Matcha-Anko Eclair (抹茶と小豆のエクレア, Matcha to Azuki no Ekurea)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Saucepan
• •Wooden spoon or sturdy spatula
• •Piping bag with 1.5cm plain or French star tip
• •Wire rack
• •Fine sieve for matcha and powdered sugar
• •Serrated knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven

   Heat the oven to 220 C, or 425 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment and draw eight 10cm guide lines on the underside if your hand likes a little discipline. Choux needs strong early heat so the shell sets before the steam escapes, which is what gives you height instead of a flat biscuit.

2. 2

   Cook the paste

   Put the water, milk, butter, salt, and sugar in a saucepan and bring them to a full simmer. Add the sifted flour all at once and stir hard with a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains. Keep cooking over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, pressing and turning the dough until it pulls from the pan and leaves a thin film on the bottom.

   This drying step matters. It drives off spare water and strengthens the flour paste, so the eggs can be worked in without making the dough loose.
3. 3

   Work in eggs

   Move the hot dough to a bowl and let it cool for 3 minutes, just until it no longer looks fiercely hot. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing fully before the next goes in. Stop when the dough is glossy and falls from the spoon in a slow V-shaped ribbon. If it tears off in clumps, beat a little extra egg and add it by teaspoons.

   Room-temperature eggs join the paste more evenly. Too little egg gives a heavy shell, too much makes a spreading one, so the ribbon tells you more than the egg count.
4. 4

   Pipe the shells

   Fit a piping bag with a 1.5cm plain or French star tip and pipe eight straight logs, each about 10cm long, leaving space between them. Smooth any peaks with a wet fingertip. A star tip helps the top expand without splitting wildly, but a plain tip works if you pipe steadily.

5. 5

   Bake until dry

   Bake for 12 minutes at 220 C, then lower the oven to 180 C, or 350 F, and bake 18 to 22 minutes more, until the shells are deep golden, light in the hand, and firm at the sides. Do not open the oven early. The pressure inside is still building, and a sudden draft can collapse the soft walls before they set.

6. 6

   Cool the shells

   Pierce each shell near one end with a skewer to let moisture escape, then cool completely on a rack. The shell must be cool before filling. Warm pastry melts cream, softens anko, and turns the clean hollow you made into a damp little apology.

7. 7

   Whip matcha cream

   Sift the matcha with the powdered sugar so no green flecks remain. Whip the cold cream with the matcha sugar and vanilla until it holds soft peaks that bend at the tip. Keep it supple, not stiff. A cream that is beaten hard tastes heavy and pipes with a rough face.

8. 8

   Fill with anko

   Split each cooled shell lengthwise with a serrated knife, leaving a hinge if you like. Spoon or pipe a narrow line of anko along the bottom half, then pipe matcha cream beside or over it. The anko gives sweetness and weight, the matcha cream gives bitterness and lift, and the shell keeps them from becoming one soft blur.

9. 9

   Glaze with matcha

   Stir the sifted powdered sugar, sifted matcha, pinch of salt, mizuame if using, and 2 tablespoons hot water into a smooth glaze. Add more hot water a few drops at a time until it settles slowly from the spoon. Dip or spoon the glaze over the top of each eclair, then let it set for 10 minutes before serving.

Chef Tips

• •Use matcha with a clean green color and a fresh grassy smell. If it smells stale or looks gray, cream will not rescue it. There is nothing hidden in this filling.
• •Tsubuan, the coarse azuki paste, gives small beans under the cream and feels very Japanese in the mouth. Koshian, the smooth paste, is neater for piping. Choose the texture you want and call it plainly.
• •Fill these close to serving. Choux is happiest when crisp at the edge and soft only where the cream touches it, which is a narrow window and not a moral failing.

Advance Preparation

• •The choux shells can be baked 1 day ahead. Cool them fully, store uncovered for the first hour, then keep loosely covered at room temperature and refresh for 5 minutes in a 160 C oven before filling.
• •The anko can be made or bought several days ahead and kept refrigerated. Bring it to cool room temperature before piping so it spreads without tearing the shell.
• •The matcha cream is best whipped the day you serve. Filled eclairs keep for about 4 hours refrigerated, but the shell softens as it waits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 125g)