Fortnum & Mason's eclairs are a delightful pastry featuring a light choux dough filled with rose flavoured cream and topped with a rose glaze. While disarmingly pretty, they’re easy to make in sizeable batches, meaning you can impress the object of your affections with your delicate baking artistry while ensuring you’ve got plenty to eat yourself.

Ingredients

Choux Pastry

• 100g plain flour
• 75ml whole milk
• 75ml water
• 75g unsalted butter, diced
• 3 medium eggs, lightly beaten

Rose Pastry Cream

• 1 vanilla pod
• 400ml whole milk
• 100g caster sugar
• 30g cornflour
• 8 large egg yolks
• 20g unsalted butter
• 4 teaspoons rosewater
• 120ml double cream

Fondant Icing

• 300g icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons water
• a little pink food colouring
• a few fresh, unsprayed rose petals to decorate

Instructions

Choux Pastry

• Sift the flour on to a small sheet of baking parchment. Put the milk, water and butter into a saucepan over a medium heat.
• When the butter has melted and the mixture has come to the boil, immediately remove from the heat and beat in the flour with a wooden spoon.
• Return to the heat and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes, so it is warm rather than hot.
• Using a hand-held electric mixer, beat in the eggs a little at a time until they are fully incorporated. The mixture should be thick and glossy and should fall from a spoon if you shake it slightly.
• Transfer the choux pastry to a piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle. Pipe it on to 2 baking trays lined with baking parchment in thin strips 9-10cm long. Space them at least 5cm apart, as they will expand a lot during baking.
• Place in an oven heated to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and bake for 25 minutes, until well risen and golden brown. They should sound crisp and hollow if you tap them underneath. Transfer them to a wire rack and leave to cool.

Rose Pastry Cream

• Slit the vanilla pod open lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Put the pod and seeds into a pan with the milk and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and set aside.
• Beat the sugar, egg yolks and cornflour together in a large bowl. Gradually pour on the hot milk, whisking well.
• Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a low to medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. It might go lumpy as it starts to thicken, but just keep stirring and it will go smooth.
• Reduce the heat and cook gently for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter, followed by the rosewater, then transfer to a bowl. Press a sheet of cling film over the surface and leave to cool.
• Whip the double cream to soft peaks. Stir the pastry cream vigorously to loosen it a little, then fold in the double cream.
• Taste and add a little more rosewater, if needed. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Make a small hole in the tip of each éclair, insert the nozzle, and pipe in the pastry cream until generously filled.

Fondant Icing

• Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the lemon juice. Gradually add enough water to give it the consistency of thick treacle..
• Stir in the food colouring a drop at a time until the icing is a pale pink colour.
• Dip the éclairs in the icing so the tops are generously covered, then leave to set. Once set, decorate with the rose petals, if using.

Recipe from Fortnum & Mason