Not even the finest patisseries around town can compete with homemade eclairs!
Unlike shop-bought eclairs, the light-as-air choux is at its absolute, delicately-crisp best.
It sounds unlikely but the reason is simple.
1. Choux pastry
Once you fill an eclair, within 15 minutes the delicately crispy surface of the choux pastry starts softening.
This is inevitably the fate of all ready-to-eat pre-filled eclairs sold at patisseries.
Of course theyre still totally delicious!
Make today the day and read on!!!
Cream vs custard filling = Aussie/UK vs French!
And rather generously at that!
Nobody wants an eclair that doesnt have cream bursting from the seams!
So todays recipe is for Aussie eclairs.
French eclairs, next year!
1. Choux pastry
Choux is a foundation pastry in baking, particularly French pastry.
Its used for favourites such asprofiteroles,gougeres(French cheese puffs!)
Its fundamentally simple to make, using just water, butter, flour and eggs.
2. Chantilly cream (French whipped cream)
Chantilly cream The French name for lightly sweetened vanilla-flavoured cream.
But the directions are also included in this eclairs recipe.
Chocolate glaze Just chocolate and cream plus glucose or corn syrup if you want a lovely shiny finish.
3. Chocolate glaze
The follow section walks through how to make each of the above components and how to assemble an eclair.
But honestly, its not hard if you follow a few basic steps.
Ingredients in choux pastry
The above ingredients are standard for choux pastry.
Some recipes opt to use a combination of milk and water.
I use only water because I find the shell comes out a little crisper.
Eggs Being fussy about the eggs is actually really important because choux pastry relies on egg to puff up.
Room temperature And the last egg rule!
verify your eggs are at room temperature, not fridge-cold, so they incorporate more easily into the mixture.
Flour Just plain / all-purpose flour.
I know some recipes swear by bread flour and cake flour.
Ordinary plain / all-purpose flour is a happy medium, I find.
Plus, its cheaper!
Water Some recipes use a combination of milk and water for the liquid, others use just water.
Milk makes the choux pastry slightly less crispy and delicate.
So I prefer just water.
Butter This is the fat in the dough and also for flavour!
Salt Just a pinch.
No sugar?Thats right, no sugar!
This is typical of choux pastry as recipes rely on fillings and toppings for sweetness and flavour.
Butter and water Put the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Once mostly melted add the water.
Note:Do not cool for longer than this, and do not shortcut this step.
This is an easy foolproofing measure that solves lots of choux pastry issues that people experience.
When you start stirring, the dough will initially look split with the egg but dont fret!
Keep stirring and it will come together.
Choux pastry This is what it should look like!
The star tip will give us a lovely fluted bun after it bakes.
No star tip?No problem!
No piping bag?Also no problem!
Just use a sturdy ziplock bag.
Firstly, dont crowd the tray.
Piping choux pastry
Piping See section above for piping bag and nozzle tip …errr, tips!
Dont crowd the tray!Be sure to leave plenty of space 5cm / 2 between the logs.
because of the steam from surrounding buns.
I need to use 3 trays to fit all mine.
If you have a big oven and big trays, you might only need 2 trays lucky you!
Tidy ends Use your finger dipped in water to tidy the ends, if you could be bothered!
To be honest, once they puff up, the ends sort of self-neaten.
Ready to bake!You should have about 20 pieces in total.
Prevent screen from sleeping
Baking choux pastry
Note: A giant golden fur ball to photobomb your instruction photos is optional.
Bakefor 45 minutes at 180C/350F (160C fan).
This little step really does make them extra crispy and gives the crispiness a longer shelf life.
I tried it with and without this step* and I promise it makes such a difference!
Steam release As described above in step 1!
If you have a 3rd tray, proceed with baking it.
Coolcompletely on the trays, left on the counter.
Marvel at the crispy perfection!
Split Once the pastry has fully cooled, cut in half horizontally using a serrated knife.
A serrated knife will give you a cleaner cut.
Open Place the lid next to the base to keep them together.
Next step glaze the lid!
- Not because I doubtedJ-Po, I just had to see it for myself!
Shiny chocolate glaze
A signature feature of eclairs is a shiny chocolate glaze.
If you just melt ordinary chocolate chips, the glaze wont be shiny.
The secret is a touch of glucose or corn syrup!
Ordinarily, chocolate for eating is not intended for cooking so it does not always melt well.
Lindt is an exception.
There are probably other brands, I am just not aware of any.
Regular dark chocolatechips and chocolate melts (US semi-sweet chips) can also be used.
However because they have less cocoa it is a softer chocolate so you will need to use less cream.
See recipe notes for adjustments to the recipe.
Which means you have to use less cream else the glaze will be too runny.)
Cream To loosen the chocolate into a glaze.
Itmustbe full fat cream, not light cream, else the glaze will not set.
If you skip it, the glaze will just be a little more matte.
Stir Use a rubber spatula to stir until smooth.
Shallow vessel If required, transfer the chocolate into a shallow bowl wide enough to dip the eclairs.
I didnt have to do this.
Dipthe lid of each eclair into the chocolate.
Dripoff excess (or…. dont, for effect!)
Fridge Place the lids back on the tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes to set.
Note:You will have leftover chocolate, because too little glaze makes it hard to dip the eclairs.
I dont think you need my help telling you what to do with the leftovers!
(It involves a spoon.
And your mouth.)
Assembling the Eclairs
Were on the home stretch here!
To assemble, just whip up the cream and pipe it on the bun base.
Firm peaksmeans that the peaks stand straight upright , like pictured.
(Soft peaks, on the other hand, flop over slightly like Santa hats!).
Why stabilise the cream?
), as well as improving storage life.
You know how cream weeps and deflates overnight?
If its stabilised, it wont and will stay like its freshly made for a couple of days.
A brilliant, thoroughly-tested discovery by yep, you guessed, it, superstar French Pastry ChefJ-Po!
Pipethe cream generously onto the base of the eclairs.
Use looping motions so you get a nice thick layer of cream!
Lid Pop the chocolate glazed lid on and thats it!
Filled eclairs start to lose crispiness after about 30 minutes once filled with cream.
(See 3rd point below for storage).
Best way to make ahead Unfilled whole choux pastry can be kept in an airtight container for 3 days.
Re-crisp in a 180C (160C fan-forced) oven for 5 minutes.
Glaze then fill per recipe.
It does not stop me hoovering them down, though!
They are still very good for 6 to 8 hours after assembling.
Then theyre noticeably softer the next day.
Its certainly not unpleasant, just not quite as prime as freshly made!
Note the quality of the cream depends on whether it was stabilised or not see next point.
Stabilised creamcan be kept in an airtight container or piping bag for 48 hours.
Non-stabilised whipped creamis best made just before serving as it starts to deflate within an hour.
More on the beauty of stabilised whipped creamhere.
(Im thinking get ahead for your nextPav!)
In this particular case, I really mean it.
Well, Ialwaysmean it, of course, for every recipe!
But homemade eclairs are extra-special because homemade truly trounces shop-bought for the reasons Ive mentioned.
I wish (let me know if you know of a place that does!)
I really hope you give homemade eclairs a try one day.
They truly are magnificent!
(You know I love it).
