STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM ECLAIRS

Steps:

• Place butter, water, salt and sugar in a pan on low heat.
• Keep stirring till the butter melts. Once the butter melts, increase the temperature and bring it all to a boil.
• As soon as the mixture starts simmering, remove pan from heat and all the flour at once.
• Beat constantly and vigorously till the dough comes together.
• Now put the pan back on the gas stove. Continue to cook the dough by beating it constantly. You want to cook till the dough dries out, it will take 2 minutes or so. You will know it's done when you see a thin film of dough on the bottom of the pan.
• Now immediately transfer the dough into the steel bowl of you stand mixer. Beat for a minute or so on medium speed so that the dough cools down a bit. Beating also helps in developing the gluten.
• With the mixture running on medium speed, start adding the eggs one at a time. Add the next egg only after the first one has been well incorporated.
• Once all eggs are incorporated, the dough will be elastic and shiny. It should also pass the "string test" - if you place a little dough in between your thumb and forefinger and then pull them apart, the dough should form a string. If the dough hasn't reached this stage, you may need to add 1 more egg.
• Transfer dough into a pastry bag fitted with ½ inch round tip or a french tip. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and pre-heat oven to 425 F degrees.
• Pipe tubes 4 x 1 inches or 5 inches for bigger eclairs. Remember to leaves at least 2 inches of space between each eclair as they puff up during baking.
• Most likely your eclairs will have pointy ends/tails, to correct this, dip your finger into water and gently tap the dough to fix it.
• Bake the eclairs at 425 F degrees for around 12 minutes or till the eclairs start showing little color. Then reduce the temperature to 375 F degrees and baked for additional 12-15 minutes or till evenly brown. Take out of the oven and allow the eclairs to cool down.
• Place the steel bowl and whisk attachment in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
• Start beating the cream at medium speed. Add in sugar, vanilla extract and increase the mixer speed to medium-high.
• Continue to beat till the cream develops stiff peaks. Be careful not to over-beat.
• Cut each eclair shell into half. Fill the bottom half with whipped cream and strawberries. Place the upper half on top. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately!