Sweet Treat Recipes from the LACE Housing Kitchen
If Easter eggs haven't quite satisfy your sweet tooth, we’ve got the perfect recipe idea for you to enjoy a spot of baking at home.
Baking is a great way to relax and pass the time as lockdown starts to ease; following a recipe and focusing on the tasks involved is also great for your mental wellbeing.
We spoke to Ruth, our cook at Olsen Court, Lincoln, to find out about her favourite sweet treat recipes. Ruth has kindly shared the instructions she uses to make delicious chocolate éclairs.
Chocolate éclairs
‘Sometimes baking inspiration can come from the most mysterious of places. This recipe for chocolate éclairs comes from a very old and well used 1986 copy of the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book and it was found hidden in the back of a kitchen cupboard at Olsen Court ten years ago.’
This type of pastry can be a challenge to make but it is extremely satisfying when it goes right. Chocolate éclairs are a firm favourite with residents at LACE Housing and we can see why!
Method:
Makes Approximately 10 éclairs
- Sift 130g of plain flour into a mixing bowl.
- Put 100g of butter and 300ml of water into a pan.
- Heat the butter and water mixture gently until all the butter has melted and then bring to the boil.
- Remove the pan from the heat, add the flour and beat the mixture thoroughly until it forms a ball.
- Leave to cool for a few minutes.
- Next, beat in 4 medium eggs, one at a time, until the mixture is a piping consistency.
- Beat the mixture vigorously for a few more minutes.
- Put the choux pastry into a piping bag and pipe onto a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper, into long thick fingers.
- Bake at 200°C for 35 minutes.
- Once baked carefully make a slit down the side of the pastry fingers to release the steam and allow to them to cool completely.
- Whip 1 large pot double cream together and fill the éclairs.
- Melt some chocolate and dip the éclairs into it.
- For extra decoration, why not drizzle the éclairs with melted white chocolate.
We hope you have fun trying out this recipe in your own kitchen and don’t forget to share the results on social media and tag us on Facebook or Twitter, we’d love to see how you get on!
