going to be on the lookout for passion fruit powder, it sounds amazing!
those passion ones are spectacular! invite me over to share the next batch, okay?!?
Your presentation is awesome! I particularly admire the shot of the colourful polka dot plate with the sprinkle topped eclairs. So pretty! And I agree with an earlier poster that I need passion fruit powder in my life!
I love your use of the passion fruit. I think that even a little berry coulis in the bottom as a surprise under the pastry cream would be lovely. I definitely need to find the passion fruit powder. I’ve become so obsessed with the fruit! Yours look like a veritable party… A party in your mouth!
They’re so pretty! That passionfruit filling sounds fantastic.
Love the happy colors-makes the pastry so joyful.
I channeled your wisdom Mardi and they came out perfect. Mine stayed together while baking but when we ate them we pulled them apart. It was a fun food to share. I look forward to making that smoothie tomorrow for my snack.