I finally figured out how to make eclairs without any cracks! They are crispy on the outside and filled with delicious vanilla pastry cream!To make it even better, you dip each eclair in chocolate ganache. You can stop there, or go ahead and decorate the tops with nuts and fruits. I used pomegranate seeds and a sprinkle of ground pistachio.
Chocolate Eclair Recipe
Yields: about 12 eclairs
Ingredients:
For the Pastry Cream Filling:
2cups milk (whole or 2 percent)
1⁄2 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
For the Pastry (Choux pastry, or pâte à choux)
If you have a kitchen scale, scale all the ingredients rather than using cups because it’s more accurate.
1⁄2 cup (100 gr) water
1⁄4 cup (56 gr) unsalted butter
1⁄2 cup (spoon to the cup and level) plus 1⁄2 tablespoon (75 gr) Flour , sifted
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 tbsp Sugar
2 eggs (100 gr) at room temperature, lightly beaten
powdered sugar for dusting
For the Chocolate Ganache:
(170 gr or 6 oz) dark or semi-sweet chocolate (you can use chocolate chips or chopped chocolate)
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp butter at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Instructions:
First make the Pastry Cream:
1. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and salt until it’s light in color, about 2 minutes. Then add the cornstarch and whisk until combined.
2. Heat the milk on medium heat until it starts to simmer, do not let it boil.
3. Gradually add half of the warm milk, to the egg yolk mixture, while whisking. Add a little at a time and whisk thoroughly before adding more.
4. Now whisk the mixture back into the saucepan. Place it on medium heat and keep whisking.
5. After about 2 minutes, the mixture starts to thicken, keep whisking until it’s almost starting to boil, about 2-5 more minutes. At this stage, you will see large bubbles forming on top and you should take it off the heat. Keep in mind that if you let it cook for a long time, it will become very hard after cooling down.
6. Add the butter and vanilla extract and whisk until the butter is melted and incorporated.
7. Strain the mixture into a bowl to get rid of any cooked pieces of egg yolk.
8. Cover the top with plastic wrap (the plastic should be directly on top of the mixture to prevent forming a skin)
9. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. You can make the pastry cream up to 3 days ahead, just keep it in an airtight container in the fridge.
Making the Pastry:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Sift the flour in a bowl and have it ready to use.
3. In a medium saucepan, add water, butter, salt and sugar. Place it on medium heat and wait for it to come to a boil. Stir it to make sure all the sugar and salt are dissolved and butter is melted. The moment you see the bubbles and it comes to a boil, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the flour all at once. Stir vigorously (off the heat) with a wooden spoon for a minute, until all the flour is incorporated.
4. Return the saucepan to medium heat and continue cooking and stirring the dough for 2-3 more minutes or until it reaches 170 F. If you are using a stainless steel pan, you will see a film of dough forming on the bottom of the pan.
5. Transfer the dough to a large bowl, with a spoon press the dough to the sides of the bowl so that it cools down faster. You can also use a mixer on low to release some of the heat.
6. After about 5 minutes, or until the dough temperature is about 140 F, we are ready to add the eggs.
Turn on the mixer on low, (you can also use a wooden spoon to mix in the eggs, but it will take some elbow grease!) add half the eggs, and mix until it’s fully incorporated. At first it will look like it will never be smooth and mixed in but don’t worry it will.
Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the rest of the eggs little by little (with the mixer running) until the dough looks smooth and shiny. (If you weighed the eggs, you will most likely end up using all of it, but if you didn’t, depending on the egg size, you may not need to use all of it.)
How to tell when dough is ready:
– You’ll see a subtle shine in the dough.
– When you lift some of the dough with a spatula, it should fall very slowly.
– When you drag your finger through the dough, it’ll create a trough that doesn’t collapse.
7. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with a diameter of around 1 cm half an inch. I used wilton 4B tip.
8. Pipe 3-4 inch long eclairs on the parchment paper. Dust with powdered sugar.
9. Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes until golden brown.
10. After you take the eclairs out of the oven, use a toothpick and poke them on the sides to release the steam. Let them cool down.
Making the Ganache: 1. Heat the heavy cream on medium heat until it start to bubble around the edges. 2. Pour it over the chocolate chips. Let sit for a minute. Add butter, vanilla and salt and whisk everything together until smooth. 3. If it cooled down before mixing completely, whisk it over boiling water so that all the chocolate pieces melt. Assembly: 1. Take the pastry cream out of the fridge, whisk until it’s smooth and without lumps. Transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a narrow tip. 2. Using a knife, poke 2-3 holes on the bottom of cooled eclair, be careful not to break them. 3. Pipe the pastry cream into the shells. 4. Dip each eclair into the warm chocolate ganache. 5. Decorate with ground pistachio and pomegranate seeds and set aside to set the ganache.
It’s better to assemble the eclair on the day you want to serve them but even if you don’t they are still delicious!
