My husband Logan celebrates his birthday in the month of May, and he’s definitely a creature of habit, which means he always asks for one of his three favourite desserts: tiramisu, chocolate eclairs or lamingtons. For his birthday last year, I transformed two of his favourite desserts – tiramisu and chocolate eclairs – into one and called it tirami-choux. He said I outdid myself and declared that it was the best dessert he had ever tasted.
Pastry
. 1/4 cup butter (65g)
. 1 and 1/4 cups water
. 1/4 tsp strong coffee (optional)
. 1/4 tsp salt
. 1 cup flour (sifted)
. 3 eggs
Place the butter, water, coffee and salt in a pan. Bring the water to the boil slowly and stir until butter has melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the sifted flour (add the flour all at once). Beat until smooth and return to the stove. Stir vigorously and continuously until the mixture leaves the sides of the saucepan and forms a smooth ball. Allow the mixture to cool for five to 10 minutes.
Whisk the eggs well and add to the dough. Now beat the eggs into the mixture thoroughly until worked in properly and smooth. Place tablespoonfuls of the mixture on to greased baking trays and bake in a pre-heated oven at 220°C for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180°C and continue to cook for 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp.
Remove from the oven and immediately poke holes in each pastry with a toothpick to allow the steam to escape. Turn off the oven and return pastries to the oven until it cools completely. This is to help dry them out properly. When the pastry is completely cooled, fill with cream (recipe below) and decorate as desired. I dipped them in Cadbury milk chocolate and added fresh fruit.
Filling
. 250ml mascarpone
. 1/2 to 1 cup icing sugar (depending on your taste)
. 2 tbs coffee liqueur (optional) or 2 tsp caramel essence
. 250ml fresh cream
Beat mascarpone cheese with icing sugar, coffee liqueur/caramel essence until well combined, then fold in the fresh cream that has been whipped to stiff peaks. Pipe into choux pastry.