Paleo Chocolate Eclairs

Yup, you heard me… PALEO CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS!!!

As a kid I absolutely adored these, they are immense! So simple but so yummy and refreshing too. As you can see in my picture however I forgot to reduce the heat whilst melting my chocolate in the bain-marie and the result was not a nice glossy coating but it tasted all the same and was nice and fudgy.  I love it.

These are probably more like the traditional French eclairs rather than the whipped cream British versions but I have made the creme patissiere very light. It’s lovely and refreshing… and also a bit coconutty too.

Makes: Roughly 12-18 eclairs (dependent upon how long you pipe them out)

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Paleo choux:

1 cup tapioca flour
1 tbsp coconut flour
3 eggs
100 ml coconut milk
50 ml cold water
60g unsalted raw grass-fed butter
1 tbsp coconut sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla powder (optional but tasty)
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of Himalayan pink salt

For the creme patissiere:

3 tbsp maple syrup
Tin of coconut milk (400ml)
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 tbsp vanilla
3 tsp coconut flour
1 egg yolk

For the chocolate glaze:

50g cacao solids (you can use anything from 85% upward and sweeten to your taste)
1 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp raw grass-fed butter
1/2 tbsp coconut oil

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees (gas mark 3).
2. For the choux buns, in a medium pan bring to the boil the coconut milk, water, butter, sugar, salt & vanilla powder.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the tapioca flour, coconut flour & baking powder rapidly with a wooden spoon until smooth. You must work fast with this!
4. The mixture should come away from the sides and form a nice ‘ball’ of choux dough, it it doesn’t then return the pan to a low heat and cook until it does. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
5. Beat in the eggs one by one until the mixture reluctantly falls from the spoon, you do not want the mixture to be runny. (You may not need all of the eggs for this so definitely go with your instincts!)
6. Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes.  Transfer the mixture into a piping bag (I used the Tala Disposable Icing Bags available at Ocado) and either fit with a large round nozzle or just cut a hole with a pair of scissors (about 1-1.5″) if using disposables.
7. Pipe 4-6″ long strips onto a lined baking tray. Try and pipe them about 3cm apart as they will puff up quite a bit!
8. Place in the oven until puffed up and firm to the touch with a gorgeous golden colour. This may take 10 minutes or less they do cook quite fast.
9. Once done allow to cool completely.
10. For the creme patissiere whisk together in a small mixing bowl your egg yolk, tapioca flour, coconut flour and vanilla essence.
11. In a small pan bring to the boil your coconut milk, maple syrup and coconut oil.
12. Remove the pan from the heat and begin to whisk in your egg mix thoroughly.
13. Return the pan to a low heat until it becomes really thick. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Place in an airtight container (or cover with cling film) and chill in the fridge.
14. For your chocolate glaze combine all of your ingredients in a bain-marie and melt on a low heat.
15. Once melted leave for a couple of minutes to cool slightly.
16. Remove your creme patissiere from the fridge and give it a quick whisk to ensure it’s smooth (sometimes the coconut oil can separate out as it cools down).
17. Split your eclairs in half so that you can fold it out like a hotdog bun and fill with the creme patissiere.
18. Once you have filled all of your eclairs transfer your chocolate glaze into a piping back and pipe the tops of the eclairs.
19. Leave them in the fridge or freezer to set, remove and EAT!!!