Mini vanilla cream eclairs

Ingredients

For the pastry shells

• 150 ml water
• 150 ml oil
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 150 g flour
• 8 g vanilla sugar
• 4 eggs
• 500 ml lukewarm water for shaping

For the vanilla cream

• 4 eggs
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 2 heaping tablespoons flour
• 300 ml milk
• 16 g vanilla sugar
• 0.5 ml vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1000 ml water for the bain-marie

To finish

• 10 g vanilla powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put 150 ml water, 150 ml oil and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a pot. When boiling, gradually add 150 g flour and stir for 2 minutes, until the dough pulls away from the sides. 2. Remove the pot from the heat, add 8 g vanilla sugar and stir. Put it back over low heat for 1 minute, then remove it from the heat and stir the dough for another 1 minute. Beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, with a mixer, until the dough is smooth. 3. Prepare a bowl with 500 ml lukewarm water. With damp hands, shape walnut-sized balls or cylinders; you can also use a piping bag. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, leaving space between them. Bake for 10 minutes at 200°C, then lower the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 20 minutes. Don’t open the oven during the first 20 minutes; if they’re browned by then, take them out immediately. 4. While the shells cool, put 1000 ml water in a large pot and bring it to a boil. In a smaller pot, beat 4 egg yolks with 5 tablespoons sugar and 1 heaping tablespoon flour using a mixer. Gradually pour in 300 ml cold milk, then beat in another 1 heaping tablespoon flour. Set the smaller pot over the pot of boiling water, with its bottom in the water, and whisk quickly for 2 minutes. 5. Remove the cream from the heat and beat it for 30 seconds, then put it back over the boiling water for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened. Beat 4 egg whites with 1/8 teaspoon salt, then mix the beaten whites into the yolk cream with a mixer. Add 16 g vanilla sugar and 0.5 ml vanilla extract, then keep the cream over the boiling water for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Leave it to cool for about 60 minutes. 6. Cut the cooled shells in half and fill them with the cooled cream. Dust with 10 g vanilla powdered sugar.