Carrot & sunflower seed eclairs

We’re going to make a wonderful eclair bite! It’s a carrot & sunflower seed eclair filled with salt dough cooked carrot & burrata tartare. On top you’ll find confit orange peel with an apricot gel, an carrot cream and caramelized tandoori sunflower seeds.

The eclair shells

200 g	carrot juice
100 g	milk
100 g	butter
5 g	salt
120 g	flour
200 g	egg

Pour the carrot juice into a saucepan and reduce it till you’re left with 100 grams. Always begin with weighing the empty pan first. This will make checking the reduction process very easy. The empty pan weighs 1035 grams. So that plus 100 grams is 1135 grams. Once it’s reduced add the milk, the butter and the salt. Now bring this to a boil. Then add the flour and directly start mixing to prevent lumps from forming. Now while stirring cook the batter for three to four minutes on a medium heat. We do this to give the dough more strength and remove the floury taste. Once it’s starts to shine you know it’s done. Then take the pan off the heat and let it cool down for 5 minutes. After that mix in the egg. Do this egg by egg and mix it every time to insure it’s well incorporated. Then transfer it into a piping bag and it’s ready to be used. Now you could bake the batter like this, but I use this eclair mold to preportion the batter and get a beautiful even result. Click here for the one I use. Then level the top and let it freeze till solid.

80 g	sunflower seeds
100 g	flour
50 g	cane sugar
70 g	butter
3 g	squid ink

Now we can make the dough sheet that we place on top of the batter. First toast the sunflower seeds at 160 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Once toasted let them cool down and then blend it into a fine powder. Now place the flour on your worktop and make a well in the middle. Fill it with the cane sugar, the sunflower seed powder, the butter and the squid ink. Then bring all the ingredients together and knead it into a firm dough. Now place the dough on a silicon sheet and place another sheet on top. Then roll it out until the dough is around 3 to 4 millimeters thin. The dough is very soft, especially when it becomes warm. That’s why you need to roll it between two sheets. Now place it on a rack or tray and let it set in your fridge. After an hour or two remove the top sheet and cut it with the desired cutter. The trimmings you can reuse for your next choux pastries. Then remove the choux batter from the mold and place them on a silicon sheet. Let them defrost for 30 minutes before placing the dough sheets on top. Then bake them at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. Absolutely don’t open the oven in between, then they will collapse! Now after the 30 minutes I always leave them in the oven with the door slightly open for another 10 minutes. This to insure all the moisture has evaporated. Then keep them dry and covered for later.

The carrot and burrata filling

500 g	flour
500 g	gray salt or coarse salt
300 g	water
8	big carrots
5	bay leaves
1	burrata
	Lemon zest and black pepper

Place the flour on your worktop and make a well in the middle. Fill the well with the gray salt or coarse salt and also add the water. Now bring all the ingredients together and then knead it into a nice dough. Then dust your worktop with flour and roll out the dough till it’s a centimeter thick. Place the carrots on top and also add the bay leaves. Now cover the carrots with the dough and make sure that there are no holes. Then bake it at 180 degrees Celsius for 1 hour. After that let it cool down for 20 minutes before opening up the dough. Now clean the carrots by scraping the peel off with a small knife. Cut one of the cleaned carrots in thin slices and cut those slices in a nice tartare. Set it aside for later. Then transfer a bulb of burrata in a blender and season it with black pepper. Now blend it for around 20 seconds. After that pour it into a bowl and also add the carrot tartare, some lemon zest and some salt. Now mix it well. Then transfer it into a piping bag and keep it in your fridge for later

The apricot & tandoori gel

200 g	dried apricots
350 g	carrot juice
3 g	tandoori spices
3 g	salt
50 g	white wine vinegar
5 g	agar powder

Mix the dried apricots with the carrot juice, the tandoori spices, the salt, the white wine vinegar and the agar powder. Then blend it till smooth. Once smooth pour it into a saucepan and while stirring bring it to a boil for at least 30 seconds. Keep on stirring to prevent it from burning. Now pour it into a bowl and let it set in your fridge. After that transfer it into a blender and blend it into a smooth gel. Then transfer it into a piping bottle and keep it in your fridge for later.

The orange peel garnish

1	orange
200 g	water
50 g	sugar
4 g	salt

Begin by peeling the orange with a peeler that is as thin as possible. You don’t want any of the white pith. Then cut them with the desired cutter. Now I cut them with a punch cutter, but you could also use small cookie cutters. I just love these punch cutters because they come in so many different shapes and sizes. Normally made for crafts, but perfect for the kitchen as well! I’ll link the one I use in the description. I’m not using the peel trimmings in the video, but they’re great to use for an orange peel gel. Click the link at the top for the recipe. Then blanch the cut orange peels in some salted water for 30 seconds. We do this to remove the bitter flavor. After that drain the water and transfer the peels back into the pan. Now add the water with the sugar and the salt. Then cover the pan with a lid and heat it up on a low heat. Confit it for 30 minutes. Once the peels have softened let it cool down completely. Then pour it into a cub and keep it in your fridge for later.

The carrot cream

1	shallot
50 g	butter
3 g	salt
40 g	cane sugar
1	bay leaf
600 g	carrot
200 g	vegetable broth
20 g	white wine vinegar
	Xanthan gum

Begin by cutting the shallot in half and clean it. Now slice it in thin slices. Then melt the butter in a pan and also add the salt with the cane sugar, the sliced shallot and the bay leaf. Caramelize the sugar, butter and shallot. Meanwhile peel the carrot and trim both sides. Then cut them in four and slice those pieces in thin slices. Once you’re happy with the color of the ingredients in the pan add the sliced carrot and pan fry it for 2 to 3 minutes. Now deglaze the pan with the vegetable broth. Also add the white wine vinegar. Now reduce the broth on a medium to cook the carrots. Once cooked, remove the bay leaf and transfer it into a blender. Now blend it till smooth. This takes a couple of minutes. Then add a knife tip of xanthan gum and blend it for another minute. This prevents the cream from leaking once plated. Now transfer it into a piping bottle and keep it in your fridge for later.

The tandoori sunflower seeds

100 g	water
100 g	sugar
100 g	sunflower seeds
	tandoori spices, salt & citric acid

First mix the water with the sugar and the sunflower seeds. Bring this to a boil for three minutes. After the three minutes transfer the seeds on a tray. Spread them and let them dry for around 30 minutes. Then heat up some frying oil till it’s 160°C and deep fry the sunflower seeds. Be careful with the caramelization, a bit too dark and they turn super bitter! Then place on a tray lined with kitchen paper and season them with tandoori spices, salt & citric acid. This will give it a nice fresh and aromatic flavor. Once they have cooled down you can keep them dry and covered for later.

Final prep

We just need to make some carrot flowers. I make these from some thinly sliced carrot and use the same puncher, only one that’s slightly bigger than the one before. Keep them in some ice water so they retain their crispy texture.

How to finish the eclairs

First fill the shells with the carrot & burrata tartare and pipe a couple dots of the cream on top. Also add a couple dots of the apricot gel. Now place the caramelized sunflower seeds in between together with the carrot flowers, some carrot leaves and the confit orange peels. Then it’s ready to be served!