CHOUX PASTRY ......ECLAIRS

I had not made profiteroles for a long time before today . They are really easy to make , its all about the choux pastry , choux pastry is a soft pastry which is shaped by a spoon or can be squeezed from a piping bag . When it is cooked , it swells to into crisp golden shells. Choux pastry must be cooked and dry right through , a well cooked shell should be golden brown , firm to touch and light as a feather in your hand . Preheat your oven to 220 deg C . Place 125gm of marg / butter in a medium saucepan with 1 tsp of castor sugar , 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 cup of water . Slowly bring to the boil , then immediately remove from heat and tip in 1 cup of plain flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon . Return to heat and continue to stir until it is coming away from the side of the saucepan . Remove from heat and cool a little . Beat 4 eggs together in a separate bowl . Add the eggs a little at a time with your electric beater until thoroughly incorporated . You do not need to add all the eggs , the dough is ready when when it is shiny and holds its shape on a spoon . Spoon tbs full of the pastry onto an oiled and lined oven tray . Place in the very hot preheated oven , so that the pastry puffs quickly , then reduce heat to 180 deg C so that the pastry will cook without over browning . The secret to perfect choux pastry is to leave the cooked shells in the turned off oven with the door slightly open for 20 minutes to ensure that they are thoroughly dried out . Remove from oven and carefully slice in half . Fill the cooled shells with custard made by mixing 100gm of custard powder with 300ml of cream with an electric beater , beat for 2 minutes until the filling thickens . Finish with 50 gm of dark choclate melted and drizzled over the top of the puffs . This amount of ingredients will make enough dough for 12 eclairs.