Eclairs with protein cream are another option for a quite affordable, but very impressive sweet treat. A minimum of ingredients, but how beautiful and tasty! And, of course, there is no comparison with what is sold in stores today (sorry, stores! :)). This dessert comes from France, that’s why it has such associations - something refined, sophisticated and certainly tasty! True, classic eclairs are made with custard, but it also works well with protein. Especially if you generally love this cream. However, you can generally make part with protein and part with custard: you have to put the remaining yolks somewhere! :)
Let's go!
Making choux pastry
I like this dough for its versatility, because it is neutral and goes well with both sweet and savory fillings. And making it (as it turned out! :)) is not difficult, you just need to find the right consistency and adapt to your oven.
- Turn on the oven to preheat. We need a high temperature - 210 degrees.
- Sift 200 g of flour into a bowl.
- Pour 180 g of water into a saucepan, add 100 g of butter and a pinch of salt. We put it on fire. Bring to a boil.
- When the butter melts, add flour. Mix quickly and thoroughly so that all the flour is brewed (that’s why it’s custard!).
- Transfer the dough to a bowl, cool to 60-70 degrees.
- In a separate bowl, lightly beat 300 g of eggs (about 5 pieces) with a whisk. Add the eggs to the dough a little at a time and mix well each time. I do this with a mixer using the hook attachment (for kneading dough).
- The finished dough is stringy, not too runny, and falls off the spoon when you hit it on the bowl.
Common mistakes
Before we begin the recipe for eclairs with protein cream, let’s consider the causes of problems during cooking at home:
- If the mixture acquires a dark brown tint, then the mass is unsuitable for use, since the syrup has been overcooked.
- While beating, pieces of caramel form at the bottom of the bowl with the protein mixture, which does not dissolve - the syrup was poured in very quickly.
- If after combining the syrup and proteins the cream becomes liquid, it means that the first component was not checked. We are talking about poor boiling of the syrup.
- The cream turned out to be sickly sweet, bitter, liquid, etc. - non-compliance with the proportions specified in the recipe.
- The process of whipping egg whites should not be interrupted even for a minute. Otherwise, the cream will be unusable.
And lastly: the shelf life of the finished mass in the refrigerator should not exceed 36 hours.
Let's plant future eclairs!
- Line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Transfer the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a wide round tip. If there are no nozzles, you can simply cut off the corner exactly to make a hole of the required width (about 1.5 cm). If there is no bag, take a regular plastic bag that is thicker and cut off the corner in the same way. But with a pastry bag, of course, it’s much more convenient!
- We plant sticks about 10 cm long at some distance from each other, because they will increase in the oven. It’s not easy to plant it completely evenly; usually the nozzle leaves a trace in the form of a small tail, but you can gently smooth it with your fingers slightly moistened in water.
Description of preparation:
Custard eclairs, no matter what cream they are made with, are a favorite treat not only for children, but also for adults.
Despite their sophistication, making eclairs at home is not difficult. The ingredients are the simplest and most affordable, and the result is simply excellent! Treat yourself and your loved ones! You can decorate the eclairs with any glaze or simply sprinkle with powdered sugar, in any case - it will be very tasty! Purpose: For children / For an afternoon snack / For dessert / For a festive table / Birthday Main ingredient: Dough / Eggs / Choux pastry / Egg white Dish: Baking / Eclairs / Sweet Geography of cuisine: French / European
Making custard protein cream
Yes, we will make not just protein cream, but custard! This cream is beautiful, snow-white, holds its shape well and is perfectly stored. It's too sweet for my taste, and I'm not a fan of it, but our family loves it dearly and is very happy when I cook something with this cream! As always, there is no arguing about tastes :) And you may well find this recipe on the Internet under another, more fashionable name - Italian meringue! Don't be surprised if anything happens! :)
In general, the cream itself!
