Learn How To Prepare These Delicious Eclairs Filled With Cream

Canutillos, also called fried canes, are the traditional Spanish sweets that have managed to spread to other parts of the world. In fact, its long journey explains why the recipe can be found in multiple versions.

According to information from Wikipedia , they have also been called “skillet fruits”, especially when prepared with a base of flour dough and olive oil. However, the traditional recipe is made with lard. In any case, they can be prepared with different fillings. Do you want to try them? Discover a version filled with cream.

How to prepare the cream eclairs

The eclairs filled with cream are one of those desserts that you can occasionally enjoy in your snacks or after a special meal. However, it is important that you consume them in moderation, since they contain fats and sugars that add more calories in the diet.

Do you dare to try them? Although it has always been sold that desserts are difficult because the measurements of the food are millimeter, this is not the case. Do not worry if you spend a few grams on one or another ingredient, since this recipe admits weights to the taste of the cook or consumer.

Ingredients (for 30 eclairs)

For the mass:

• 1 glass of milk (200 ml)
• 1 cup of lard (200 g)
• 2 ½ cups of all-purpose wheat flour (300 g) (the one that admits, this amount is indicative)

For the pastry cream:

• 2 cups of milk (500ml)
• 4 egg yolks
• ¾ cup of sugar (125 g)
• 3 tablespoons of cornstarch (45 g)
• 1 cinnamon stick

Recipe preparation

We will start with the pastry cream:

• To start, reserve a glass and heat the rest of the milk along with the cinnamon stick.
• Next, let it boil for 2 or 3 minutes, remove the cinnamon and lower the heat.
• On the other hand, mix the rest of the milk with the cornstarch and stir until it dissolves completely.
• Add the egg yolks and sugar to the milk and cornstarch. Mix these ingredients well with the help of a few rods in a bowl.
• Next, pour this mixture into the hot milk and continue stirring with the rods while the entire mixture heats up. Remember that the fire cannot be high, since this dough has a great facility to stick to the bottom.
• Finally, once the dough is thick, remove the saucepan  from the heat so it does not burn.
• Now, put this dough in a bowl covered with a plastic wrap. It is advisable that said film touches the dough to prevent it from forming a crust on the surface when cooling. Reserve the bowl in the refrigerator.

For the eclairs:

• Mix the lard at room temperature with the milk in a bowl.

• Meanwhile, pour the flour through a strainer so that there are no lumps. At the same time, try to stir the mixture with a wooden spoon.
• When the dough stops sticking to the walls of the bowl, begin to knead with your hands until it is a homogeneous mixture. To give you an idea, it has to result in a soft dough that does not stick to your hands.
• Now, form balls of dough of about 15 grams (less than what fits in a hand or the size of a walnut) and leave them on a table or plate dusted with flour.
• Once these balls have been placed in the flour, use the iron mold for the canutillos (the typical rolling pin is also valid, although it cannot be made of wood ) to knead the dough (worth the redundancy) and give it the shape of the canutillo. Depending on the number of molds you have, you can make more or less at one time.

Final steps:

• Heat plenty of olive oil in a pan. The oil must be enough so that the comb is completely covered so that it is done at the same time on all sides.

• When the oil is already hot, put the eclairs in the pan and fry them. Try not to be too close to the mold so that they are easy to handle when they are hard.
• Finally, remove these eclairs from the pan and put them on absorbent kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.
• To remove the canutillo from the mold, help yourself with kitchen paper as well and wait until they are a little cold for it. As a tip, twist while removing the earrings to make it easier to remove.

Assembling the sleeves

• Place the cream in a pastry bag and fill the eclairs. Remember that both products must be cold so that they do not fall apart in the heat.

• The idea is to fill in the cream little by little so that the comb does not come apart. Also, try to add less cream in the middle and more on the edges, since the rib can break. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can do this with a spoon or teaspoon, although it will be much more difficult.
• To finish, sprinkle the eclairs with icing sugar. As always, sprinkle with a colander so there are no globs.

Do you dare to prepare them at home? Follow these instructions and enjoy a perfect dessert for the whole family. Also, if you want, change the flavor by trying other types of fillings.