Classic Eclairs Recipes

CLASSIC ECLAIRS

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar, and salt over medium-high heat.
• Cook until the butter is melted, then bring to a full rolling boil over high heat.
• Add the flour all at once and stir with a sturdy wooden spoon until everything comes together in a clump that is like a thick paste that cleans the sides of the pan.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the eggs, one at a time. The mixture may seem to break or curdle at first, but keep stirring and it will come back together by the time you add the last egg. Let the choux pastry cool for 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Fill a piping bag with a large open star or french star tip with the choux pastry and pipe 16-18 strips, each about 4 inches long and 3/4 to 1" thick, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart, onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Do your best to pipe them evenly so that they are an even thickness all the way from end to end, rather than thick on the ends and narrow in the middle.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and continue to bake another 30 minutes without opening the door until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Turn off the oven and crack open the oven door to let the cream puffs cool down slowly for 10 minutes before removing from the oven. This prevents them from deflating.
• Combine the milk, cream, and half of the sugar in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the liquid comes to a simmer.
• As the liquid heats, whisk together the remaining sugar, salt, cornstarch, and egg yolks in a medium bowl until light and creamy.
• Once the milk mixture is hot, slowly whisk about 1 cup of the liquid into the egg mixture to temper the yolks. Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the hot milk mixture and reduce the heat to medium, continuing to cook while whisking constantly, until thickened and a few bubbled burst on the surface, about 30 seconds.
• Remove the pastry cream from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla, then transfer to a bowl and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap placed directly onto the surface of the pastry cream so a skin doesn't form. Refrigerate until chilled and firm, about 3-4 hours.
• Place the chocolate chips in a medium-size bowl. Heat the cream in a separate microwave-safe bowl for 60 seconds until hot, then pour over the chocolate chips. Let them sit for 2 minutes, then stir until the chocolate has melted completely into the cream. If necessary, you can microwave it for another 15 to 30 seconds to get the chocolate to melt all the way.
• Dip the top half of each eclair into the chocolate ganache, then let them sit on a baking sheet or wire rack while the chocolate firms up a bit before serving.

CLASSIC ECLAIRS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan bring to boil, water, milk, butter, salt, and sugar.
• Once butter is melted, reduce heat to low, add flour, and stir vigorously for 1-2 minutes. This helps remove extra moisture and gives the flour time to cook.
• Remove from heat. Let cool to 125-135 degrees (hot to the touch but not burning).
• Add eggs, one at a time. Incorporate completely before adding the next egg. Add 5 eggs until the mixture turns into a soft paste that will still hold its shape.
• Using a plastic piping coupler or piping tip of your choice (large opening) and Ziploc bag, immediately pipe paste in the desired size (small- 2-3 inch, medium 4-5 inch, large 5-6 inch, cream puffs- round balls). Bake time will vary depending on size.
• For large eclairs, bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 375 for 12-20 minutes or until the shell is golden brown and hollow inside. See notes for additional bake times.
• Cool completely.
• Whisk pudding mix and milk together. Mix 2-3 minutes. Set in fridge until ready to use.
• In a large mixing bowl, whip cream to soft peaks, add powdered sugar. Whip to stiff peaks. Don't over whip or you'll end up with butter.
• Remove pudding from fridge. Stir until smooth. Fold in whipped cream.
• Using a bag with round piping tip, carefully insert tip into cooled shell. Fill slowly until shell is full. You may need to fill from both sides to fill entire shell.
• In a microwave-safe bowl, add cream and chocolate chips. Heat 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until melted. Usually only takes 30 seconds to 1 minutes. Don't over heat.
• Stir chocolate mixture until cream is fully incorporated into chocolate. Mixture will look rich, smooth and chocolatey when done (1-3 minutes).
• Dip top of each filled eclair into chocolate ganache. Let ganache cool. Store in fridge or freeze for later.

ECLAIRS II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.
• In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, stirring until butter melts completely. Reduce heat to low, and add flour and salt. Stir vigorously until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and begins to form a stiff ball. Remove from heat. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to incorporate completely after each addition. With a spoon or a pastry bag fitted with a No. 10, or larger, tip, spoon or pipe dough onto cookie sheet in 1 1/2 x 4 inch strips.
• Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and bake 20 minutes more, until hollow sounding when lightly tapped on the bottom. Cool completely on a wire rack.
• For the filling, combine pudding mix and milk in medium bowl according to package directions. In a separate bowl, beat the cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Fold whipped cream into pudding. Cut tops off of cooled pastry shells with a sharp knife. Fill shells with pudding mixture and replace tops.
• For the icing, melt the chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in 1 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in hot water, one tablespoon at a time, until icing is smooth and has reached desired consistency. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and drizzle over filled eclairs. Refrigerate until serving.