If you love milktart and chocolate éclairs, we’re about to rock your world with an original recipe that’s got ‘impressive’ written all over it. Introducing the Boozy Milktart Éclair – the best of both worlds.
It’s the lip-smacking joy of feather-light choux pastry filled with the signature South African sweetness of milktart. The secret ingredient? Tant Sannie’s artisanal Melktert Liqueur.
Ingredients
Serves 24 medium éclairs
Pastry:
- 125ml water
- 125ml whole milk
- 125g Lurpak Salted Butter OR unsalted butter + 1 ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp Huletts Sugar
- 160g Eureka Mills Cake Wheat Flour
- 3-4 I Like Eggs Free-Range Eggs, whole
Filling:
- 200ml whole milk
- 250ml Tant Sannie Se Melktert Liqueur
- ½ tsp Nomu Ground Nutmeg
- 1 tsp Nomu Ground Cinnamon
- 2 tsp Nomu Vanilla Essence
- 9 I Like Eggs Free-Range Eggs, yolks (save egg whites by freezing them)
- 140g Huletts Sugar
- 40g Eureka Mills Cake Wheat Flour
- 35g Lurpak Salted Butter
Ganache Coating:
- 100g Lindt Excellence 70% Dark Chocolate
- 200ml Clover Heavy Cream, separated
Directions
Pastry:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- Add the milk, water, salted butter, and sugar to a medium saucepan and bring to a light simmer or until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat and add the sifted flour. Mix until fully combined.
- Place back on the heat and cook the dough on medium-high for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and place in a large bowl until slightly cooled (a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius).
- Gradually add the scrambled eggs (3-4 eggs). Add the eggs until a thick and smooth dough forms. The dough must create a ‘V’ shape on your spoon when lifted. This means the pastry is ready. You might not need all 4 eggs for the dough to reach this consistency.
- Prepare an oven tray with a secured baking sheet. Transfer the dough into a Ziplock bag and cut off the tip (R2 coin diameter).
- Pipe the pastry onto the tray and flatten the tips with water if needed.
- Bake for 20-25mins at 180 degrees Celsius. Allow to fully cool on a rack before attempting to fill with milk tart custard.
Filling:
- Add the milk, liqueur, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla essence to a medium saucepan and bring to a light simmer and remove from the heat. Set aside.
- Add egg yolks and sugar to a large bowl. Mix until light and creamy. Add the sifted flour and mix until fully combined.
- Add ½ cup of the warm milk mixture to the eggs and mix well. Gradually add the rest of the milk mixture while simultaneously stirring.
- Transfer the mixture back into the saucepan and cook until thickened. It’s important to ensure that the eggs are fully cooked before removing the custard from the heat.
- Transfer the thickened mixture to a bowl and set aside allowing the custard to fully cool.
- Use an electric mixer to whip the heavy cream. Once whipped to a soft peak, fold the whipped cream into the cooled custard. Set aside until the eclairs are ready to be filled.
Ganache:
- Add the broken chocolate to a small bowl and pour over the warm cream. Stir until the chocolate has fully melted.
- Create a small hole on each side of the éclair using a paring knife. Transfer the cooled custard to a Ziploc bag and cut off the tip. Generously fill the eclairs with the custard through the holes created. Dip the eclairs in the ganache and dust with ground cinnamon. Place in the fridge for 1 hour before serving. Enjoy!
Let us know if you try it by sharing yours on socials, tagging us @deeliverza, and using #DeeRecipe – if it looks DEELICIOUS, we’ll give you a treat!
Looking for more drink/mealspiration? Check out our other recipes here.