These Halloween themed Mummy Eclairs and Chocolate Choux Bats are great fun to serve your children at this time of year. Easy to make and your kids could even help decorate them!
It is semi finals week on the Great British Bake Off and with that brings patisserie week. Do you have your favourite to win the series yet? Having read up on tonights show, I decided to have a go at making some Choux Buns which is the signature round this week. Rather than make 24 identical choux buns, I thought I would make some Halloween inspired buns instead: Halloween Mummy Eclairs and Chocolate Choux Bats. Therefore, I opted to make 10 Mummy Eclairs and 10 Choux Bats (for some reason my recipe made 20 choux buns instead of 24!).
Now my family are a fussy bunch: none of them like fresh cream, which is what I love inside eclairs or profiteroles and there would not like creme patisserie either. Therefore, I filled my buns with vanilla ice cream instead which tasted nice but obviously means that you cannot fill each bun until you are ready to serve them.
The Mummy Eclairs are simply covered with drizzled white chocolate, and then you add some edible eyes. Now the funny thing is , that a few weeks ago I saw edible googly eyes in the local supermarkets here. However, I did not buy them then, as I thought I would wait until I needed them. Of course, yesterday when I went shopping for some, there were none left! I totally blame Pinterest and social media for this!!! LOL!
Therefore, I made some out of mini white marshmallows and chocolate balls/melted chocolate, which are ok but actual googly eyes would have looked better.
For the choux bats, I covered with top and bottom of the bun with melted milk chocolate and made wings and ears out of chocolate orange segments.
Making the choux pastry was actually a lot easier than I recall. I think it helped having a great non stick pan in which to make the pastry.
The boys thought these were a fun dessert and while they could have been a little neater, I think Paul and Prue might have smiled at these should they have been presented to them inside the bake off tent.
Here is how to make these Halloween Mummy Eclairs and Chocolate Choux Bats
- *for the choux pastry*
- 75g butter, diced
- 110ml water
- 100g plain flour
- 3 eggs
- *decorations*
- 200g white chocolate , melted
- 150g milk chocolate , melted
- mini white marshmallows
- edible chocolate sprinkle balls
- chocolate orange segments (from the grab bag, not the actual orange in a box!)
- *filling*
- ice cream
- Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan
- *making the choux pastry*
- Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment.
- In a non stick saucepan, place the water and butter and bring it to the boil, stirring often
- Quickly add all of the flour and, using a wooden spoon, beat it into the water until smooth.
- Remove the pan from the heat and continue to beat the mixture until it has slightly cooled
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating each one into the mixture, until the eggs are fully incorporated and the mixture is glossy. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Spoon the choux pastry batter into a piping bag.
- Pipe balls and short lines onto the prepared baking trays, leaving a generous gap between each one.
- Place the choux buns in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until risen.
- Then reduce the oven temperature to 180C/160C Fan and bake for a further 25-30 minutes, or until golden-brown (keep checking towards the end of the cooking time, because you don't want them too crispy!)
- Once cooked, switch off the oven but leave the choux buns inside to dry out with the oven door left ajar.
- *decorating*
- For the *Mummy Eclairs* :
- Slice each one in half across the middle
- Pour the melted white chocolate into a piping bag and drizzle it over the top half of each eclair to make the mummy white stripes
- Now stick 2 mini white mallows onto the top of each eclair to make a face , and then stick a chocolate edible sprinkle ball on top of each marshmallow
- leave to set
- *For the Chocolate Choux Bats*:
- Cut each bun in half across the middle to make two pieces
- Cover each bun half with the melted milk chocolate - just the top and bottom outside parts not the inside bun parts
- As with the Mummy Eclairs - stick 2 mini marshmallows on to the top of the smaller bun half to make bats eyes , and add the chocolate ball pupils was before too
- Take 2 or 3 orange segments and using a sharp knife , cut each one into thin lengths. These will be the ears - and therefore, stick 2 into the top of the head
- Taking 2 chocolate orange segments, stick one on each side of the bottom of the bat
- Leave to set
- *an hour later*
- To serve , fill each Mummy or Bat with ice cream and place the top part on and enjoy
- If you are not easy to serve, keep the mummies and bats in a tin to keep the choux pastry crips and not soggy.
Pin for later X
I made my choux pastry inside a fantastic non stick Prestige Pan , which made making the pastry so easy because the mixture did not stick to the pan at all.
By the way, Prestige are hosting a brilliant competition at the moment which ends on the 27th October. This Autumn competition runs from the 9th to the 27th October 2017, and Prestige are asking people to send in their crafty creations with their kids for the chance to win a family pass for the National Trust and a 3- piece Dura Forge Pan set.
The #GBBOBloggers2017 Linky
Of course you are welcome to bake along with me and some other long standing GBBOBloggers, the more the merrier in fact. You can read the rules here which are not strict really, but they just explains my twitter accounts and all that jazz! All I ask is that you please add my badge, a link to my blog and share the GBBO love by sharing or commenting on some of the bakes that link up.
The linky will open every Tuesday after the new episode has aired on TV.
Thank you to everyone who linked up their Forgotten Bakes last week – Angela, Andrea, Helen and Jacqueline all made some delicious pastry themed pies.
In the end I am going to award ………… Helen as my Star Baker with her Vegetarian Sweet and Savoury Mince Clangers
I am looking forward to seeing everyones patisserie inspired bakes this week. So on your marks…..get set annnnnnd baaaake!!!! xx
I was sent a set of Prestige Pans for the purpose of a review.
hosted by Recipes Made Easy
Hosted by Tin and Thyme
Ooh thanks Jenny! Star baker again. Yay!
I haven’t watched last night’s show yet so I need to do some catching up.
Your bats & mummies are really cute, and I especially love the bats!
I think Helen deserved star baker for making the clangers. I cant believe that Bake Off is almost over. Its gone so quickly and I really have enjoyed participating . So sorry these bakes were too late for my halloween round up I think they are fabulous. Thank you for linking to #CookBlogShare
You are such a creative lady Jenny 🙂 These look really cute and fun for kids to decorate. Are there really edible googly eyes??? I’m going to have to try and find them as kids would absolutely love them! x
These look so cute and lots of fun! I’m hoping to have a go a Choux Buns this weekend – I’ve been tempted as I do love a choux bun! Fingers crossed I will get the done to link up in time x
Oh I love these Jennie – esp the Mummies. I have gone with a very simple meringue one just so I could join in. Where has this series gone? Can’t believe it is the finals next week x
Thank you 🙂 and I adore your spooky meringue ghosts x
I think these are the first Halloween Choux recipes I have seen. Love them!! x
Thank you 🙂 x
These are absolutely fab Jenny! I’m more than sure Paul & prue would have smiled if you’d have presented them to them in the tent. And yes, I completely that boggle eyes are everywhere on Pinterest & IG this yr! Bet the manufacturers are lovin that 😉
Angela x
Oh well done. I bet the boys were impressed. I certainly am. I don’t think I’ve attempted choux since I was at school. So sad GBBO has finished – it seems to go so fast. Thanks for sharing with #WeShouldCocoa.