I love making this Classic Eclair Recipe when I want to please a crowd. North, south, east and west of France, you will find these oblong pastries made with a light choux dough filled with pastry cream and topped with chocolate icing in any cake shop you visit. The French love them and you’ll soon see why.
I start by making choux pastry from water, milk, butter, sugar and salt and flour which I pipe onto a baking sheet. Then I make a custard pastry cream from milk, vanilla bean sugar, corn starch, salt, egg yolks and butter. Once the eclair pastry shells are cooked and cooled, pipe the pastry cream inside and decorate with a chocolate glaze.
To make this Classic Eclair Recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
Preheat oven to 425 °F.
Combine the water, milk, butter, sugar and salt in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon.
Return the saucepan to medium heat and cook for 1 ½ to 2 minutes more, stirring constantly until dough comes together into a smooth ball.
Transfer the choux to a large mixing bowl. To cool the mixture down slightly, beat with an electric mixer on medium for about 1 minute. Gradually, add 4 eggs one at a time, and beat well to incorporate each egg fully between additions. Beat until you have a smooth dough which forms a thick ribbon when you pull it up out of the bowl.
Using a piping bag with a ½ inch round tip, pipe 18-20 4 inch long and ¾ inch wide eclairs onto a baking sheet lined with silicone or parchment paper.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 325°F and continue to bake for 30 more minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Transfer to wire rack and leave to cool.
While the eclairs are cooling, bring the milk and vanilla just to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent a film from forming.
Mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a large bowl. Add the egg yolks and whisk until the mixture is smooth, creamy and lightened in color. This step will take a few minutes to reach the correct color and consistency.
While whisking constantly, add hot milk to the sugar and egg mixture gradually (so the eggs don't curdle). Pour the mixture back into saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Whisk for another 30 seconds until the mixture is thick with a pudding-like consistency.
Transfer the pastry cream to a separate bowl and add butter cubes. Quickly whisk the butter into the custard until it is fully incorporated Cover with plastic placed directly onto the surface of the cream. Allow to cool slightly, then place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until cool.
Pipe pastry cream into each eclair. Scrape off any excess cream and place the eclairs in the refrigerator to chill.
Place the chocolate chips into a small heat-safe bowl. Heat heavy whipping cream in a saucepan or microwave until it is just at a simmer. Remove from the heat and pour the cream over the chocolate chips. Allow to rest for 2 minutes then whisk from the center outwards until you have smooth glossy sauce.
Dunk the top half of the filled eclairs into the chocolate sauce. Place on a wire rack to allow the excess sauce to drip off. Serve with coffee.
This Classic Eclair Recipe is a real crowd pleaser! Make these oblong cream-filled pastries topped with chocolate ganache soon and don’t forget to tag #cookmerecipes in your pretty baking photos!
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