chocolate eclairs

Recipe video above. While éclairs in the wonderful world of French pastries are made with custard hidden inside, éclairs as we know them here in Australia are split and generously filled with whipped cream. A neat trick for a great éclair cream filling is adding mascarpone. It adds structure so the cream doesn’t completely squirt out when you take a bite (because don’t you just hate that!?), as well as improving storage quality.And as for the choux pastry? It’s light-as-air and beautifully crisp, something you rarely see with store bought eclairs!

Eclairs

/ 7 tbsp unsalted butter

water

plain/all-purpose flour

salt

eggs

grams/ 3.5 oz 70% cocoa dark chocolate block (, finely chopped (Note 2))

thickened/heavy cream ((Note 3))

corn syrup

thickened/heavy cream

mascarpone ((40%+ fat, Note 6))

icing sugar/powdered sugar (, sifted)

vanilla bean paste

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Position one shelf in the top third of the oven and another in the lower third. Lightly spray 3 trays with canola oil and line with baking/parchment paper.

Simmer liquid - Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is almost melted, add water.

Flour - Once the liquid starts simmering, add flour and salt, and vigorously stir with a wooden spoon (while still on the stove). The mixture will turn pasty then in about 10 seconds it will transform into a sticky ball of dough that comes away from the walls of the saucepan. Once this happens, remove from the stove and leave to cool for 10 minutes (no longer).

Eggs - Add eggs one at a time, mixing vigorously with a wooden spoon after each addition, making sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next. At first, the mixture will look separated but when you keep stirring, it comes together. When finished the mixture should be a sticky, thick paste that holds its shape, not sloppy and loose (see video or photos).

Pipe – Transfer mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 15 mm star tip (Note 8). Pipe logs 12-14 cm long, 2.5 cm wide, 1.5 cm tall, 5 cm apart from each other. (5&quot; long, 1&quot; wide, 0.6&quot; tall, 2&quot; apart) Do not crowd the tray else they won’t go crispy. You should get around 20.

Choux pastry:

Bake 2 trays on the shelves for 45 minutes. At the 30 minute mark, open the oven door for 2 seconds to release steam (makes them crispier), then again at 35 minutes and 40 minutes. Remove the tray at 45 minutes.

Cool - Remove choux buns from the oven and allow to fully cool on the trays. If you used 3 trays, bake the 3rd tray of choux pastry per above directions.

Split - Slice choux buns in half horizontally.

Bake:

Place chocolate in a bowl.

Pour over hot cream - Heat cream and glucose in a small saucepan over medium heat until just below boiling. Pour mixture over chocolate, shake so the chocolate is submerged. Let stand for 1 minute.

Mix with a rubber spatula until smooth (do not use a whisk, it creates bubbles). Transfer into a wide, shallow bowl large enough to dip the eclairs.

Shiny chocolate glaze:

Coat eclairs – Dip the lid of each éclair into the chocolate. Place on a tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes until the chocolate is firm to the touch.

Whip cream – Place all the Chantilly Cream ingredients in a bowl. Whip using an electric beater on medium high for 3 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Transfer into piping bag fitted with a star tip.

Fill eclairs –  Pipe in cream using whatever pattern takes your fancy, generously thick. Place the lid on then serve!

ASSEMBLE:

Let&#039;s make bakery-style eclairs at home! I promise, it&#039;s really easy to make with very basic ingredients. Plus, 8 tips to perfect eclair shells every time!

Chocolate Eclair Recipe

unsalted butter

sugar

¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt

all-purpose flour

4-5 large eggs (at room temperature)

milk

vanilla extract

cornstarch

heavy whipping cream (cold)

heavy whipping cream

chocolate chips

unsalted butter (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or silicone mat.

In a medium saucepan, combine water, butter, sugar and salt. Slowly heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently to dissolve sugar and melt the butter. Once sugar is dissolved and butter is melted, increase the heat to medium high heat and bring the mixture to a boil.

Meanwhile, sift the flour.

When the butter mixture comes to a boil, remove the saucepan from heat and add flour all at once. Quickly mix the mixture until all the flour is absorbed. (We just made panade!)

Put the saucepan back to burner and reduce the heat to medium. Cook the dough, continuously mixing with a wooden spoon. The dough will start to form into a ball. Keep mixing for another 3-4 minutes until light crust forms on the bottom of the pan. (Note: It’s important to cook for at least 3-4 minutes to dry out the panade.)

Transfer the dough into a mixing bowl with paddle attachment and mix it for a few minutes on low speed until the mixture is at room temperature, about 2 minutes. (No mixer? No problem. You can mix it with a wooden spoon!)

Then add eggs one at a time, mixing the batter well after each addition. This will help to get egg absorbed into the dough quicker. Don’t add more than 2 eggs at a time! This is important, as you might not need to add all the eggs. The dough should be smooth and shiny, thin enough to slowly fall into a ribbon, but too runny.

Transfer the batter into a large pastry bag, fitted with a round or star tip. Rest the batter for at least 1 hour at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to 2 days. (Note: Make sure to close any opennings to avoid drying out the batter.)

Pipe the batter into 4-inch skinny logs at least 2 inches apart. Level the peaked tops with a wet fingertip.

Bake the shells for 30-35 minutes, or until the shells are puffed up and golden brown, one baking sheet at a time. (Note: Don’t open the oven door the first 25 minutes.)

Once the shells are baked, cool until safe to handle, cut out 2 wholes on the bottom using a round piping tip, or simply make a small slit on the side of shells, using a small sharp paring knife. Arrange the shells back on the baking sheet with the holes facing up. And bake them again for another 5 minutes. This dries out the inside of pastry shells and make them extra crisp.

Transfer the shells onto a wire rack and cool completely before filling.

