I love the contrasting colours & flavours of the raspberry fluff and dark chocolate ganache. These eclairs are absolutely delicious & if you don't tell them no one will know they are gluten & dairy free.  

This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour. 

 Ingredients

Eclairs

135 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

30 g Maize starch

200 g Water

150 g Dairy free margarine (I used Nuttelex)

5 - 6 Eggs (normally ~50 g each shelled)

10 g Vanilla extract

1 tsp Sugar

~1/2 tsp Salt

 

Eggs - The size of the eggs will affect how stiff the dough is. Sometimes I will use 5 and 1/2 eggs for this recipe. 

 

 Raspberry Fluff

150 g Raspberry puree

200 g Caster sugar

2 Egg whites

 

Chocolate Ganache

200 g Dark dairy free chocolate

40 g Oil

120 g Coconut cream*

 

* The ganache is less likely to split if the coconut cream contains an emulsifier or thickener. Find a brand of coconut cream that tastes nice, I usually use Ayam. 

 

Method

Eclairs

Line two baking trays (ensure they can fit into your freezer).

Mix together the Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour & maize starch.

Thermomix

Put water, vanilla, salt, sugar & margarine into the TM bowl and cook at 100 C for 5 minutes on speed 2.

Add the flour & mix for 20 secs on speed 4.

Take bowl out & allow to cool for ~10 mins. If you are in a hurry take the dough out of the bowl and spread it thinly on some baking paper - it cools down faster. Put the dough back into the bowl. 

Put the timer on for ~40 sec, start mixing at speed 5 & drop the eggs onto the rotating blades one at a time.

Stove top & Stand mixer#

Put the water, vanilla, salt, sugar & margarine into a saucepan & heat gently until the margarine has melted.

Turn up the heat until the mixture starts to boil.

Remove from the heat & add the flour, quickly stirring/beating it.

Return the pan to a low heat continuing to stir the mixture for another ~minute. It will be very thick. 

Remove the pan from the heat & transfer mix to a mixing bowl. # It can be mixed by hand but it is so much easier with a mixer. 

Cool the mix by beating it gently.

Increase the speed on the mixing, add an egg & continue beating until the egg is incorporated.

Beat in the eggs one at a time until a smooth dough is formed.

Both methods

Transfer dough to a piping bag fitted with a size 15 plain or star nozzle.

Pipe long straight lines (~2 cm thick) across the lined tray. My lines were not straight & not the same size. If you want to straighten up or smooth the choux pastry lines wet your hands, flick off the excess water & gently mold the pastry. Re-wet your hands when necessary.

Transfer the trays to a freezer for ~1 - 2 hours.

Preparing the eclairs

Turn oven on to 210 C.

Remove the piped dough from the freezer.

Transfer one of the piped lines of dough to a cutting board & cut into 8 - 10 cm long logs. The length of my lines was ~26 cm so I chopped off the ends & then cut it into thirds (8 cm).

Transfer the eclairs back to the baking tray leaving room between them so they don't stick together during baking.

Cut remaining piped dough lines & transfer back to the baking trays.

Let the trays sit at room temperature until the dough is completely thawed. Partially frozen dough won't expand as much as completely thawed dough does during baking.  

Transfer tray to the oven & bake for approximately 15 mins.

Reduce oven to 160 C & bake for another 30 mins.

Remove from the oven & allow to cool before filling.

Raspberry Fluff

Essentially the raspberry fluff is a raspberry flavoured Italian meringue. The method can be found in the recipe for Razzle Dazzle Icing.  

Chocolate Ganache

Heat coconut cream & oil together to above 50 C (using a Thermomix, microwave or stove top). Mix in the chocolate. Gently heat & mix until all chocolate is melted. Allow to cool slightly before using.  

Assembling

Cut each eclair in half & pipe the raspberry fluff onto the base of each. 

Cover with the tops & pour on the ganache.

Simply enjoy!