A fluffy pastry filled with buttery pistachio cream glazed with decadent chocolate.

Eclairs are like the classed-up cousins of the doughnut. Their pastry is fluffy and fresh, they're filled with a buttery cream and they're glazed with decadent chocolate. And now we've taken things up a notch, incorporating the nutty flavour of pistachios for a whole new complexity and a pretty pale green hue, just in time for the budding of spring.
 

Ingredients

Pistachio cream

• 2 cups shelled pistachios
• 3/4 cups whole milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pastry

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 200g semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup 35% cream
• 4 tbsp chopped pistachios

Makes 12 eclairs.
 

• Easy truffle temptations
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Directions

1 Blend the pistachios in a food processor to a fine paste; set aside. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil; remove from the heat.


2 In a bowl, whisk together the yolks, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla. Continuing to whisk, slowly ladle the hot milk into the egg mixture. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, whisking over medium heat until thick; remove from the heat. Stir in the pistachio paste and transfer to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until you're ready to fill the eclairs.

3 To make the pastry, preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium saucepan, bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil; add the flour and stir over medium heat until a thin film forms at the bottom of the baking pan, about 2 minutes.


4 Remove the pan from the heat and scrape the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the dough has cooled. Add the eggs, one at a time, until everything is fully combined, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl after each addition. The dough 
is ready when it's thick and glossy yet falls slowly from the paddle when lifted.


5 Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 3⁄4" plain tip with the dough and pipe 4" lengths onto the baking sheet to make 12 shells. Bake for 20 to
 25 minutes or until golden brown. Turn the oven off, but leave the pastries in for an additional 15 to 20 minutes to further dry out.


6 Place the chocolate in a large, shallow heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let everything sit for 3 to 4 minutes, then whisk together until the mixture is smooth.


7 Cut the pastry shells in half length-wise and dip the top halves in the chocolate glaze. Sprinkle each with some of the chopped pistachios. Chill, uncovered, for 1 hour to set.

8 Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the chilled pistachio cream and pipe it onto the bottom halves of the pastry shells.
Top with the chocolate-glazed halves.