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Homemade Banoffee Eclairs

March 25, 2015

Banoffee Eclairs

Spring is here! This is a recipe from John Lewis COOK Edition…

A short while ago in the food world, a prediction was made that éclairs would be the new cupcake and there are now all sorts of weird and wonderful flavours to try in the trendiest bakeries. I’m sure we’ve all had one from our local bakery – traditionally, an éclair is made from choux dough or pastry, filled with cream and topped with chocolate or fondant icing.

In this post, Love & Olive Oil set their readers a challenge to bake éclairs and they came up with some stunning entries. And I’ll never forget reading this wonderful post by David Lebovitz on Éclairs in Paris – or l’éclair – not to be missed.

The éclair originated in France in the 19th century and, as I’ve discovered this week, they can be made at home, with relative ease. I say that, because there are a couple of steps to follow when making the choux and you do have to pipe, but since the choux is later split and filled and topped with chocolate, they don’t actually have to be perfect.

If you can make éclairs then you can make profiteroles (or cream puffs) and vice versa, so they are a good thing to add to your repertoire. Plus, anyone you serve them to will be incredibly impressed!

A good éclair is light and fluffy, the filling should be whipped cream (which can be flavoured as my cream was for this banoffee version), or you can fill them with a French custard or crème pâtissière.

With the éclair being of French origin, I was confident that Richard Bertinet’s Banoffee Eclairs, as spotted in the spring edition of the John Lewis COOK Edition (download in iTunes or pick up for free in store) would work a treat. The recipe uses surprisingly few ingredients and they bake in just under 20 minutes, so I’d say that homemade éclairs make the perfect project for the Easter weekend ahead. If you can pull these off (and I did on my very first attempt) you’ll feel so proud that you’ll want to ditch your job and open up a French pastry shop the very next day!

Kenwood Chef Sense Stand Mixer

Richard has simplified the method for making his choux pastry. Once you’ve heated the water, salt and butter in a pan, you tip in the flour, give it a quick mix and then transfer the mixture into a stand mixer. I waited for the mixture to cool a little before adding the eggs, one by one, until, as if by magic, a smooth, glossy mixture formed. Then it’s simply a case of piping the dough into straight lines, baking, cooling, splitting and filling. They are actually really fun to make!

To make my éclairs, I used my Kenwood Chef Sense Stand Mixer. I also drizzeld a little salted toffee sauce onto my banana on the inside of the éclairs…for good measure.

Banoffee Eclairs

I learnt that éclairs rise seemingly without any raising agents because of the high water content in the dough, which evaporates to steam causing the choux to rise – clever!

The choux should also be cooked for long enough to dry on the inside, so that they don’t collapse when you take them out of the oven.

Et voilà – a pretty spring Banoffee Eclair tea party.

Banoffee Eclairs

Spring tea set (left) – Bluebellgrey stoneware, cake stand by Sophie Conran for Port Merion, pink plates Pip Studio – all John Lewis.  

Banoffee Eclairs

4 votes

Print

Prep 30 mins

Cook 20 mins

Total 50 mins

Author Ren Behan

 Banoffee Eclairs

Kenwood Chef Sense Stand Mixer and spring ‘tea set’ props provided by John Lewis. The cost of my ingredients were covered, too.

Will you be having a go at these pretty Banoffee Eclairs this Easter?

Filed Under: Baking and Desserts, Sponsored/Commissioned/Ad, Uncategorized24 Comments

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About Ren

Ren Behan is a British-born food writer of Polish descent. She is a mum to three young children (13, 10 and 5) and spends lots of time with them in the kitchen. Ren writes about seasonal, family-friendly food on her blog www.renbehan.com. She also contributes recipes and articles to online and print food publications, such as Food52.com, GreatBritishChefs.com, Huff Post Food and JamieOliver.com. She holds a Diploma in Food Journalism with Distinction and has completed a Food Styling course at Leiths School of Food and Wine.

Ren’s cookbook, Wild Honey and Rye: Modern Polish Recipes, draws upon her Polish heritage and regular travels to Poland.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gil levi says

    May 21, 2015 at 10:49 pm

    Great photos the food looks yummy and gorgeous yet funky presentation!

