Mini Tiramisu Eclairs

Happy Friday folks! We started the week off with a tiramisu-inspired recipe, and now we're ending it with one as well! I didn't actually plan for this. I had an idea for another no-bake recipe for you guys, but it turned out to be pretty subpar in reality. So, I instantly went back to the drawing board and thought up what may be my best concotion yet. Tiramisu eclairs.


...Inspired by the half container of mascarpone cheese in my fridge, and the adorable mini eclairs that Christina posted earlier this week. Can I just say, how genius of her to make a blog revolving around scaled down recipes? Seriously, mad props. For the idea AND the impeccable recipes.


I made a few adjustments to her eclair recipe to capture the essence of tiramisu. First, I made the choux pastry coffee-flavored. Then, I folded in some mascarpone cheese to the pastry cream. And lastly, I added a touch of espresso powder to the chocolate glaze to intensify the coffee taste.

Altogether, it was a party in my mouth. And EVERYONE from tasty town showed up.

Mini Tiramisu Eclairs

Yield: 6 eclairs

Ingredients:

For the pastry cream:
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
pinch of salt
2 large egg yolks
3/4 cup heavy cream
pinch of vanilla powder (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
4 oz. mascarpone cheese

For the éclairs (pâte à choux):
1/3 cup strong coffee
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg

For the chocolate glaze:
1/2 cup milk chocolate chunks
1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder

Chocolate shavings, for garnish

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add egg yolks and whisk together until well-combined. Mixture will be thick and pale yellow.

In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until just beginning to simmer (DO NOT BOIL). Gradually add the heated heavy cream to the egg yolk mixture, whisking swiftly to incorporate. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan.

Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture starts to thicken. Whisk for a few more seconds, then remove from the heat and stir in vanilla. Transfer pastry cream to a heatproof bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator to chill.

Next, prepare the éclairs. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside,

In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, bring coffee, butter, and salt to a rolling boil. Add flour and stir continuously with a wooden spoon until mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to allow it to cool down slightly. Then, add egg and process until thoroughly incorporated. Mixture should have the consistency of a thick custard at this point.

Spoon mixture into a piping bag with the tip cut off (or a Ziploc bag). Pipe oblong strips of dough onto prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Upon removing from the oven, cut a small slit into the side of each éclair to allow the steam to escape.

After about 10 minutes of cooling, completely slice the éclairs open. Scrape out any excess wet dough on the inside to make room for pastry cream.

Remove chilled pastry cream from refrigerator and fold in mascarpone cheese. Using a spoon, or a piping bag, spoon/pipe pastry cream into the bottom half of the éclair. Top with other half.

Melt chocolate over a double boiler or in a microwave, then stir in espresso powder. Spoon melted chocolate over the tops of the éclairs. Garnish with chocolate shavings.

Allow chocolate to set at room temperature, then serve or store covered in refrigerator.