Precious Art By Precious People

Ingredients:

• ½ cup water
• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine the water, butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat until the butter has melted, and bring to a rolling boil. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the flour all at once, stirring vigorously. Return pan the burner and cook over medium heat, stirring all the while, until the mixture smooths out and follows the spoon around the pan; this should take less than a minute. Remove the pan from the heat, and let the mixture cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a mixer, and beat in the eggs one at a time; it will look curdled at first, but when you add the last egg it should become smooth. Beat for at least 2 minutes after adding the last egg. Spoon into a pastry bag with a large plain tip and pipe up twelve 5 inch long eclairs on the baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven, and reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake for 35 minutes. Do not open the door while the pastries are baking. Remove the pastries from the oven. Make a small slit, and return them to the oven for 5 minutes, until pastries are a medium golden brown.

Eclairs Filling

Ingredients:

• ½ cup whole milk or heavy cream
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup corn starch
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Warm the milk in a saucepan until you start to see wisps of steam. It should not actually be boiling. In a medium bowl whisk together the sugar and salt. Add the egg yolks and whisk them into the dry ingredients, dissolve the cornstarch with a little water, and add little by little; this will form a thick paste. It is fine if the paste looks crumbly or smooth. Add milk to the egg mixture; pour a little of the hot milk into the eggs and whisk to combine. Continue pouring the milk slowly into the eggs, whisking continuously. When all the milk has been added to the eggs; pour everything back in the saucepan. Set a strainer over a bowl and place this near the stove. Strain and cool the filling cream; stir the vanilla into the cream, cover and store with plastic wrap and chill.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl; set aside. Place cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Pour over chocolate and let stand until chocolate has softened, about 5 minutes. Add butter and stir until smooth. Let cool slightly before using.

Pipe chilled filling into pastries. Top with chocolate ganache.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com