Senior patissier Xavier Millet with his chocolate eclairs

AS I start to chomp my second éclair of the afternoon, I make a promise to hit the gym a little harder this evening. I could have saved myself 15 minutes on the treadmill, but the trouble is, they're quite moreish.

And so they should be because they've been made by Xavier - a pastry chef with 12 years' experience rustling up these kind of delights.

Originally from Spain, Xavier came to Britain to learn English, but as well as the language he found himself learning how to be a chef - a journey that brought him to the Print Room last August.

He is responsible for cooking the sweet treats that Print Room customers enjoy with afternoon tea. And, kindly, he has given Taste the recipes for three of them. "These are simple recipes, even for people who don't know much about cooking," he says.

Eclairs

250 ml water

250 ml milk

200g butter

300g flour

8 eggs

2 pinches of sugar

1 pinch of salt

1 pint of milk

Filling:

5 eggs

75g sugar

80g flour

1 drop vanilla essence

Boil milk and water with the butter, sugar and salt. Once boiling add all the flour and mix till it becomes a thick paste. Work it for 5 minutes on low heat.

Off the heat mix in the eggs one by one.

Fill up a piping bag with the mix and pipe on to a tray, snakes about 3 inches long.

Bake at 200C for about 15 mins till golden brown and crispy.

For the filling mix the eggs with the sugar and the flour and form a paste. Boil the milk with the essence and pour over the paste. Combine it and bring back to the heat, work it for a couple of minutes and chill.

Fill a piping bag to fill the eclairs.

Scones

600g sieved flour

100g sugar

30g baking powder

175g butter

Pinch of salt

350 ml milk

2 eggs

Crumble the flour and butter with the sugar, baking powder and salt. Then add the milk and eggs to form the dough. Add some raisins if you wish to make the scones fruity.

Roll the dough about 1 inch thick and cut scones out with a pastry cutter.

Place on a baking tray, leave them to prove and glaze on top with a bit of eggwash. Bake in a very hot oven 180C-200C for about 10-12 minutes. Cut open and fill with clotted cream and jam.

Flapjacks

400g oats

100g golden syrup

40g honey

175g demerara sugar

250g melted butter

100g dried fruit

Mix all the ingredients except butter in a large bowl, then pour over the melted butter, spread on a baking tray and cook at 170C for about 30 minutes. Leave to cool down and cut into fingers.

4:13pm Monday 30th June 2008

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