- Pour 50 g of water into a saucepan, pour 140 g of sugar into it. Place on the fire and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat until it reaches a medium ball or reaches 120 degrees. Try this: remove from the heat so as not to overcook, scoop up a little syrup with a spoon and drop into ice water; if you can form a dense, but still wrinkled ball, the syrup is ready! To be honest, I don’t like these tests for all kinds of balls: it’s very tedious and not always effective. Especially if you don’t have enough experience :) And that’s why I bought a cooking thermometer, the simplest one, but it helps me out a lot. If you love to cook, I highly recommend that you also buy such a thing, you will see, it will always help you!
- While the syrup is boiling, beat the whites at high speed into a strong foam, you can add vanilla sugar (I used drops of flavoring).
- Without stopping whipping, pour the syrup into the egg whites in a thin stream, add a couple of drops of lemon juice or a few citric acid crystals and beat until the cream has cooled completely. The finished cream is dense, glossy and holds its shape well on the whisk. Of course, this cream is much easier to make if you have a mixer with a bowl: while you cook the syrup, the whites are whipped, and it’s easier to pour in the syrup itself while whipping the whites at the same time.
Video recipe
You can watch the video for more details on how to cook sugar syrup and check it for readiness, as well as prepare a delicate protein cream.
Custard protein cream prepared according to this simple recipe will be an ideal filling for your eclairs or other delicacies, and thanks to your confectionery imagination you can beautifully decorate any cake with it. This cream is always a good filling for desserts. Share your feedback in the comments if you liked this quick way to prepare protein cream. Tell us how you usually prepare custard for sweet pastries.
How many calories are in eclair with protein cream?
You can’t overuse this little French dessert. Nutritionists note that due to the high nutritional value, eaten 4-5 pieces of cakes cover the daily dietary requirement.
If you are not on strict diets and are unfamiliar with such a problem as excess weight, then you can afford to enjoy this dessert. And we inform all other people who carefully monitor their weight that the calorie content of an eclair with protein cream is approximately 330 units per 100 g of cake.
Knowing this information, you can initially decide on the amount consumed. However, in any case, no matter how high-calorie the eclair is, this dessert is incredibly tasty.
And finally...
An important point in preparing any dessert is its presentation. What confectioners can come up with to make the appearance of the eclair even more attractive: sprinkled with sugar glaze, dipped in multi-colored jelly, sprinkled with confiture, coconut flakes, poured with chocolate, which adds not only sweetness to the delicacy, but also additional calories.
In general, experiment, be creative and remember that you can’t go into the kitchen in a bad mood!
Cooking option with cream
Ingredients: ready-made dough, 380 ml of heavy whipping cream, half a glass of powdered sugar.
- The finished dough is deposited using a pastry bag onto oiled parchment in the form of small cakes. It will rise greatly during baking.
- The baking sheet is placed in a well-heated oven for 20-25 minutes at 210 degrees. Next, the temperature is reduced to 190 degrees, and the cake bases are baked for another 8-9 minutes. Under no circumstances should you open the oven door while they are baking. This will cause the products to settle.
- To prepare the cream, well-chilled cream is whipped to stable peaks. Next, powdered sugar is gradually added to them. The beating does not stop.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=UuzT6ayiEu8%3Ffeature%3Doembed
The top part of the cakes is not completely cut off, after which they are filled with the resulting cream.
A simple step-by-step recipe for eclairs with protein cream for beginner housewives
This method, judging by the reviews on culinary forums, has been tested by many housewives, and, according to the comments, strict adherence to the instructions will lead to an excellent airy result.
The first thing to start with is setting up a water bath. You will need 2 saucepans of different sizes. The large one is for water, the small one is for proteins. Particular attention should be paid to the second dish, since the result largely depends on it. The small saucepan should be grease-free, dry and clean.
Next, pour the whites of four eggs into the prepared bowl, immediately add a glass of granulated sugar, a pinch of citric acid and vanilla powder. Beat the ingredients for one minute, then place a small saucepan with the protein mixture in a water bath and continue continuous beating for another quarter of an hour. Afterwards, remove the container with the cream and, without stopping the process, ensure complete cooling. Place in the refrigerator.
