Sugar Free Chocolate Eclairs
My daughter has taken to denying her French nationality. With the Six Nations Rugby in full swing, every time she is asked who she thinks will win a game, she says “England”. Normal enough perhaps, but she says it even when England aren’t playing!
If you ask her if she is English or French, she always, without hesitation says English. And she will vehemently deny that she speaks French, despite the fact that she can follow instructions in the language and her first 2 words were “encore” and”coucou”.
*Sigh*
I have hope. Mostly due to the fact that I went through a similar “YAY England, BOO France” phase, albeit when I was quite a bit older! For now, all I can do is keep speaking French to her and try to keep the French culture alive in her life.
Which brings me to today’s recipe.
After all, what is more French than an éclair?
And given the choice between an éclair and a beef & ale pie, I think I know which is most likely to go down well with her (although it might be a tougher choice for me or my husband!).
So that’s it – I am resorting to bribery.
But then again, the French pretty much win at food. Rugby? Not so much at the moment! But they do make extravagant and delicious food, eat with others and take their time, have markets with fresh local produce readily available at affordable prices, and constantly defy belief in nutritional science by their ability to eat butter, cheese and red meat washed down with red wine and still be a very healthy nation.
So maybe, just maybe, I may have an area I can win allegiance for France in yet.
And if not, well, at least I have the perfect weekend treat, some delicious, fluffy, light, sugar free éclairs, to enjoy!
A yummy sugar free dessert that is sure to impress but won't raise anyone's blood sugar levels! Adapted from this recipe.
- 65 ml (1/4 cup) full-fat milk
- 65 ml (1/4 cup) water
- 40 g (1/3 cup) unsalted butter
- 1 tsp xylitol or sugar, optional
- 70 g (1/2 cup) plain flour (or, even better, a 1/2 and 1/2 mix of strong bread flour and plain flour)
- 2 medium eggs, beaten
- 1 cup (250ml) double (heavy) cream (you could use coconut cream if you prefer)
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp xylitol or a few drops of vanilla stevia (skip the extract if you use this), optional
- 50 g (1/4 cup) dark chocolate, 85-90% at least
- 1 tbsp butter or coconut oil
-
Preheat oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Lightly grease 2 baking trays with a thin spread of butter.
-
Melt the milk, water, butter and xylitol in a saucepan over medium-high heat and then bring to the boil. Just as it starts to boil, take the saucepan off the heat and dump in all of the flour in one go. Mix it all together until combined, then return to the heat for 30 secs-1 min just to dry out the flour. Allow to cool for 5-10 mins.
-
Add the eggs, a little at a time, stirring until combined between each addition. The dough should be shiny and a bit wet, and it should break cleanly off a spoon if you hold it up.
-
Fill a piping bag fitted with a wide nozzle (or a disposable piping bag/freezer bag that has the end snipped off) and pipe 12-20 small eclairs (you could also pipe some (or all) as little ball shapes to make profiteroles if you prefer), depending on the size of the nozzle. Get a little water and dip your finger in it, then smooth the tops of the eclairs with a little water.
-
Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 mins, then prop the oven door open slightly with a wooden spoon to let it ventilate for another 5 mins. The eclairs should be puffed up, golden and hollow. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few mins, then pierce the bottom of each eclair with a skewer once or twice to allow the steam to escape. Allow to cool completely.
-
Once cool, whip the cream with the vanilla seeds, extract and sweetener, then fill a piping bag with the filling and make the small piercings on the base of the eclairs a bit bigger so you can pipe the filling through it. Alternatively, you can cut each eclair in half lengthways and pipe or spread the filling onto the bottom half then top with the other half.
-
Melt the chocolate and butter until completely melted, smooth and glossy, then dip the top of each eclair into the chocolate to cover the top half in a line of melted chocolate. Allow to cool until the chocolate hardens (I like to put them in the fridge for about 15 mins).
One Comment