Banana Éclair

Ingredients

Choux Pastry:

• 100ml water
• 100ml milk
• 100g unsalted butter
• pinch of salt
• 100g all purpose flour (sifted)
• 4-5 eggs

Pastry Cream:

• 250ml milk
• 250ml Anchor Chef's Classic Whipping Cream
• 75g sugar (1st part)
• 1 vanilla pod (sliced open and vanilla seeds scaped off)
• 75g sugar (2nd part)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 12.5g cornstarch

Anchor Chef's Classic:

• 500ml Anchor Chef's Classic Whipping Cream

Fondant:

• 200g fondant (45 Celsius)
• 15ml water
• 1 tbs banana compound
• 1-2 drops of yellow colouring 

Method

Choux Pastry:

• In a cooking pot, bring the water, milk, butter and salt to a boil.
• Take the cooking pot of the heat and add the sifted flour. Mix very well.
• Put the pan back on the heat and cook the choux paste for 1-2 minutes while stirring it so it doesn't burn.
• Transfer the dough into a mixing bowl and mix for 20 seconds so it cools a bit.
• Add the eggs one by one while mixing with peddle, only adding the next egg when the egg is totally combined. 
• Careful! Just add the right amount of eggs (the choux paste should be smooth and easy to pipe, still having a firm texture).
• Transfer the choux paste in a big bag and pipe rectangular éclairs of approx. 4cm. (leaving enough space to grow while baking). 
• Bake in a pre-heated oven 180-190°C for approx. 18 min. (should be nicely grown, golden colour and crispy). 
• After cooling you can store it in a freezer.

Pastry Cream:

• In a cooking pot, bring the cream, milk, sugar (part 1) and the sliced vanilla pod and vanilla seeds to a boil. Let it simmer for approx. 10 min. 
• Whisk the yolks and egg till light and fluffy.
• In a separate bowl, mix the sugar (part 2) and the cornstarch, add stir into the egg mixture.
• Pour the milk mixture (through a sift) into the egg mixture in a thin stream while mixing so the egg does not cook.
• Return the mixture to the cooking pot and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent curdling and scorching. 
• When the mixture thickens, remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Pour into container, place a plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent skin forming. Refrigerate before using. 

Anchor Chef's Classic:

• In a chilled mixing bowl, whisk the chilled Anchor Chef's Classic Whipping Cream till light and firm piping consistency.
• Leave in a frigde till assembly.

Fondant:

• Mix all ingredients and warm gently till 45°C.

Assembly:

• Warm the fondant till 45°C. 
  
• Dip the frozen éclairs half in the fondant and place them on a cooling rack (fondant facing upwards).
• Pipe thin lines with dark chocolate onto the fondant.
• Leave them to cool down till the fondant has become hard.
• Cut the top of with a bread knife, and place the bottom of the choux pastry on a plate.
• Pipe some pastry cream on the base. 
• Slice a fresh banana and add 3-4 slices per éclair.
• Whisk Anchor Chef's Classic till firm peak and pipe a nice spiral on the sliced bananas.
• Place the top of the choux layer with fondant to close the banana éclair.