Important! If you cool the finished mass naturally, rather than by whipping, the cream will settle.
Next, according to the recipe for eclairs with protein cream, you should proceed to the next step - preparing the choux pastry:
- First, preheat the oven to 200 0C.
- Pour 250 ml of water and 0.5 liters of milk into a deep saucepan. Put 250 g of butter, add two pinches of salt and place the container on the stove. As soon as the liquid begins to boil and the butter has melted, add 275 g of sifted flour. Stirring vigorously with a wooden spatula, brew the mixture without lumps. Turn off the heat and let the dough rest for a few minutes.
- Transfer the mixture to a mixer, turn on the whipping mode and beat in ten eggs one at a time, trying to achieve a smooth consistency.
- The finished dough should be placed using a pastry bag onto a baking sheet in the form of strips of equal size (approximately 5-7 cm in length and 2-3 in width).
- Bake the eclairs for 20 minutes and under no circumstances open the oven during this time.
- Cut the cooled cakes lengthwise, use the same pastry bag to fill with the required amount of cream and cover with the other half.
If desired, the cakes can be sprinkled with powder before serving.
With butter cream
Ingredients: ready-made dough, raw egg white, 4 tbsp. spoons of granulated sugar, 170 g of high-quality butter, a pinch of vanilla sugar.
- The dough prepared according to the standard recipe is deposited onto oiled parchment using the “Closed Star” nozzle for a pastry bag. Hole diameter – 1.3 cm.
- The bases for future cakes are baked at a temperature of 200-210 degrees for about 20 minutes.
- To prepare the cream, the egg whites are whipped in a water bath. Sugar is gradually added to it. You can remove the container from the stove at the moment when its contents become thick and dense.
- Softened butter and vanilla sugar are added to the still hot mass. Just mix the cream. There is no need to beat it anymore.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=eFbNPFXdKG4%3Ffeature%3Doembed
The resulting sweet mixture is used to stuff the bases cut in half.
Classic cooking method
In order for the protein cream for eclairs to have a more delicate consistency, the eggs must be the freshest. The dishes where the ingredients will be beaten are dry, free of fat and clean, and the whites are chilled.
The entire cooking process is divided into several stages:
- Cooking syrup. Pour 100 ml of water into a deep saucepan, add 200 g of sugar and put on medium heat, bring to a boil. As a result, the sweet mass should have a thick consistency and a beautiful caramel shade.
- Beating the whites. Before the process, it is better to add a small pinch of salt. So, you need to start slowly, after a minute increase the speed to medium, after two - switch to high. As soon as you notice peaks forming, check for doneness. Scoop some of the mixture into a spoon and turn it over. If the whites do not fall out, everything is ready.
- Continuing whipping, pour in the hot syrup in as thin a stream as possible and continue the process until the mass cools completely.
As a result, the protein cream for eclairs will be airy and tender. Until use, store the mixture in the refrigerator on the top shelf.
Classic cooking method
In order for the protein cream for eclairs to have a more delicate consistency, the eggs must be the freshest. The dishes where the ingredients will be beaten are dry, free of fat and clean, and the whites are chilled.
The entire cooking process is divided into several stages:
- Cooking syrup. Pour 100 ml of water into a deep saucepan, add 200 g of sugar and put on medium heat, bring to a boil. As a result, the sweet mass should have a thick consistency and a beautiful caramel shade.
- Beating the whites. Before the process, it is better to add a small pinch of salt. So, you need to start slowly, after a minute increase the speed to medium, after two - switch to high. As soon as you notice peaks forming, check for doneness. Scoop some of the mixture into a spoon and turn it over. If the whites do not fall out, everything is ready.
- Continuing whipping, pour in the hot syrup in as thin a stream as possible and continue the process until the mass cools completely.
As a result, the protein cream for eclairs will be airy and tender. Until use, store the mixture in the refrigerator on the top shelf.
