Eclairs

While we are staying home and have the time to bake more, why not give these eclairs a try? The recipe I’m about to share is for the perfect eclairs!

If you have ever eaten an eclair, you’ll know that you have a light and airy Choux pastry case, which is filled with a lightly sweetened cream and topped with a dark chocolate coating.

This homemade version is far better than the mass produced commercial version you can buy from most supermarkets, as you know exactly what’s going into it and get to be hands on and actually make them. This way you can insure that the eclairs are generously filled and properly topped with the chocolate coating.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t enjoy making Choux pastry the first few times I did, as I had the idea it was a hard to make and difficult to achieve a good end result but my confectionary lecturer gave me some confidence and a recipe (which I’ve adapted slightly) to make choux pastry effortlessly and pretty much foolproof!

If this recipe sounds like something you’d like to make, why not give it a try? I promise, it’s worth the time and effort. If you want to ge a head and make the choux ahead of time, you can! The baked pastry can be frozen and defrosted without too much of a noticeable different, which is ideal and perfect for a last minute dessert or treat.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

Choux pastry:

300ml water.

125g butter.

150g plain flour.

4 eggs.

Pinch of salt

 

Filling:

300ml double cream.

50g icing sugar.

1/2 – 1 tsp vanilla extract.

 

Chocolate topping:

30g butter.

15g granulated sugar.

30g golden syrup

65g dark chocolate.

 

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, preheat your oven to 200˚c/390˚f and lining your trays with parchment paper.

To make the pastry, you’ll want to start by placing the water, salt and butter into a pan, then transfer over to the hob, which is on a medium heat and allow to melt. Once the butter starts to melt, continuously stir/whisk until everything is melted fully.

You can then take it off the heat and add in the flour, whisk/sir until its combined then return it to the heat, constantly stirring until the bottom of your saucepan has a coating of flour – this is showing that the flour is now cooked off in the pastry.

Now transfer the pastry to a stand mixer or mixing bowl of choice and mix until it’s cool enough for you to touch the bottom of the bowl. Then go ahead and add your eggs, roughly one at a time, beating well in between each addition. You’re looking for ‘dropping’ consistency, this is where it takes 3-5 seconds to fall from the beater – this why you should check the pastry after each egg has been added, as sometime you may need more or less egg, it really varies.

Place the choux pastry into a piping bag with a plain piping tip which is about 1cm in diameter, then start piping out the oblong shape which eclairs normally are – for me this meant each eclair was around 5 inches in length. Remember that they do get bigger while in tea oven and will need space, otherwise they may batch together and ruin the entire batch.

Once you’ve got them piped onto your lined trays, don’t forget to get rid of any peaks on the ends of them by dabbing them down with a damp finger, then you can give them the egg wash which will help them colour.

Bake them off in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, before you open the door and release any steam that was built up in the oven. Close the door and bake for a further 10 minutes, this will ensure that they are hollow inside and well coloured and crisp on the outside. They should become a perfect golden brown colour, too pale and they’ll be soggy and too dark and they’ll be crunchy and have a nasty taste.

Now they have been removed from the oven, allow to cool briefly on the baking tray before transferring them to a cool rack to cool completely.

To make the cream filling, place the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla into a mixing bowl and whisk together until it starts to thicken. Once it does, ensure you keep your eye on it – otherwise the cream may become over whisked and have an unpleasant granular mouth feel. You’re looking for the stage between soft and stiff peaks, ideally.

Transfer the whipped cream into a piping bag with a small star piping nozzle and place in the fridge if you don’t intend on using it straight away.

When you’re ready, you can fill them. Don’t be tight with the filling, make sure the eclair is generously filled and not mostly empty. That’s why I use a small star tip, so I can cut into the pastry and fill without making a mess.

Then make the chocolate topping, which is really easy. Simply place all of the ingredients into a small saucepan over a medium heat and allow them to melt, keep stirring them together until it becomes smooth and glossy – set aside and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

Dip each of the tops of the eclairs into the chocolate glaze and place back onto a cooling rack. I like to place mine in to the fridge, it allows the pastry, filling and topping to cool, which is the east way to enjoy them

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.