Tasty Tuesdays! GF Chocolate Eclair

Last week was so crazy that I didn't have much of an opportunity to post anything other than the Tuesday recipe.  Spending time with the kids, checking homework, birthday parties and more all made the week jam packed!  There is a Q&A from a young lady taken from "Ask The Teen" (Celiac Questions) from childrenshospital.org, Marina Keegan that you can read by clicking here.  I plan to have some more content this week so stay tuned....  Now for the final installment of the Gluten Free cooking class I took at Michael Fusco's Riverside Grill in Tulsa, OK.  As many of you know, he is a 5 star chef and good guy who is letting me post his recipes for all to enjoy.

This weeks post is a Gluten Free Eclair and wow was it ever good.  You can check out my previous posts such as Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, Potato Pancakes, and Belgian Waffles all Gluten Free.  It is difficult to find or make good GF bread as most of you know but in this case it couldn't have been easier, or tasted better!  In making this GF eclair the first step is to obviously make the bread.  The ingredients area as follows:

Bread

2 cups whole milk
1 cup butter
2 cups Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend
1 tsp Xanthan gum powder
8 eggs

Combine xanthan gum with flour blend. 
Bring butter and milk to a boil. 
Stir in the flour blend, continue to stir until it forms a ball and pulls away from the side of the pan.  Remove from heat and add to a mixing bowl, mix until dough cools. 
Gradually beat in one egg at a time until egg is completely absorbed.  Note: check dough with finger, looking for a stiff but wilting peak.
 Pipe dough (roll into pipe shapes) on wax paper into 4 inch strips and bake at 375* for 25 - 30 minutes.  Let cool.

Now to make the pastry cream you will need:

Pastry Cream

2 lg eggs
3 tbsp corn starch
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter

Whisk together eggs and cornstarch in a small bowl; gradually add 1/4 cup of half and half, whisking until smooth and corn starch is dissolved.
Place sugar and vanilla bean in medium sized nonreactive sauce pan; stir in remaining half and half and salt; bring to boil over medium heat
Whisk 2 tbsp hot mixture into eggs; to temper eggs.  Return to medium heat, slowly stream the rest of the milk to eggs and bring to a boil, whisking rapidly (mixture will become very thick).
Remove from heat; remove vanilla bean, and add butter.
Pour mixture into a bowl; placing a piece of greased plastic wrap atop pastry cream to prevent skin from forming. 
Refrigerate until cold.


Now for the last step.....Cut your bread lengthwise and fill with pastry cream.  Dip the bread tops in chocolate and place back on your pastry filled bottoms.

I honestly don't think anything could make this better unless it would be two or three of them setting in front of me.  A little known trick (at least I didn't know it) to make that wonderful, crusty on the outside, soft on the inside bread that we all love so much is to steam the bread at 4-5 minutes in the oven and then one more time before its done.  You squirt the bread gently with water in a hot oven and it instantly makes steam to form that great crust!

Many thanks to Michael Fusco and I can't wait to see what is in store for the next class.........

This post is part of the following blog carnivals.......Go check out these great sites!

Mouthwatering Monday

Slightly Indulgent Tuesday

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Gluten Free Wednesdays

Real Food Wednesdays

Pennywise Platter Thursday