Eclairs with Coffee Cream and Caramel

Ingredients

• 50 g butter
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tbsp vanilla sugar
• 180 g flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• butter (for greasing the baking sheet)
• 250 g sugar
• 50 g butter
• 250 ml Whipping Cream
• 1 Vanilla bean
• 1 tbsp instant cocoa powder
• 4 egg yolks
• 100 g sugar
• 250 g butter
• 150 g white chocolate
• powdered sugar (for dusting)

Instructions

1. 1.

   For the dough, bring 250 ml water with the butter, salt and vanilla sugar to a boil. Pour in the flour all at once and stir vigorously over low heat until the mixture lifts from the pot as a lump. Transfer the dough to a bowl, add one egg, whisk until smooth, let cool slightly, then add the remaining eggs one by one while stirring into the lukewarm dough, finally fold in the baking powder.

2. 2.

   Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) with both fan and top heating.

3. 3.

   Fill a piping bag fitted with a plain or star tip with the puff pastry and pipe 15–20 strips onto the greased baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes until golden brown (do not open the oven during the first 15 minutes, otherwise everything will collapse). Remove, cut horizontally in half and let cool.

4. 4.

   For the caramel, heat the sugar in a saucepan until it turns gold‑yellow. Deglaze with 50 ml water and bring to a boil, then stir in the butter and let it cool to lukewarm. Dip the tops of the eclairs briefly into the hot caramel and place on a wire rack to dry.

5. 5.

   For the cream, bring the cream with the split vanilla bean and espresso powder to a simmer and let steep. Whisk the egg yolks with sugar, then gradually add the hot cream while whisking, return to the pan and stir over low heat with a rubber spatula until thick (do not boil). Strain through a sieve and cool to room temperature.

6. 6.

   Beat the lukewarm butter with an electric mixer for about 10 minutes until thick and frothy, almost like thick cream. Gradually fold in the vanilla cream. Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler and stir into the mixture. Pipe the filling into a piping bag with a star tip, fill the lower halves of the eclairs, then place the caramelized tops back on.

7. 7.

   Serve immediately or chill before serving.