I've had this pumpkin, cheesecake and chocolate craving I couldn't kick! Probably all the amazing pumpkin recipes you all have been dangling in front of me. So I combined the three into these eclairs. Some may call it crazy; I'd call it crazy good! Just a warning though, you may never look at eclairs the same way. I hope everyone is ashamed of themselves for driving me to this.
Pate a Choux:
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Add butter, water and salt to a small saucepan and heat on low till melted and almost boiling. In a small bowl combine flour and cinnamon. Add flour mixture to water, turn heat off and stir. Turn back on heat and stir until a film forms on the bottom of the pan.
Place dough into stand mixer and turn on medium speed for 1 minute or so to cool. Then slowly stream in eggs until completely incorporated and dough looks shiny. Place dough into a piping bag without a tip.
Pipe eclairs 1" wide by 4" long onto silpat mat or parchment paper placed on baking sheet.
Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 20 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake 20 minutes longer until completely dried out. Rotate the pans every ten minutes, from top to bottom. Remove from oven and let cool on racks.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling:
4 ozs. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
Add heavy cream and vanilla to a mixer and beat until stiff. Set aside. Beat cream cheese and sugar, until smooth. Add pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice, mix until combined. Remove from mixer and fold whip cream in.
Place filling into a piping bag fitted with a bismarck tip. Place tip into side of eclair and squeeze till full, take it easy here or you will have a cheesecake explosion. Here is a picture of the tip you will need. If this happens, don't stress do as I did and eat the evidence!
Dark Chocolate Glaze:
4 ozs. dark chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
Heat heavy cream in small saucepan and pour over chopped chocolate placed in bowl. Whisk until combined. Make sure bowl is wide enough to dip eclair in. Let it cool for 10 minutes or so before dipping. Store in refrigerator.
Did you think I was going to leave you hanging about the Food buzz festival!. There was a finale of brunch and an exhausted bunch of new friends and a little sadness to say good-bye! I'm hoping next year to meet even more of you that I enjoy reading so much.
Enjoy,
Gina
