Lemon Meringue Éclairs

Before starting this Lemon Meringue Éclairs recipe, organise the necessary ingredients for the choux pastry.

For the choux pastry: Place the butter, salt and water in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil.

Remove from the heat and pour all the flour at once.

Stir with a wooden spatula, making sure that lumps do not form. The resulting dough is called 'panada'. Dry off the panada on the heat, stirring with a wooden spatula, until the paste comes away from the sides of the saucepan and forms a ball.

Transfer the panada into another recipient and leave to cool for 5 minutes.

One by one, add the eggs and combine with a wooden spatula. As you can notice, it is difficult to incorporate the egg at the start, but it will combine well after a while.

Repeat for the remaining eggs. The choux pastry is ready to use.

Scoop the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle (diameter between 12 or 15mm). The use of a fluted nozzle will ensure a more regular puff after baking.

On a non-stick perforated baking sheet, pipe the choux pastry into éclairs, each with a length of about 10cm.

Repeat for all the éclairs...

... then bake at 170°C (gas 3) for 20 or 25 minutes.

The éclairs should be golden, light and puffed.

When cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool.

For the meringue decorations: Follow the method of our recipe for meringue decorations. Just before baking, replace the coloured sugar with gold flakes. Bake at 100°C (gas 1/4) for at least 1.5 hours.

For the lemon crème chiboust: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Place the gelatine sheets in cold water.

Bring the lemon purée to a boil.

Pour the castor sugar over the egg yolks. Blanch the ingredients using a whisk.

Add the flour and combine.

Add the boiling lemon purée...

... while combining with a whisk.

Transfer the preparation into the saucepan used to boil the lemon juice and cook the crème for 2 or 3 minutes over medium heat, until thick. Stir constantly to prevent the preparation from sticking to the pan.

Drain the gelatine sheets with your hand, extracting as much water as possible...

... then add to the hot lemon chiboust and combine until dissolved. Let cool at room temperature, making sure the cream does not jellify.

For the Italian meringue: Cook the sugar with a small amount of water until it reaches 121°C. I recommend using a digital thermometer.

In the meantime, start beating the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

When the sugar reaches 121°C, pour over the beaten egg whites and continue whisking in the food mixer (low speed).

Once the sugar is fully incorporated, increase to maximum speed and beat until cooled down completely.

Using a whisk, combine 1/3 of the meringue with the crème. The crème should be cold and not jellified.

Mix until the consistency is smooth and homogeneous.

Add the remaining meringue. Combine gently with a wooden spatula in circular motions, to obtain a more homogeneous consistency. Do not work the preparation too much, as the meringue could collapse.

Pour the preparation into a piping bag...

... fitted with a plain nozzle (diameter 1cm). Set aside.

Using an acetate sheet (or polyethylene sheet), roll it to create a tube shape with a diameter of about 2cm.

Use some sticky tape to fix the sides...

... and close one end of the tube.

You should obtain something similar to what is shown in the photo.

Fill the tube with the lemon crème chiboust...

... making sure the whole tube is filled with cream.

Close the other end with sticky tape...

... and place in the freezer until solidified. Repeat the operation to make a total of 4 tubes. One tube makes a cream topping for 3 éclairs.

Using a serrated knife, cut the éclairs in half, lengthwise. Set the top half aside (we're only using the bottom half in this recipe).

Fill each bottom half with the remaining lemon chiboust.

Even the surface. Reserve in the fridge.

For the green icing: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Place the gelatine sheets in cold water.

In a saucepan, pour the water, sugar and glucose.

Bring to a boil and cook until the temperature reaches 103°C. I recommend using a digital thermometer, as the icing will be too sticky if the sugar is overcooked.

Add the condensed milk (unsweetened)...

... and combine with a spatula.

Add the drained gelatine.

Combine all the ingredients.

Pour the hot preparation over the white chocolate pistoles...

.. and combine until melted.

Finish beating with a hand blender for a better consistency. You shouldn't incorporate air into the preparation.

Add the metallic green colouring powder and combine with the hand blender. The amount of colouring varies, depending on the desired colour intensity.

Remove the tubes from the freezer...

... and unroll the acetate sheets gently.

Cut each lemon chiboust tube into three pieces.

Place the frozen tubes on a cooling rack...

... and coat them with the green icing, using a small ladle. When coming into contact with the frozen cream, the icing will set within a few seconds. This operation should be done quickly to prevent the tubes from defrosting.

Gently transfer the coated tubes onto the éclairs.

On the surface of the tubes, arrange a few meringue decorations. Reserve in the fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!