Light, delicate mini gluten-free vegan eclairs topped with chocolate and filled with creamy vegan custard. Perfect recipe for special occasions. Refined sugar-free.
The following gf flour mix: ¼ cup brown rice flour, ¼ cup tapioca starch, 2 tbsp sweet sticky rice flour {also called glutinous rice flour}, 1 tsp guar gum {or if using a store-bought gf mix use ½ cup Pamela's Artisan Flour Mix + ½ tsp guar gum}
½ tsp gluten-free baking powder
Egg Replacer:
3 tbsp water {warm or room temp}
1½ tbsp tapioca starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp guar gum
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
Custard Filling:
½ cup non-dairy butter, softened {add a dash of salt if your butter is unsalted}
2-3 tbsp non-dairy butter {add a dash of salt if your butter is unsalted}
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 425F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place milk, butter, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and salt in a small sauce pan. Warm on absolute minimum heat just until the butter melts. Stir to help it melt faster. Do not let the mixture boil or heat up too much. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool a few minutes.
{Mix the flour ingredients in a small bowl first if you're making the flour mix from scratch} Add in flour and gluten-free baking powder into the butter mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture is pasty. Set aside.
Place all egg replacer ingredients into a small mixing bowl and whip with a mixer until frothy and thick. Scoop the egg replacer mixture into the choux pastry batter and mix until the two mixtures are incorporated {only takes a few seconds}. Batter should be the consistency of something like a soft frosting at this point.
Transfer batter into a pipping bag fitted with a round tip {or use a sturdy large zip lock bag and snip off one of the corners}. Pipe the mixture onto a the prepared baking sheet, using a circular motion, into 2" round swirls {pipe upwards to give the mound a bit more height}. Space them at least 2-3” apart. {Make sure they are all the same size to avoid the smaller ones from burning!}.
Lightly wet your finger tip with water and smooth out the spiky tip of each eclair {otherwise the tips will burn}. {Try not to wet the eclairs too much though — only use a tiny dab of water to prevent sticking as you’re smoothing them out}.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes {keep an eye out to avoid burning them}. They should be slightly browned at this point. Reduce temperature to 350 and bake a further 5-10 minutes, {keeping a very keen eye to avoid burning them}. {Note: the timing can vary based on the size of your puffs. The smaller they are the faster they will bake}.
When done, they should look lightly brown. Test one of the eclairs by carefully taking it out of the oven and tapping it with your finger — it should sound/feel a little hollow and the shell should be a little hard. If it feels soft, bake a further 5-10 minutes {again keeping a keen eye to avoid burning them}.
When ready, turn off the oven, open the door a bit and allow the eclairs to sit in the oven as it’s cooling for a further 20 minutes. Then remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack.
In the meantime, prepare the custard filling by combining all filling ingredients together in a mixing bowl using a mixer.
Prepare the chocolate sauce by melting chocolate chips {either in microwave or in a double boiler}. Mix in a few tbsp non-dairy butter, and stir until chocolate is smooth and runny.
Cut each eclair in half. If there are any doughy parts in any of them, simply remove them and discard. Spoon filling onto the bottom half of each puff, cover with the other half. Then pour some chocolate mixture on top. Place in the fridge for about 20 minutes for the filling and chocolate to harden a little. And enjoy!
Notes
Recipe for gluten-free vegan cream puffs / profiteroles can be found here.