Classic French Eclair Recipes

ECLAIRS

Steps:

• First, make the choux pastry. Put the butter in a saucepan with 450ml water. Sieve the flour into a large bowl and set aside. Bring the butter and water to a fast boil, simmer until the butter has melted, then tip in the flour and beat like mad with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan and is lump-free. Tip into the bowl and spread the thick paste up the sides a little to help it cool quickly, then leave for 10 mins.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6 and cut two pieces of baking parchment to fit two baking sheets. Using a ruler and pen, mark 10 lines about 12cm long over each piece, leaving plenty of space between the lines, then flip the parchment over. Fit a piping bag with a large round piping nozzle, about 1.5cm wide.
• When the flour paste has cooled but is not cold, start adding the egg, bit by bit, beating well between each addition until you have a smooth batter which will reluctantly drop off the end of your spoon (you can do this in a freestanding mixer if you have one). You may not need to use all the egg, so add it slowly. Transfer to your piping bag and use a little of the mixture to stick the parchment to your trays.
• Pipe the choux onto the baking sheet, using the lines as a guide. Pipe slowly so the eclairs aren't too skinny - each one should be about 2.5cm wide x 12cm long. Bake for 35-40 mins, swapping the trays around for the final 10 mins. The choux should be puffed, golden and sound hollow when tapped. You may wish to sacrifice one eclair to make sure the inside is completely dried out - if it's still moist, the eclair will sink when cooling. Once baked, leave to cool completely. (Can be made a day ahead and stored in an airtight container, reheat in the oven for 5-10 mins to crisp up before filling.) Split each eclair through the middle with a serrated knife.
• Now, make the crème pâtissière. Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan. Heat until just simmering, then remove from the heat. Meanwhile, tip the egg yolks into a bowl and add the sugar and cornflour, whisking together until smooth. Pour over the milk mixture, mix, then pour back into the saucepan. Cook over a medium heat for 5-8 mins until the crème pâtissière thickens to a thick custard consistency. Sieve into a jug, cover the surface with cling film and chill for at least 3 hrs, or up to 3 days.
• To fill and glaze your eclairs, choose one of our flavours - raspberry & cardamom, lemon & passion fruit, salted caramel & popcorn or elderflower & meringue.For more help, see our how to make choux pastry and eclairs video.

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.

ECLAIRS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees with a rack in the center. Line two unrimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats (French nonstick baking mats).
• Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch (Ateco No. 806) tip with pate a choux batter; pipe out oblong shapes, about 3 1/2 inches long and 1 inch wide, onto prepared baking sheets at 2-inch intervals. Gently run a fork dipped in water along each top, making straight lines to ensure even rising.
• Cover one baking sheet with lightly oiled plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator. Transfer the second sheet to the oven. Bake 10 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. Turn off oven; prop door open slightly to let steam escape. Allow eclairs to dry in oven about 15 minutes, or until the center is damp but no wet dough remain (test by cutting into the center of one). Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Raise heat back to 425 degrees and repeat process with remaining batch. If serving immediately, fill eclairs while still warm so they can take more cream; if filling at a later time, insert a skewer into one end, and move it around to expand opening for cream; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, stir pastry cream to soften. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a coupler and filling tip (Ateco No. 230) with pastry cream. Insert tip into one end of each eclair; fill. Serve, or glaze as follows.
• To make the glaze, combine 1/4 cup water, corn syrup, and s ugar in a small saucepan. Stir over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil, washing sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Once at a boil, remove from heat; add chocolate. Let stand 2 minutes; stir gently until smooth. Transfer glaze to a shallow bowl. Dip top of each eclair into glaze; let excess drip off before turning over. Transfer to a wire rack to allow glaze to set. Serve.

CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS

Steps:

• Start by making the custard filling. Heat the milk until almost boiling in a saucepan. Meanwhile, mix together the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a bowl, then stir in the flours, a couple of tsp at a time, to a smooth paste.
• Gradually whisk in the hot milk, pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over a high heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 mins until thick - it will go alarmingly lumpy but don't worry, just keep stirring it vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth
• Lay a sheet of cling film directly on the custard surface, then cool and chill until you're ready to fill the buns.
• To make the choux buns, heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Sift the flour with the sugar and a pinch of salt into a small bowl. Put the milk and butter into a medium saucepan with 125ml water and gently heat so the butter melts but the liquid doesn't bubble.
• Once the butter has completely melted, increase the heat until the liquid comes to a fast rolling boil. Immediately turn off the heat, tip in the sifted flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until you a have a smooth dough that comes away from the sides of the pan. Spread over a large dinner plate to cool to hand temperature.
• Allow to cool for a few minutes, then gradually add the eggs, mixing well between each addition until the mixture reluctantly drops off the spoon. Don't add all the egg unless you need to.
• Cut two large sheets of baking parchment. On each one draw two sets of 'track' lines with a 10cm gap - these will be your guidelines so your eclairs will all be roughly the same size. Use the paper to line two large baking sheets - penside down.
• Spoon your choux mixture into a piping bag with a 1cm star or round wide nozzle, or into a disposable piping bag with a similar-size hole snipped off for piping. Pipe two rows of well-spaced, squashed 'S' shapes on each sheet between the guidelines. Bake, one tray at a time, on a high-ish shelf for 25 mins, reducing temperature to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 as soon as they go in the oven.
• After 25 mins, poke a hole in the end of each bun, or using a small serrated knife, split down the middle and return to the oven, upside-down, to dry out for 5 mins until crisp and golden. Set aside to cool.
• While the buns are cooling, finish your filling. Whisk the cream until thick, then use your electric whisk to beat the cooled, set custard until just smooth again. Fold in the cream. Spoon your filling into a piping bag - use a small nozzle if you're filling the buns through the holes you've pierced, or a large nozzle if you've split the buns in half. Carefully pipe the custard into each cooled bun - they should feel heavy once full.
• To make the icing, melt 100g plain chocolate and 25g butter together in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Once melted, remove from the heat and stir in 75ml double cream and 1 tbsp sifted icing sugar. Once cooled a little, spread over the tops of the buns and leave to cool.