Relámpagos Yucatecos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan
• •Stand mixer with paddle attachment
• •Two heavy baking sheets
• •Parchment paper
• •Large piping bag with 1/2-inch open star tip or plain round tip
• •Small piping bag with round tip for filling
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Kitchen scale

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the crema pastelera

   Pour the two cups of milk into a heavy saucepan. Add the scraped vanilla bean pod and the seeds. Warm over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edge. Pull it off the heat and let it steep for ten minutes. The vanilla from Papantla is the soul of this filling. Veracruz has grown vanilla since before the conquest and the orchid is native to the Totonac coast. Use the real thing if you can find it.

   If you use vanilla extract, add it at the end, off the heat. Heat destroys the volatile compounds that make vanilla taste like vanilla.
2. 2

   Build the custard base

   In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until the mixture turns pale and ribbons off the whisk. Fish the vanilla pod out of the warm milk. Pour the milk into the yolks in a slow stream, whisking constantly. This is tempering. Rush it and you will have scrambled eggs.

3. 3

   Cook the crema pastelera

   Pour the tempered mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking without stopping, until the custard thickens and the first bubble breaks the surface. Keep whisking for one more minute. The cornstarch needs that minute to lose its raw taste. Off the heat, whisk in the cold butter until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a shallow dish. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate until cold, at least one hour. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.

4. 4

   Set up for the choux

   Heat the oven to 400F. Line two heavy baking sheets with parchment. Fit a piping bag with a large open star tip or a 1/2-inch plain round tip. The star tip gives the éclair the ridged surface that helps it rise straight without cracking. The pastry chefs at the old Mérida bakeries piped them this way.

5. 5

   Make the choux paste

   Combine the milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a full boil over medium-high heat. The butter must be completely melted before the liquid boils, so start it warming early. Once it boils, dump in all the flour at once and stir hard with a wooden spoon. Lower the heat. Keep stirring for two minutes. The dough will come together in a ball and a thin film will form on the bottom of the pan. That film is your signal. The starch has cooked and the dough is ready.

   If you cannot see a film on the bottom, the dough is not ready. Keep stirring. Wet choux dough will not rise.
6. 6

   Add the eggs

   Transfer the hot dough to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat on low for two minutes to release steam. Add the beaten eggs in four additions, mixing well between each one. The dough will look broken at first, then come back together. Stop when the dough falls from the paddle in a slow V-shape. You may not need all the egg. Trust the texture, not the measurement. Too much egg and the éclairs will not hold their shape. Así se hace y punto.

7. 7

   Pipe the relámpagos

   Transfer the dough to the prepared piping bag. Pipe straight logs about five inches long and one inch wide onto the parchment, spacing them two inches apart. Twelve total, six per sheet. Smooth any peaks with a finger dipped in water. A peak that survives the oven becomes a burned spike. Brush each one lightly with beaten egg if you want a glossier finish.

8. 8

   Bake without opening the oven

   Bake one sheet at a time on the center rack for 15 minutes at 400F, then lower the heat to 350F without opening the oven and bake for 18 to 22 minutes more. The éclairs are done when they are deeply golden and feel light and hollow when lifted. Do not open the oven in the first 25 minutes. The escaping steam will collapse them. No me vengas con atajos.

   When they come out, pierce each one with a paring knife at one end. This releases the trapped steam and keeps the shells from going soggy as they cool.
9. 9

   Cool the shells completely

   Move the éclairs to a wire rack and let them cool to room temperature. They must be fully cool before you fill them. A warm shell against cold crema turns the inside into a wet mess.

10. 10

    Fill the éclairs

    Whisk the cold crema pastelera until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. Poke three small holes along the bottom of each éclair with the tip of the bag or a chopstick. Pipe the crema into each hole until you feel resistance. The éclair should feel heavy in your hand. A light éclair is a hollow éclair, and a hollow éclair is a disappointment.

11. 11

    Make the chocolate glaze

    Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream, butter, corn syrup, and salt to a gentle simmer. Pour over the chocolate and let it sit for one minute. Whisk from the center outward until smooth and glossy. Let it cool for two or three minutes until it thickens slightly but still flows. Too hot and it runs off. Too cool and it streaks.

12. 12

    Glaze and set

    Holding each éclair by the ends, dip the top into the warm glaze. Lift, let the excess drip off, and run a finger along the edges to clean the line. Place glazed side up on a rack. Let the glaze set at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Eat them the same day. A choux pastry that sits overnight is a different pastry, and not in a good way.

Chef Tips

• •Papantla vanilla is the right vanilla for this pastry. If you cannot find a pod, buy a real extract made from Veracruz beans. Imitation vanilla flavored with vanillin is a compromise that tastes like a candle. La vainilla de Papantla es el sabor.
• •Choux is about exactness, not intuition. Weigh the flour if you can. Measure the eggs by weight, not by count, since egg sizes vary. A scale is the difference between a tall éclair and a flat one.
• •If your kitchen is humid, like it always is in Mérida, the shells can go soft after a few hours. Bake the day you serve. A relámpago that sat overnight is no longer a relámpago.
• •Do not skip the corn syrup in the glaze. It is what gives the chocolate that mirror finish you see in the bakery windows along Paseo de Montejo. A glaze without it dulls in twenty minutes.

Advance Preparation

• •The crema pastelera can be made one day ahead, pressed with plastic on the surface, and refrigerated. Whisk it smooth before piping.
• •The choux shells, unfilled, can be baked a few hours ahead and held at room temperature in a dry place. Crisp them in a 300F oven for three minutes if they soften.
• •Once filled and glazed, eat the same day. Choux pastry does not improve with time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 155g)