“We are back in the studio kitchen after a long train ride from Mount Aris,” Pinkie introduced every listener back to their show, “I don’t know about you guys, but I am starving.”
“You have a bottomless stomach, you know that right?” Gabby rolled her eyes, “You ate thirteen kelp cakes, seven berry tarts from the Harmonising Heights and four cups of Aris punch as well. Seriously were does all that weight go to?”
“That’s easy,” Pinkie answered as if it was an obvious answer, “I use all that energy for my parties!” The other creatures and her sister rolled their eyes at her answer.
“Anyway,” Autumn pressed on, “What are you showing us to bake today?”
“How about some delicious chocolate eclairs?” Pinkie asked the group you perked up at that. Pinkie licked her lips at the thought of chocolate coated eclairs, filled to near-bursting with custard.
“That sounds like a tasty idea,” Silverstream clapped her claws in excitement, “So then Chef Pinkie, what do we need for the perfect chocolate eclairs?”
“Well, I’m glad you asked, “ Pinkie winked, “Autumn set the oven to two-hundred and twenty Celestius and we will start baking!” Autumn got to it right away, setting the oven to the desired temperature.
“First, let’s start with our shoe éclair pastries,” Pinkie began, “Silverstream, you can add one-hundred and thirteen grams of unsalted butter, two-hundred and forty millilitres of water, half a teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons of sugar to a saucepan. Autumn you can like the stove and melt it all at high heat and bring it to a rolling boil.”
Silverstream got to it right away, adding the butter from the studio kitchen fridge and adding the other ingredients precisely as Pinkie instructed. Silverstream passed the pan to Autumn, you lit a hoof with her nirik fire, lighting a stove and placing it to the gas. It lit up immediately, which Autumn placed and boiled the ingredients together. Marble cutely licked her lips whilst observing their baking.
“Autumn, quickly whilst it’s still hot, remove it from the heat and add one-hundred and twenty-eight grams of all-purpose flour and stir hard with a wooden spoon until all incorporated,” Pinkie instructed to Autumn, who nodded in concentration. Taking it off the fire quickly, she added the flour and stirred with a wooden spoon. She then placed it back on the heat and stirred for another thirty seconds or so.
“Dump it into a mixing machine and start it up!” Pinkie jumped for joy, “Gabby, crack an egg one at a time into the mixing bowl whilst the machine does the work. About four eggs will do.” Autumn placed the dough into the mixer and switched to medium speed. Gabby got cracking next to the machine, adding one egg at a time.
“We want the dough so it’s dripping off slowing, forming thin strands,” Pinkie told their listeners as they waited for the mixer to get to the desired thickness. Autumn switched if off and checked the dough. Sure enough, it was dripping slowly in one big chunk, strands forming behind it. Silverstream got a piping bad ready and scooped it all into one bad.
“You’re going to need a large nuzzle for the show dough,” Autumn explained as she helped Silverstream turn the nuzzle in, “Round ends are common, but for a beginner, star-tipped ones offer more control when piping out. You are looking for middle claw sized, like Silverstream’s or Gabby’s talons, and be sure to space them out because they will puff out when they are in the oven.”
They took it in turns to do the piping, doing an éclair each. For added shine and finish, Silverstream gave them an egg wash of one tablespoon of milk and one egg.
“Now here’s the thing,” Pinkie alerted the group, “Bake them at two-hundred and twenty Celestius for fifteen minutes and then reduce to one-hundred and ninety and then bake for an additional twenty minutes. Autumn, you’re the heat expert. You can watch the oven whilst we set up the chocolate dip and custard.”
“Just because I can't burn myself doesn’t mean I know everything about heat,” Autumn muttered as she observed them, occasionally flipping them round to get an even bake. The others turned to the custard.
“I was lucky enough to get a fresh vanilla pod from Mr and Mrs Cake because then don’t come cheap,” Pinkie said, presenting the pod to the group,” Scrape it out and put the extract into four-hundred and eighty millilitres of milk and add the pod for extra vanilla flavour. Put on boil on the stone.” They mixed the milk and vanilla together, putting the milk to boil on the stove.
“You’re going to need six egg yolks, one-hundred and thirty-four grams of sugar. Whisk until light and fluffy. Now temper with the milk, but not much to scramble the egg mixed,” Pinkie watched and told Silverstream as she whisked everything together.
“Now settle on the heat and whisk until it thickens.” Autumn stirred until the right consistency and they let it chill in the fridge. Marble got right to it with melting one-hundred and fifteen grams of chocolate for dipping.
Soon the eclairs were ready and Autumn took them out, revealing a puffed golden shoe pastry. Once cooled, Pinkie demonstrated how to pipe into the eclairs, punching a hole and filling until not completely bursting, then dipped them into the melted chocolate. The group followed, licking chocolate off of their appendages.
“Well, there you have it,” Pinkie declared, “The perfect way to make chocolate-custard eclairs. We hope you enjoyed the tasty edition of Good Morning Equestria and we hope to see you all again soon!”