Monday, September 8, 2014

Pumpkin Eclairs


I have finally given in to the realization that Autumn is on the horizon. I live in the Pacific Northwest, so saying goodbye to the perfect summer weather is a bit traumatic. Here we all know that each day we get closer to fall, we are also closer to the rain.

But I know the inevitable is not worth fretting over, so I am embracing fall. And what better way to do it than with a delectable homemade pastry. 

Eclairs always remind me of my paternal grandmother. I was five when she passed away, but I have vivid memories of her baking. To this day, she is the only person who has ever made rutabaga that I really liked.  Her cornbread, banana pudding, and collards are also clear and warm memories for me. And I remember how excited I was to see eclairs arranged on a plate on the counter after church on Sunday. Heaven on earth in her little Memphis house.

These eclairs, though not the traditional kind of my childhood, were an instant hit! We all love pumpkin pie around here, and these taste like a pumpkin pie filled pastry with a delicious, creamy, spiced icing.  Mmm, mmm.

Here's the how-to (recipe follows):

Make a batch of puff pastries.  I used the puffs recipe from Betty Crocker---a tried and true classic. I used my cookie scoop to put dough on the pan, and it made about 24.

While puffs are baking and cooling, make the filling. Mix cream cheese, with pudding mix. Gradually add in pumpkin and spices until well incorporated.

Slice open each puff. Remove any extra dough from the inside so there is a nice hollow place for filling. I only had to remove extra dough from about 1/3 of mine.

Fill each pastry with about 1 tablespoon of pumpkin filling. Close the pastries and refrigerate.

Prepare frosting using cream cheese, butter, vanilla, milk, powdered sugar, and cinnamon. Spread frosting on each eclair, then dust with a sprinkling of ground cloves.


Pumpkin Eclairs
Makes 24

Puff Pastry Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup salted sweet cream butter
1 cup flour
4 eggs

Puff Pastry Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°.  
2. In a 2 quart saucepan, bring water and butter to a boil. Stir in flour vigorously until dough easily forms a large ball. Remove from heat.
3. Add all 4 eggs at once, beating in well until smooth.
4. Drop by round tablespoons (or use medium cookie scoop), onto lined or sprayed cookie sheet.
5. Bake 20 minutes, or until puffed up and lightly browned.

Pumpkin Filling Ingredients:
4 oz cream cheese
1 large box vanilla instant pudding, dry
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Pumpkin Filling Instructions:
1. Beat cream cheese and pudding mix until well incorporated.  
2. Add pumpkin puree 2-3 tablespoons at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Beat in spices.


Spiced Fall Frosting Ingredients:
2 oz cream cheese
4 tablespoons softened salted sweet cream butter
1 tablespoon milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
ground cloves to dust

Spiced Fall Frosting Instructions:
1. In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add milk and continue beating until smooth.
2. Beat in powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. If icing is too thin or thick, add milk by the teaspoon (to thin), or powdered sugar by the tablespoon (to thicken). 


To Assemble Eclairs: 
1. Slice open each pastry. Remove any excess dough to create a hollow in the pastry (this won't be necessary for every pastry). 
2. Fill one (hollow) half of each pastry with about 1 tablespoon of pumpkin filling. Close pastries and refrigerate.
3. Frost with Spiced Fall Frosting. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 





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23 comments:

  1. Oh my geez!! These look awesome!!!
    Hope you link this up to our party!!

    Pinning it!
    Thanks for sharing!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Bobbi--for the pin and the party invite--I linked up. I'm glad you stopped by!

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  2. Oh my gosh these look amazing! Pinning!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Shelley! And much thanks for the pin!

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  3. Yum, I never would of thought to put pumpkin in eclairs. Sounds delicious. Would love it if you would stop by on Thursday evening to Foodie Fridays and share this fabulous recipe. Party starts at 9 pm EST. Hope to see you there!
    Shari
    http://puregracefarms.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Shari! I will plan to join in on Thursday evening. Thank you for the invite!

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  4. I'm so in heaven with all these pumpkin recipes! Love these, thanks for the recipe.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Alexis. Pumpkin may be my favorite part of fall!

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  5. My husband loves eclairs and the pumpkin sounds so yummy! I'd love for you to share this recipe at my Show-Licious party {Saturday mornings at 8:00 am EST}.
    ~ Ashley

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    1. Ashley, Thank you! And thanks for the invite--I just linked up!

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  6. Oh wow, this looks amazing. I am loving all these sweet pumpkin recipes that are appearing, very inventive! This one has to be another on the 'to try' list.

    Thanks for sharing at Marvelous Monday at Smart Party Planning.

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  7. Thanks for linking up to Teach Me Tuesday last week. You are very much appreciated! Hope to see you again this week! http://3glol.net/2014/09/15/teach-tuesday-21/

    Have a great week!!

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  8. These sound yummy. I am a big fan of pumpkin, so they would be perfect for me.

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  9. These sound fantastic! What a great fall treat :D Thanks so much for sharing at the Create & Share Link Party. Hope to see you again tonight (7:00 PM MST)! http://designsbymissmandee.blogspot.com/

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  10. Now this is a new twist on Eclairs, sounds so good. Thanks for sharing this weekend. http://ohmyheartsiegirl.com/weekend-fun-party/karren

    Have a great weekend, Karren

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  11. Oh so yummy! I loved this so much I am featuring it on Merry Monday starting tomorrow. Thanks and pinning to my personal board!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Elizabeth! I will be sure to share links to Merry Monday on all my social media.

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  12. These look divine! I must try them this week. Pinned and shared :) need to keep this recipe close!

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  13. Mom my is a huge fan of eclairs and cream puffs so they always remind me of her. It would be a lot of fun to make up a batch of these for her and see what she things - I think they look fantastic!

    I am co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty link party this month and would love to have you stop by for a visit. The current party is open through tonight and the next one begins Friday at midnight. http://alaynascreations.co/2015/09/18/home-matters-linky-party-55

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  14. Mom my is a huge fan of eclairs and cream puffs so they always remind me of her. It would be a lot of fun to make up a batch of these for her and see what she things - I think they look fantastic!

    I am co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty link party this month and would love to have you stop by for a visit. The current party is open through tonight and the next one begins Friday at midnight. http://alaynascreations.co/2015/09/18/home-matters-linky-party-55

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  15. Those look absolutely amazing!! Thanks so much for sharing this Pumpkin recipe in our Best of the Blogosphere link up! We'd love to see you back tomorrow, with a new post!

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  16. These are so cute! I love pumpkin anything, especially when it's a fun dessert like this.

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