Black Sesame Éclairs
 
I reverse engineered the recipe for Sadaharu Aoki's legendary black sesame éclairs, one of the highest rated pastries in Paris.
Ingredients
For the éclair shells:
  • 75g water
  • 75g milk
  • 75g butter
  • 5g sugar
  • 5g salt
  • 100g bread flour, sifted
  • 150g eggs (about 3), room temperature and lightly beaten
  • Icing sugar, for dusting
For the pastry cream (used up in the following parts):
  • 70g egg yolks (about 4)
  • 15g sugar
  • 25g flour
  • 25g cornstarch
  • 250g milk
  • 250g half and half
  • 1 vanilla bean, scraped
  • 20g butter, cut into cubes
For the toasted sesame seeds (used up in the following parts):
  • 115g black sesame seeds
  • 10g white sesame seeds
For the black sesame seed paste:
  • 80g toasted black sesame seeds
  • 10g oil
  • 15g sugar
For completing the black sesame pastry cream:
  • 500g pastry cream
  • 75g black sesame seed paste
  • 5g toasted black sesame seeds
For the glaze:
  • 30g toasted black sesame seeds
  • 10g toasted white sesame seeds
  • Icing sugar
  • Water
Method
Prepare the choux paste:
  1. Bring the water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt to a strong simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
  2. Remove the pot from the heat and add all the flour at once. Stir vigorously until the flour is completely incorporated.
  3. Return to heat and mix the dough, being careful not to scrape the bottom of the pan as a film may form there while cooking. Cook until the dough reaches 75°C (170°F), about two minutes. You may see a film form at the bottom of the pan.
  4. Transfer the dough to a bowl and, using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix on the lowest speed for about one minute and thirty seconds, such that the dough cools down to 60°C (140°F). You can also do this with a spoon or a hand mixer.
  5. Add half of the eggs and mix, still on the lowest speed if using a stand mixer, until combined.
  6. With the mixer still running, or your hand still stirring, add the rest of the beaten eggs slowly while you continue to mix. Once incorporated, mix for an additional minute until the dough is smooth.
Pipe & bake éclairs:
  1. Prepare a parchment paper lined baking sheet by dabbing a bit of choux between the paper and the pan at each corner to secure the paper to the pan.
  2. Transfer the choux to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, about 1.5cm (1/2 inch) in diameter with as many small teeth as possible (about 16 is good).
  3. Pipe the éclairs in 13cm (5 inch) lengths, and about 2.5cm (1 inch) wide, at about a 45° angle between the bag and the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Space the éclairs about 5cm (2 inches) apart. If needed, mark lines with a pen or pencil on the parchment paper to ensure the éclairs are equal in length.
  4. Dust with icing sugar.
  5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F) for forty minutes, or until slightly darker than golden brown.
  6. Remove from the oven and make a thin slit at the bottom of each éclair while still hot to let the steam escape. Let cool completely before filling and glazing.
Prepare the pastry cream:
  1. Bring the milk, half and half, and the scraped vanilla bean to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat. Turn off the heat, cover, and let infuse for one hour. Then, remove the vanilla bean and bring back to a simmer.
  2. Meanwhile (during the second simmer), whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until combined.
  3. Sift in the flour and cornstarch and whisk until smooth.
  4. Slowly drizzle the warm milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to ensure the eggs do not curdle.
  5. Pour the mixture back into the large pot and, over low heat, cook, whisking often, until well-thickened.
  6. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until incorporated.
  7. Transfer to a container, cover with plastic wrap to prevent a film from forming, and let cool completely in the fridge.
Toast the sesame seeds:
  1. Toast the sesame seeds separately in a large pan over high heat, without oil, for three minutes, constantly mixing. At about the two minute and thirty second mark you should hear popping. Remove from heat and cool completely, also separately.
Prepare the black sesame seed paste:
  1. Grind the toasted black sesame seeds (that are meant for the paste), oil, and sugar in a food processor until smooth.
Complete the black sesame pastry cream:
  1. Whisk together the pastry cream, black sesame paste, and the toasted black sesame seeds until smooth.
Fill the éclairs:
  1. Using a large, round piping tip poke three equally-spaced holes into the bottom of each éclair.
  2. Then, place the piping tip into a pastry bag filled with the black sesame pastry cream. Insert the tip into the holes and press until you feel some resistance, being careful not to add too much cream to burst the éclairs or too little such that they are dry.
Glaze the éclairs:
  1. Combine the toasted sesame seeds in a small bowl.
  2. In a wide, flat bowl combine the icing sugar and water such that you get a thick glaze (much more icing sugar than water); I just played around with the quantities until I got a good thickness.
  3. Sprinkle in some of the sesame seed mixture, as needed (you won't need all of it).
  4. Dip the éclairs in the glaze and wipe away any excess glaze with your fingers. For more details about how to do this (along with how to make the shells), please see my éclair tutorial.
Recipe by IronWhisk at http://www.ironwhisk.com/2014/07/black-sesame-eclairs/