This past weekend for a family picnic I decided to make something new. So, I decide on two different types of éclairs. First was blueberry and the second was chocolate peanut butter. Today I am sharing the blueberry recipe. Once put on a plate they only lasted minutes. So i filled another, they disappeared. So, I left the last half dozen in the house away from the picnic. Within the half hour, the kids found and devoured them. So this experiment was a success.

This éclair is a choux pastry shell baked and filled with blueberry preserves and topped with a blueberry buttercream made from fresh blueberries. Enjoy!

Choux pastry

See previous post for lemon and raspberry choux pastry:

https://pottsboilingover.com/2017/06/01/the-great-british-baking-show/

Blueberry preserves

• 2 1/4 pounds blueberries
• 3 3/4 cups sugar
• Juice of 1 small lemon

1. Rinse the blueberries in cold water without soaking them.
2. Place blueberries in preserving pan with the sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer.
3. Pour simmering mixture into a ceramic (or glass) bowl. Cover with parchment round and transfer to refrigerator. Refrigerate overnight.
4. The next day, transfer mixture to a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring gently.
5. Continue to cook over high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring and skimming as necessary.
6. Check set (mixture should reach 221 degrees).
7. Let cool and pipe into choux pastry using a pastry tip and bag. (It helps if you make holes into the pastry first.) (Buuuut  because of time restraints I used Smucker’s) 😀

Blueberry buttercream

• 1 cup of butter, softened
• 8 oz of cream cheese, softened
• 1.2 oz (34 grams) freeze dried blueberries, pulverized in a mini food processor
  • (I used a cup and a half of fresh blueberries and blended them and put them through a fine mesh strainer before adding them to the mixer)
• 3-5 cups of confectioners sugar

In a large mixing bowl, mix butter until it is softened and uniform. Add cream cheese and beat together until it is uniform. Add pulverized blueberries. Add 3 cups of sugar to the mixture and mix. Add more sugar if necessary.  Mix again until mixture is creamy and spreadable. Add more sugar if necessary, otherwise prepare to frost choux pastries.