Choux pastry Carolines

Preheat oven to 200°C and line a greased baking sheet with parchment paper. Bring the water, sugar, butter and salt to just boiling in a small heavy-based saucepan, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, remove the pan from the heat and add all the flour in one go. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to incorporate the flour and return to a medium heat, continue stirring for one minute until the mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan (this is necessary to cook out the flour).

Allow to cool for three-five minutes before adding the beaten eggs. Using a wooden spoon, beat in a little egg at a time in two or three additions until fully incorporated. Continue beating vigorously for five minutes until the mixture resembles a smooth, shiny paste (the consistency should be thick enough to hold its shape when piped).

Transfer the pastry to a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle and pipe into 7cm lengths. Bake in the preheated hot oven for about 23-25 minutes until puffed up and golden brown (to crispen fully, in the final two minutes, upturn and pierce the base of each with a skewer and return to the oven for two minutes). Cool on a wire rack.

To make the pouring fondant icing, add the glucose to the boiling water in a bain marie (a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water), add fondant icing cubes, stirring until melted (do not allow the mixture to go above 38°C or the icing will turn stringy – if it does, cool again and reheat with a splash of water). Whisk in icing sugar to a thickened pouring consistency, then divide the icing between three small bowls and colour each using the tip of a cocktail stick, dipped in food colouring.

Cut open a side of each Caroline and fill with whipped cream. Use a piping bag (or ziploc bag), pipe a narrow line of icing over the top of each Caroline, and set for a few minutes before serving.

Variation: You can also fill Carolines with pastry cream or Chantilly cream. This recipe can also make larger éclairs by simply baking for 30 minutes and dipping in melted chocolate.