Recipe: Pumpkin Eclairs from Pomme Palais

Want to impress your guests this Thanksgiving? Th e pumpkin eclair from the New York Palace patisserie,Pomme Palais, is not for beginners, but it’ll definitely make your guests reconsider the plain old pie .

Pastry chef David Carmichael is adamant on the use of using fresh pumpkin puree, specifically the variety known as cheese pumpkin (or Cinderella pumpkin), because he considers the flavor and color to be the richest of all the pumpkins.

The other trick: not to overspice the treat, which masks the pumpkin flavor. Stop into Pomme Palais ( 455 Madison Ave.) and try it before you make it. And while you’re there, the bakery is also serving up s nowman cookies, egg nog Napoleans and bourbon pecan pie.

Recipe: Pumpkin Éclair from Pomme Palais

Pate au Choux

500 grams water
460 grams milk
450 grams butter
10 grams salt
10 grams sugar
450 grams pastry flour
15 eggs

Combine water, milk, butter, sugar and salt in a large pot and bring to a full boil. With a wooden spoon, quickly stir in all of the flour and cook on medium heat for five minutes. Transfer mix to standing mixer with paddle attachment. Set to medium speed and add half the eggs. Mix for three minutes, add remainder of the eggs. Using a small round pastry tip and pastry bag, pipe 4-inch tubes of choux onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Bake at 320 degrees for about 30 minutes. Once cool, store in refrigerator until ready to use.​

Pumpkin Pastry Cream

200 g. milk
300 grams cheese pumpkin puree
60 grams sugar
4 egg yolks
1 whole egg
45 grams cornstarch

Combine milk and sugar and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk egg, yolks and cornstarch until smooth. Once milk comes to boil, slowly temper into the egg mixture. Return to the pot, add pumpkin puree, and cook over medium heat until very thick. Remove from pot, cover directly with plastic and let cool in refrigerator.​

Éclair Glaze

300 grams water
600 grams sugar
600 grams glucose
400 grams sweetened condensed milk
40 grams gelatin powder
200 grams water
600 grams white chocolate
0.3 gram orange food coloring
Garnish
100 grams chopped graham crackers
½ cup fresh pomegranate seeds

Combine 200gwater and gelatin powder and let hydrate. Combine the rest of the water, sugar and glucose and heat to 205F. Add sweetened condensed milk then stir in gelatin. Remove from heat and add color and chocolate and combine well with hand blender or a whisk. Let cool to room temperature.

Assembly

Poke three small holes on the underside of the éclair. Transfer pastry cream to a pastry bag with a small round tip and fill each hole to maximum capacity. Return to refrigerator and let rest for one hour. Fifteen minutes prior to glazing, place éclairs in freezer to help in the glazing process. Dip each éclair into glaze holding it from the underside and place onto a parchment lined tray. Finish with graham cracker and pomegranate garnish.