Kirstie's Handmade Britain

Pastry expert Loretta Liu of On Café shows Kirstie Allsopp how to make eclairs filled with fruity kumquat Chantilly cream on Kirstie's Handmade Britain

Makes 6-8

• 90g butter
• 60ml milk
• 65ml water
• 150g plain flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4 medium eggs

For the kumquat confit

• 1kg fresh kumquats
• 500g sugar or honey
• 5 slices ginger

For the Chantilly cream

• 200g chilled whipping cream
• 20g icing sugar

1. For the éclairs, place the butter, milk and water into a pan and bring up to the boil. Mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat and tip in the dry flour mixture. Beat well with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan. Beat in the eggs one at a time until completely incorporated. You must be careful not to over beat – this will introduce to much air to the mixture and will cause the pastry to collapse during cooking.

2. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag and allow to cool for a few minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Pipe about 6-8 lengths of pastry onto a baking sheet covered with baking parchment. The parchment will help the pastry to hold its shape, but alternatively you can butter and then flour a baking sheet. The pastry will at least double in size as it cooks, so give the éclairs plenty of space to expand on the baking sheet.

3. Transfer to the oven and bake the éclairs for about 30-40 minutes, or until golden-brown and firm. Getting the oven right is crucial. There is no rising agent in choux pastry – the pastry rises because of the high water content, the water turns to steam and pushes the pastry out. If the oven is too cool the pastry will not dry out. If the oven is too hot it will rise before the outside of the pastry structure is strong enough and they will collapse. When the éclairs are done, cool completely on a wire rack.

4. Meanwhile blanch the kumquats in boiling water for 10 minutes to soften them, then remove the pips by squeezing gently. Place in a pan with 1 litre water, the sugar or honey and ginger and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool then strain the mixture through a sieve and chop the kumquats.

5. Whip the cream until light and fluffy then mix in the icing sugar and kumquat flesh. Slice the éclairs in half lengthways and fill with cream. Decorate with sliced kumquats and serve.

Tip: The best way to keep the éclairs fresh is to freeze them, either before or after cooking. Loretta says that the frozen éclairs can be used within ten minutes of removing from freezer. If desired they can be put n an oven at 160°C/gas mark 2½ for five minutes in order to crisp them up.

Recipe by Loretta Liu of On Café Patisserie and Cookery School