Ca phe sua da is an iced coffee drink in Vietnam made with strong espresso and sweetened condensed milk and it is addictive! In that spirit, here is a French classic with a Vietnamese twist – Vietnamese coffee eclairs. They are almost as addictive as the drink!
The components for these eclairs are:
Pipe the pate a choux into oblong fingers rather than the rounds in the recipe.
Be sure they are well browned and that any cracks that form are also golden before removing them from the oven. Cool them completely before cutting.
Use this classic recipe for pastry cream and flavor with a bit of instant espresso powder or follow the recipe below for an authentic ca phe sua da flavor!
The Recipe
by volume                              by weight
1 can sweetened condensed          400 grams sweetened condensed
milk                                    milk
3/4 cup water                         180 grams water
1/4 teaspoon salt                      1 gram salt
1/4 cup cornstarch                    108 grams cornstarch
3 large eggs                           204 grams eggs
1½ teaspoons instant                 6 grams instant
espresso powder                     espresso powder
2 tablespoons butter                 28 grams butter
Directions
Combine the sweetened condensed milk, water, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Whisk the eggs with the cornstarch until smooth.
Pour one third of the boiling milk into the egg mixture while whisking.
Return everything to the saucepan and return to the heat. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens and then boil and stir for one minute. Remove from the heat and whisk in the espresso powder and the butter.
Place in a bowl, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until completely cold.
If you are going to slice the tops off of the eclair shells like I did, thin this recipe for ganache with a few drops of water just to make it pourable.
If you want to fill the eclairs from the bottom and keep the shells whole, simply dip the tops of the filled eclairs in the unthinned ganache.
Assembly
To make Vietnamese coffee eclairs like the photos, slice the top 1/3 off of each eclair shell. Use a sharp knife to keep the edges as smooth as possible. Lay the tops of the eclairs on a rack with parchment underneath. (I used the baking parchment.) Keep the tops and bottoms in order so the correct top goes back on the correct bottom! Glaze the tops of the eclairs with the thinned ganache being sure to cover the entire surface.
To make an abstract design as in the photos, make a small amount of ganache with white chocolate and use a parchment cone to pipe a free form design while the chocolate glaze is still wet. It is best to have the white chocolate ganache prepared so you can decorate as soon as the eclairs are glazed.
Let the ganache set while filling the bottom of the eclairs.
You can pipe the coffee pastry cream directly into the shells or lighten it with an equal amount of whipped cream like I did. For example, fold one cup of whipped cream into one cup of cold pastry cream. Use an offset spatula to place the tops carefully on the filled eclairs.
Alternatives
Naturally, this recipe can be used to make traditional eclairs. Follow the standard recipe for pastry cream and use that to fill the eclairs.
Use this recipe to make other flavors of eclairs depending on your preferences. Hazelnut, raspberry, and lemon are popular choices. Make these by either folding some of the desired flavor into the pastry cream or placing a small amount of jam or curd in the bottom of the eclair shell before filling with the pastry cream.
