Chocolate toffee éclairs

Instructions

1. For the choux pastry: Place the cooking cream, water, sugar, butter and a pinch of salt into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Once boiling, remove from the heat and add the sieved flour. Stir vigorously until combined.
3. Return to the heat and continue stirring the dough until it comes away from the sides of the saucepan and develops an oily sheen. Transfer the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
4. In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and lightly break them up with a fork.
5. Slowly add the egg to the dough while mixing, ensuring it has fully incorporated after each addition. Note: You may not need to add all the egg, so test the mixture regularly to ensure you reach the correct consistency. To test the consistency, take a dessert spoon of the mixture and hold it on its side, if the mixture slides off the spoon very slowly, it is ready.
6. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced).
7. Prepare a baking tray by spraying it lightly with vegetable oil, then dust lightly with flour. Use your fingers or a plastic scraper to mark 100 mm lengths on the tray, leaving a 50 mm space in between.
8. Transfer the choux dough into a piping bag fitted with a 16 mm star piping nozzle and pipe along the marked lines on the tray.
9. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes, until dark golden-brown in colour (Do not open the oven door during the baking process or the pastries may deflate). Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar, allowing the choux to dry out with the residual heat for a few minutes.
10. Allow to cool completely at room temperature.
11. For the chocolate custard: Place the cooking cream and vanilla into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil.
12. Meanwhile, place the custard powder, sugar and egg yolks into a bowl and whisk by hand to combine.
13. Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture while whisking. Transfer the mixture back into the saucepan and return to medium heat, continuously whisking while it comes to the boil.
14. Pour the custard over the chocolate and whisk to combine. Add the butter, one piece at a time, whisking to incorporate.
15. Cover with plastic wrap touching the surface of the custard and place into the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour (see Note for longer storage).
16. For the toffee coating: Place the cornflakes and gold lustre dust into a bowl and mix until the cornflakes are coated with a light golden sheen. Set aside until required.
17. Place the water and then sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat.
18. When the syrup begins to boil, add the warmed glucose, increase to high heat and heat to 165°C without stirring. (Note: If you do not have a thermometer, the syrup will be ready when the bubbles on the surface get smaller and have a light golden colour.)
19. Carefully remove the saucepan from the heat, place onto a folded tea towel on the bench and allow the bubbles on the surface of the toffee to dissipate.
20. Immediately dip the tops of the eclairs into the toffee, carefully holding them by the sides close to the bases.
21. Before the toffee sets, dip the eclair, toffee-side down, into the prepared gold-coated cornflakes. Allow it to sit in the cornflakes for 30 seconds before transferring the eclair, pastry-side down, onto a tray. (If the toffee starts to cool and becomes hard while you are dipping the eclairs, you can gently warm over low heat until it becomes liquid again.)
22. To assemble: Cut each eclair in half, horizontally, using a serrated-edged knife.
23. Transfer the prepared chocolate custard into a piping bag fitted with a 12mm star nozzle and pipe into the base of the eclairs using a circular motion. If you don’t have a piping bag and nozzle, you can spoon the custard into the eclair bases.

• Once baked and cooled, the choux can be wrapped in airtight packaging and stored in the freezer for up to 4 weeks.
• The custard can be made 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator prior to using.
• The toffee coating is optional. If you prefer, you can simply dust the eclairs with icing sugar.
• The toffee recipe will make more than required, but you need the extra volume to enable you to dip all the eclairs.
• These are best enjoyed within a few hours of filling. If you are in a humid climate, the toffee may begin to dissolve within a couple of hours.