2019-09-01_Food_Heaven

Taken from Pinch of Nom:

100 Slimming, Home-style

Recipes by Kate Allinson

and Kay Featherstone,

published by Bluebird

(Hardback £20; eBook

£16.99). The Pinch of Nom

Food Planner is also

available now (£9.99).

Photography by

Mike English. 

BAKING^ TIP

PLAN AHEAD

YOU CAN BAKE THE PASTRY

BUNS IN ADVANCE AND

FREEZE THEM

TE ATIME HE AVEN

WWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM SEPTEMBER baking heaven 73

Chocolate

eclairs

MAKES 10
2 tbsp granulated sweetener
½ tsp salt
100g (3½oz) reduced-fat spread
150ml (5fl oz) cold water
100g (3½oz) self-raising flour
2 large free-range eggs
25g (1oz) dark chocolate chips
10 tbsp reduced-fat aerosol cream

1 Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas
Mark 5 and line a baking tray with
baking parchment.
2 Put the granulated sweetener, salt,
reduced-fat spread and water in a
saucepan and bring to the boil. As soon
as the mixture reaches the boil, take the
pan off the heat and gradually beat in
the flour. The mixture will look lumpy at
first, but persevere. Continue to beat
until the mixture forms a ball of dough
and comes away from the sides of
the saucepan.
3 Add the eggs to the mixture and beat
well to incorporate. It will look like the
mixture has split at first, but continue to
beat until it becomes glossy.
4 Spoon the mixture into a piping bag
fitted with a large nozzle. Pipe ten
eclairs onto the lined baking tray (they’ll
be around 12cm (5in) long each). Dab
any ‘tails’ down with a wet finger and
bake in the oven for 1 hour. DO NOT
OPEN THE OVEN! Not even for a
sneaky peek – they’ll likely collapse and
you’ll end up with pancakes!
5 Once the time is up, remove the
eclairs from the oven and leave to cool
on a wire rack. Only fill them when you
are ready to serve – aerosol cream
doesn’t keep its shape very long once
squirted! (You can freeze them at this
point, prior to filling.)
6 Once completely cool, cut
lengthways through three-quarters of
each eclair. Melt the chocolate chips in
a bowl in the microwave.
7 Squir t 1 tablespoon of reduced -fat
aerosol cream into each split éclair, then
drizzle the melted chocolate over the
tops. Serve immediately.