The Charles Liégeois coffee éclair
Take our Temporel coffee, add the Éphémère concept of Maurine Géron - who revisits a great pastry classic every month according to the season and what inspires her - and you get the Charles Liégeois Roastery coffee éclair. “This éclair is made of a choux pastry topped with craquelin, a whipped ganache flavoured with coffee paste, a cardamom and lemon gel, a chocolate mirror glaze and a crunchy chocolate decoration,” said the pastry chef from Mons, who went to Alain Ducasse’s École Nationale Supérieure de Pâtisserie.
Ingredients for 10 éclairs:
For the choux pastry
- 120g plain flour
- 4 eggs (about 200g)
- 80g butter (in pieces)
- 200ml water
- 4g sugar
- 4g salt
For the coffee paste
- 100g coffee beans
- 20g icing sugar
- 56ml neutral oil (preferably grapeseed)
For the craquelin
- 50g flour
- 50g butter
- 50g brown sugar
For the coffee ganache
- 130g white chocolate pieces
- 15g coffee paste
- 180 ml single cream + 50 ml
For the tangy cardamom gel
- 125ml lemon juice
- 125ml water
- 25g sugar
- 4 cardamom seeds
- 4g of agar-agar
For the chocolate mirror glaze
- 50ml water + 36ml
- 125g caster sugar
- 100ml 35% fat cream
- 37ml glucose syrup
- 40g cocoa powder
- 6g gelatin powder
Preparation:
- Note: the coffee ganache, the craquelin and the glaze should be made the day before.
- Make the coffee ganache. Start by making the coffee paste by grinding all the ingredients in a blender, until they become a smooth paste. Heat 180ml of single cream. Then pour it in three batches over the white chocolate and stir. Add the rest of the cream to the mixture, then blend using a hand blender until smooth. Cover with clingfilm and keep in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but preferably 12 hours.
- Make the glaze. Soak the gelatin in 36ml of water. Add the remaining water, sugar, cream and glucose syrup to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the cocoa powder and bring to a boil again. After taking it off the heat, add the drained gelatin and mix, but make sure not to incorporate any air. Keep in a cool place.
- Make the craquelin. Mix all the ingredients until you get a smooth dough. Spread the craquelin between two baking sheets and put it in the refrigerator.
- Make the choux pastry. Add the water, butter, sugar and salt to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Take it off the heat, then add the sifted flour all at once and whisk vigorously. The pastry dough should come away easily from the sides of the pan. Transfer the dough into the stand mixer bowl and add the eggs one by one, whisking vigorously each time using the stand mixer until you obtain a mixture that is soft and smooth, but not watery.
- Place the dough in a pastry bag and form 8 cm long éclairs spaced out evenly on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Cut strips of craquelin the size of the éclairs and place them on the choux pastry to ensure they bake evenly. Bake for 40 minutes in an oven preheated to 170°C. Leave to cool.
- Make the tangy cardamom gel. Heat the water and lemon juice with the crushed cardamom seeds. Leave to infuse for ten minutes, then bring to a boil. Mix the sugar and the agar-agar and add them to the infusion. Leave to cool, then blend until smooth.
- Cut holes in the base of the éclairs. Whip the ganache and put it in a piping bag. Fill the éclairs with ganache. Put the cardamom gel in another piping bag and pipe a small amount inside the éclairs. Heat the icing in a bain-marie or in the microwave and dip the éclairs in it on the side without holes.
- Serve each éclair with a chocolate decoration, a split cardamom seed and gold leaf.