To make the eclair shells:

In a medium saucepan, bring milk and vanilla extract to a boil. Once it boils, turn the heat off.

In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks with sugar until pale. And then stir in flour and cornstatrch.

To temper the egg yolk mixture, take about ½ cup of hot milk and add it into the egg yolk mixture, while stirring vigorously. 

Now, add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with remaining milk. Cook it over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil, about 5 minutes. (Note: It&#39;s normal if the mixture looks curdled in the beginning, be patient and it&#39;ll smooth out.) To see if the mixture is boiling, stop whisking for a moment. If it&#39;s burping bubbles, cook for 1 minute and remove from heat.

Run the custard through a sieve, if desired, and transfer into a clean bowl and cover with a plastic wrap, so it touches the cream and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours. (TIP: Don’t be alarmed if your chilled pastry cream looks too thick and lumpy. Simply whisk it until smooth again.)

Whip heavy whipping cream till hard peaks form. Fold in the whipped cream into the chilled pastry cream and gently fold until well combined. Transfer the filling into a large pastry bag fitted with a round tip.

To make the Creme Diplomat filling:

Heat heavy cream until just simmer. Do not boil. Pour it over chocolate chips, and let it sit for good 2 minutes. Then stir it until smooth for couple minutes. Stir in butter to add some shine.

To make the chocolate glaze:

Pipe the filling through the prepared holes on the bottom or a side slit. And then dip each filled eclair in the chocolate ganache.

Let the eclairs set for about 1 hour in the fridge before serving.

To assemble the eclairs:

Recipe video above. My recipe for whipped cream that I use for &quot;everything&quot;. It&#39;s actually Chantilly cream, the French name for whipped cream that&#39;s lightly sweetened and flavoured with vanilla. Use to decorate cakes, pipe onto cupcakes, dollop on fruit and swirl onto sundaes!⚠️ IMPORTANT: You MUST use whipping cream, not pouring cream that cannot be whipped! Check the carton label - they should say if the cream is for whipping. Some readers have had issues with the cream not whipping and I suspect that is the reason. 😢Stabilised whipped cream - To make whipped cream hold its fluffy texture and piped form for 2 to 3 days (it won&#39;t deflate or melt), stabilise it by adding mascarpone. It won&#39;t alter the flavour or texture. Other methods (like cornflour/cornstarch, gelatine) are unreliable or not as pleasant to eat.Yield - Cream doubles in volume when whipped. So 1 cup cream (250ml) = 2 cups whipped (500ml).

Whipped cream - with stabilised option

heavy / thickened cream

icing sugar/powdered sugar (, sifted (Note 2))

vanilla extract (my standard) (- best economical option)

vanilla pod (, seeds scraped (PREMIUM option))

Whip cream – Place the cream, icing sugar, vanilla of choice plus mascarpone (if making stabilised cream). Whip using an electric beater on medium high, moving the beater around the bowl, or until whipped to stiffness you are after. Then it&#39;s ready for use!

Stiffness options - Whip for around 1 1/2 minutes if you want soft peaks (kind of dollops) or 2 minutes for stiff peaks (for piping). See in post for photos of soft vs stiff peaks. If scaling up, it will take longer.

To use –  Fill a piping bag with nozzle of choice and pipe. Spread onto cakes or dollop on a bowl of fruit or onto pies!

Made this last night for Morning tea/finger food lunch today. I used the serving calculator to reduce the servings to 6 and set it in a loaf pan. It cut into 8 squares approx. 5-6cm square. 
The biscuit crust I used scotch finger biscuits and added ground ginger cinnamon and mixed spice. The cheesecake filling was as the recipe and I made Nagi's Chantilly Cream recipe, topped with cherries and fresh berries. Yum !! So good! Thank you for another great recipe, Nagi.

I used this method on a Biscoff Ice Box Cake.  It was perfect!!!!!

I didn’t have mascarpone and need to bring cream to go with your pumpkin and pecan pie for a thanksgiving celebration. I did have a very thick sour cream so added that and a very nice result!

I wanted something to use in between my victoria sponge. The classic is jam alone or jam and chantilly cream. However, unless you are serving it straight away the cream deflates. Google search for 'stabilised' whipped cream- Nagi's recipe worked perfectly for me. I used Aldi brand mascapone always works for everything else and it worked in this recipe too. I used real vanilla pods as well- so I could see the black seeds. Thank you Nagi. Already pre-order the next book.

I made this to decorate cake cups.  Wowzer!   🙏

Hi Nagi,

I absolutely looove your recipes including this simple but beautiful Chantilly cream! Might be a dumb question but do you know if this could be coloured with a drop of gel food colouring? I am making some mini heart cakes for mothers day and wanted to top with this but would love to pipe a pastel pink if possible. Thank you for all your time and effort you put into sharing these....you have changed my baking life ❤😘😂

As you mentioned, this is indeed a game changer. I was asked to make a light cake with fruit and came across your recipe. Light, fluffy, and just dense enough to hold up to fresh fruit. Perfect and easy!

I just made,   delicious and looks so pretty on my cupcakes 
Thank you !!!

Although I normally don’t care for marscapone I tried this recipe on mini pavlovas I took to a friend’s Christmas dinner. It was perfect! Held up so well even though I made it the day before. I was able to pipe it on once I got there and they were delicious!!!

Can confirm that Coles homebrand mascarpone works just fine, too. I think it'd be useful to add to the recipe notes that the quantity of sugar can be reduced or even omitted without affecting the stability of the cream.

Amazing. I can't stop making your apple turnovers with stabilised cream, very fun to pipe out. 
Second time around I used Woolies brand mascarpone and had no issues at all, perfectly stiff. Very keen to try it this on some more desserts. Thanks Nagi

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Top 3 chocolate eclairs recipes from across the web

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