    Reply
  2. Jacqueline Meldrum says

    May 20, 2015 at 10:03 pm

    I don’t know how I missed these. If ever there was a night when I could do with one, this is it.

    Reply
  3. Made With Pink says

    March 29, 2015 at 11:10 am

    These sound delicious! I Love making Eclairs, but have never thought about doing banoffee ones before. Live this idea. Your look gorgeous.

    Reply
    • Ren Behan says

      March 30, 2015 at 10:20 am

      Thank you so much for stopping by to comment! Hope you have a great Easter

      Reply
  4. Lokness @ The Missing Lokness says

    March 26, 2015 at 5:22 pm

    Beautiful eclairs! Love the banana in them! I wish I have a dozen now!

    Reply
    • Ren Behan says

      March 27, 2015 at 10:18 am

      Thank you so much for popping over to visit!

      Reply
  5. Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says

    March 26, 2015 at 2:07 pm

    These look wonderful, I LOVE the idea of making them banoffee flavour!! Great way to make them a bit different. I’m not sure I’ll ever find it in me to make my own eclairs, but I thoroughly enjoy looking at yours 😉

    Reply
    • Ren Behan says

      March 27, 2015 at 10:17 am

      Thanks Becca, hope you try them, they were a joy to make 🙂

      Reply
  6. Sarah Maison Cupcake says

    March 26, 2015 at 1:57 pm

    Oh lordy! These are wicked! I’ve pinned them to my eclairs & choux pinterest board !

    Reply
    • Ren Behan says

      March 27, 2015 at 10:17 am

      Thanks Sarah I’ll pop over and have a drool!

      Reply
  7. Helene @Croque-Maman says

    March 26, 2015 at 1:42 pm

    Such an inspiring post. I LOVE eclairs. I think my favourite ones in Paris are the ones from Fauchon: http://www.fauchon.com/fr/macarons/eclairs.html. Only looking at such pictures make me dream 🙂 Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  8. laura@howtocookgoodfood says

    March 26, 2015 at 1:35 pm

    This is one recipe I am going to have to make on my return from holiday. I think you will be making these for many more friends after they see them on here! You have mastered these Ren, well done :)))

    Reply
    • Ren Behan says

      March 27, 2015 at 10:15 am

      Hope you do Laura!!

      Reply
  9. Jeanne Horak-Druiff says

    March 26, 2015 at 12:06 pm

    Oooh – eclairs! When I was at school, my dad used to work upstairs from a bakery and they used to make eclairs filled with chocolate cream – I was absolutely obsessed with them and could not wait for the random days when he brought a box home with him. Your eclairs look PERFECT!

    Reply
    • Ren Behan says

      March 27, 2015 at 10:15 am

      How lovely! I can just imagine the smells from the bakery!

      Reply
    • Ren Behan says

      March 27, 2015 at 10:16 am

      They look amazing Helene! Thank you for your top tip!

      Reply
  10. ohmydish.com says

    March 26, 2015 at 11:49 am

    I absolutely love how these eclairs look! I can imagine them being so amazing to eat 🙂

    Reply
    • Ren Behan says

      March 27, 2015 at 10:14 am

      Thank you so much!

      Reply
  11. Deena kakaya says

    March 26, 2015 at 11:03 am

    my goodness, they sound devilishly good! Your pasty looks so light, I want to get my fingers straight in! X

    Reply
    • Ren Behan says

      March 27, 2015 at 10:14 am

      Thank you Deena – hope you are well!

      Reply
  12. kellie@foodtoglow says

    March 26, 2015 at 10:44 am

    These look dangerously delicious. And staggeringly pretty. I don’t know how you and your family held off eating them long enough for you to snap them!

    Reply
    • Ren Behan says

      March 27, 2015 at 10:14 am

      Thanks Kellie – they were gone pretty quickly!

      Reply
  13. Alice says

    March 26, 2015 at 7:26 am

    These look AMAZING. I’m cooking for one though, do you have any idea whether these could be frozen?
    Thank you 🙂

    Reply
    • Ren Behan says

      March 27, 2015 at 10:13 am

      Hi Alice, yes you can freeze the shells – cooked, but unfilled. When you defrost them, then I’d fill them with the fresh cream etc and decorate the. You could perhaps halve the filling quantities when making so you don’t have too much cream to use up! Ren

      Reply

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