Fresh Prince Of Eclair

Ingredients for Éclairs:

-          ½ Cup of Water

-          2.5 T of unsalted butter, cubed

-          2/3 Cup of Flour

-          2 eggs

-          Pinch of Salt

Ingredients for Éclair Cream:

I prefer a more whipped cream filling for my Éclairs instead of the traditional pastry cream.

-          1 cup of heavy cream

-          2 tablespoons of sugar

-          ½ teaspoon of vanilla

-          Pink, Green, Blue, Yellow, and Purple Wilton Gel Food Coloring

Ingredients for Glaze:

-          1 cup of confectioner’s sugar

-          About ¼ cup of heavy cream (add more to achieve medium thickness)

-          1 teaspoon of vanilla

-          Pink, Green, Blue, Yellow, and Purple Wilton Gel Food Coloring

Instructions for Éclairs:

(1)   Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

(2)   Bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium sized saucepan or pot.

(3)   Reduce to medium heat and add in flour, stirring continuously until the dough forms.

(4)   Transfer the dough to a different bowl and using either a stand mixer or hand mixer, add in the eggs, one at a time until the dough is smooth.

(5)   Place the dough in a piping bag with a large round piping tip. If you do not have piping bags, you can use a larger Ziploc bag and cut a hole in the corner.

(6)   Prepare parchment paper on a sheet pan. Pipe out dough, about 5 inches long, onto the parchment paper.

(7)   Place on middle rack of the oven for 30 minutes.

(8)   When done, take out and allow to cool before filling

Instructions to Prepare the Whipped Cream:

(1)   Using a kitchenaid or hand mixer, whip the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla until medium peaks form.

(2)   Divide into 5 equal sized bowls

(3)   Color each bowl of whipped cream a different color (pink, green, blue, yellow, and purple).

(4)   Lay out a piece of plastic wrap.

(5)   Take each color of whipped cream and line them up on the plastic wrap next to each other (not on top).

(6)   Roll up the plastic wrap and place inside a piping bag (with a thin tip ideally but not necessary).

Instructions to Prepare the Glaze:

(1)   Mix together the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until medium thickness. The perfect thickness is if you are mixing it, lift the spoon up, the glaze should fall back into the bowl and leave no mark (blends back in). You may need to add more glaze or powdered sugar to achieve this. *Make sure it's not too thin or else it will just slide off the éclairs.

(2)   Leave the majority of the glaze white, but divide a small amount into 5 small bowls. This will be to make the Pink, Green, Blue, Yellow and Purple colors.

(3)   Take a spoon of each color and plop it onto the white glaze. Take a toothpick and swirl the colors around until they create a tie-dye effect.

Putting together the Éclairs:

(1)   Cut a small hole on the side of the éclair on both ends

(2)   Insert the tip of the whipped cream filled piping bag.

(3)   Squeeze the whipped cream into the éclair and move it around to fill the éclair.

(4)   Repeat on the other side

(5)   Dip the éclair into the tie-dye glaze.