Flour and Stone’s salted caramel chocolate éclairs

1.Preheat oven to 200C. Bring milk, butter, sugar, 180ml water and a pinch of salt to the boil in a saucepan over high heat, reduce heat to low, add flour and stir continuously until dough comes away from sides of pan (2-3 minutes). Transfer to an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until room temperature (10-12 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm nozzle and pipe 15cm cylinders onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, leaving 5cm-6cm of space in between. Bake until golden and crisp, turning tray once (25-30 minutes). Remove from oven and cool.

2.For ganache, bring cream just to the boil in a saucepan over high heat. Place chocolate in a bowl, pour cream in and stir until chocolate melts (3-5 minutes), then cool completely.

3.For hazelnut praline, stir sugar, glucose and 100ml water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat to dissolve sugar, bring to the boil and cook without stirring until dark caramel, brushing sides of pan with a wet pastry brush if sugar crystals form (10-12 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in hazelnuts, spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper and stand until set (15 minutes). Break into small pieces and set aside.

4.For salted caramel pastry cream, stir 210gm sugar and 60ml water in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and cook without stirring until caramel (4-5 minutes). Add milk, 125ml cream and 1 tsp sea salt, and whisk to combine (1-2 minutes; be careful, mixture will foam up). Increase heat and bring caramel to the boil. Whisk yolks and remaining sugar in a bowl to combine, then whisk in flour. Stir in a ladleful of caramel mixture, then transfer yolk mixture to pan of hot caramel. Cook for 1 minute, whisking continuously, then remove from heat, pour into a heatproof dish, cover closely with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming and cool to room temperature (25-30 minutes). Whisk mascarpone with remaining cream until firm and gently fold into salted caramel pastry cream. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle and refrigerate until needed.

5.Halve pastries lengthways with a serrated knife, pipe filling onto bases and sandwich with the tops. Spoon ganache over the top, sprinkle with pieces of hazelnut praline and serve immediately.