Lemon Eclairs

August 4, 2017 14 Comments

It has been so much fun making recipes from the Great British Bake Off. I’ve made kouign amann, lemon poppy seed drizzle cake, homemade English muffins, homemade ciabatta bread and coconut lime meringue pie so far. This week it was time for my final entry in the series, which were these amazing lemon eclairs. The recipe is from one of my biggest culinary idols, Mary Berry. I just love her and think she is one of the most talented bakers of our time. Her recipe was easy to follow and much more manageable than I thought it would be.

My choux dough, which was what I used to make the lemon eclairs, cooked before I baked it. The ingredients were simple though! It was just a mixture of water, butter, flour and eggs. It cooked in only a few minutes on the stove. Then I let it cool before I whisked in the eggs so that they didn’t scramble.
I am the first to admit that I can be a little sloppy with my piping, no matter how hard I try. The more I practice, the better I get. So I was pretty proud that when I piped out the dough for the lemon eclairs, they looked fairly neat!
While the choux dough baked for 30 minutes, I made the filling for the lemon eclairs. All I did was whip up heavy cream. Then I stirred in lots of yummy lemon curd. Store bought is great, or you can also make my homemade recipe ahead of time. In Mary’s recipe, she split the filling in half and made some of it raspberry flavored. Since I don’t care for raspberry that much, I made all of it lemony. I also found that I only needed half of the filling that the recipe called for in recipe testing. So I wrote it out that way below.
The icing for the lemon eclairs was also simple. I just stirred powdered sugar, lemon juice and yellow food coloring together until it became a really stiff icing. Again, I discovered that I only needed half of what the recipe called for and I wrote it out as such.
When the eclairs finished baking, the assembling began! I cut each of them in half lengthwise. Then I got more practice piping by piping the filling generously on each of the bottom halves. Then I closed them all up and spread the icing on top of each of the lemon eclairs. The key was to use a knife run under hot water, which made it smooth and shiny.

Then they were ready to eat! I really wanted the lemon flavor to dominate, so I skipped the step of drizzling chocolate on top. Feel free to do that though! Here is the recipe from Mary for your reference. Oh my goodness, these lemon eclairs were absolutely heavenly. All of the lemon flavor kept them from being too cloyingly sweet. This series has really helped me step up my baking game, and I hope it has done the same for you! Enjoy!! xoxo

Lemon Eclairs
Lemon Eclairs
4.58 from 7 votes
Lemon Eclairs
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Lemon Eclairs
Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
1 hr 40 mins
 

These amazing little lemon eclairs are based on the recipe from the even more amazing Mary Berry. This is my final entry in my British Bake off series!

Course: Dessert
Keyword: Eclairs, Lemon Eclairs
Servings: 12 eclairs
Calories: 243 kcal
Author: Jeanie and Lulu's Kitchen
Ingredients
FOR THE CHOUX DOUGH
  • 10 tablespoons water
  • 50 grams butter cubed
  • 65 grams all-purpose flour
  • 2 whole eggs beaten
FOR THE FILLING
  • 300 ml heavy cream
  • 6 tablespoons lemon curd either store bought or see my homemade recipe!
FOR THE ICING
  • 200 grams powdered sugar
  • 1 whole lemon juiced
  • 3 drops yellow food coloring
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 and line two sheet trays with silicone mats to prepare. First, make the choux pastry dough. Combine the water and cubed butter in a sauce pan and heat it over medium low heat on the stove. When it starts to boil, add in the flour and take it off of the heat while you stir it really well. When it becomes a paste, put it back on the heat and keep stirring for another couple of minutes. It will dry out a little more, cook off the flour and naturally become a ball of dough. Let it cool for a few minutes, then whisk in the eggs really well until the dough is smooth and glossy. Sprinkle a little water on the trays to help steam the dough. Transfer the dough into a piping bag with a plain, 1/2 inch opening and pipe out 3 inch eclairs onto the trays, with 6 on each to give them lots of room to expand.
  2. Bake the eclairs for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven heat to 375 and bake them for another 20 minutes. While they bake, make the filling and the icing. For the filling, whip up the heavy cream with an electric hand mixer until it forms a stiff whipped cream. Stir in the lemon curd until it is smooth and set it aside. For the icing, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and stir them together. Add in the food coloring and keep stirring until you have a really stiff icing. Set it aside too. The eclairs should be done by this point. Let them cool enough to handle, then cut them in half lengthwise and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
  3. Now it's time for assembly! Scoop the filling into a piping bag with a plain 1/2 inch opening and pipe a generous amount on each of the bottom halves of the eclairs. Close them with the top halves. Then scoop the icing into a disposable piping bag and snip the tip. Pipe a thick, generous line down the length of each eclair. Run a butter knife under very hot water and use it to evenly and gently spread the icing and make it shine. You make have to run it under the water after each eclair for it to work best. Then they're done! Serve immediately or refrigerate in a sealed container until you are ready to serve.
Nutrition Facts
Lemon Eclairs
Amount Per Serving (1 eclair)
Calories 243 Calories from Fat 149
% Daily Value*
Fat 16.5g25%
Saturated Fat 9.7g61%
Cholesterol 96mg32%
Sodium 46mg2%
Potassium 37mg1%
Carbohydrates 23.8g8%
Fiber 0.3g1%
Sugar 18.7g21%
Protein 2.6g5%
Calcium 20mg2%
Iron 0.4mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Lemon Eclairs
Lemon Eclairs

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14 thoughts on “Lemon Eclairs”

  2. I love the lemon flavor – it sounds so refreshing! I’ve never made eclairs but you might inspire me!

  4. I’m not a huge fan of lemon in baked goods for some reason, but I would love to make some chocolate eclairs one day! This would definitely help!

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4.58 from 7 votes (5 ratings without comment)