This recipe for bacon roll-ups was handed to me by the hostess of a party many years ago. It’s a fairly simple appetizer to make, and it always goes first. These miniature roll-ups require toothpicks to be held closed.
| Prep Time: | 5 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 3 hrs 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 10 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 2 heart-shaped éclairs |
Ingredients
- 1 vanilla bean
- ½ cup white sugar
- 5 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 cups whole milk
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
- ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup fresh raspberries, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon powdered sugar, or to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the pastry cream: Cut vanilla bean in half crosswise, then cut a slit lengthwise down each half. Use the edge of the knife to scrape out all the seeds. Discard the pods or reserve for another use.
- Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg, egg yolks, milk, and vanilla seeds in a saucepan; whisk until well combined.
- Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom surface of the pan, until thick, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and whisk to release some steam. Add butter and keep stirring until melted. Pass through a fine sieve to remove any fibrous bits from the vanilla pod. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 to 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner (such as Silpat®).
- Combine butter, water, and salt for the pate choux in a saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer. Add flour and stir with a wooden spoon until a buttery dough forms. Continue to cook and stir until a starchy film forms on the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and continue stirring for 1 more minute.
- Transfer to a bowl. Add one egg and mix it in with a little dough. Once that’s incorporated, mix it in with the remaining dough. Repeat with the second egg. Continue stirring until you have a very sticky dough. Use a spatula to clean off the whisk if necessary.
- Transfer the dough into a pastry bag and snip off the tip making a ½-inch opening. Pipe two 6-inch heart shapes on the prepared baking sheet. Start by making thin shapes and then pipe extra dough to make them thicker. To fine-tune the hearts, dip your fingers in water and fix any imperfections if desired.
- Bake in the center of the preheated oven until beautifully browned, about 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, leave the pastries in the oven, and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Let sit until crispy and dried out, about 1 hour.
- Use a serrated knife to slice the hearts in half horizontally.
- Remove pastry cream from the refrigerator and transfer to a pastry bag. Generously pipe cream into the bottom half of each heart, then place the top halves on the cream.
- Heat cream in a saucepan until simmering.
- Place chocolate chips in a small bowl and pour hot cream over top. Let sit for 2 to 3 minutes, then whisk until chocolate has melted and ganache is thick and shiny. Let cool for about 5 minutes.
- Spoon ganache on top of each heart. Reserve any remaining ganache for another use. Refrigerate éclairs until the ganache is firm, about 15 minutes.
- Place éclairs on serving plates. Fill the center of each heart with raspberries and sift cocoa powder over top. Sift powdered sugar over just the raspberries and serve. (Each éclair is enough for two people.)
- If you don’t have a pastry bag, you can use a heavy-duty freezer bag and cut off the tip.
- After Step 14, you can keep them refrigerated for several hours before finishing Step 15 and serving.
- Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of ganache. You will not need all of it for these two éclairs, so the actual amount consumed will vary.
Reviews
Awesome recipe. Thanks
I made this recipe exactly as written and they were amazing! The pastry cream was thick coming out of the fridge, but after mixing/squishing it a bit, it came together in the pastry bag and ended up coming out nice and smooth. All around easier than I imagined!
Thank you for this recipe chef!! The only thing I had to do was tweak the custard. I followed the measurements precisely but after chilling for about 4 hours, while delicious, was too thick. I heated up 1/2 cup of heavy cream the next morning, and added a tablespoon at a time and mixed well. After 4 tablespoons it was the perfect consistency.
I was intimidated but persevered! I had a little trouble piping the dough (it sensed my fear!) but wetting my finger and smoothing did the trick! I shut the oven off at 25 minutes but think I should have let it bake for a few more minutes. The pastry cream was a snap to make. I will definitely make these again. Thank you Chef John!! We enjoyed!
I ended up making these twice. They’re very delicious, and my family thinks so too! The first time I made them, I overcooked the choux at 425f for 30 minutes. Wondering what went wrong, I thought it had to do with my oven running too hot and I was correct. The second time I made them, I was able to measure and adjust the temperature with the oven thermometer (NOT the built in one) for 30 minutes and it baked more perfectly.