Chocolate Eclairs

When I was about 14 years old I watched pastry chef Gale Gand make pate a choux on the Food Network and thought, I don't really know what she's making, but it looks easy enough. Little did I know at the time what pate a choux was used for, until I had my first eclair. One bite and it was like a magic trick being performed in my mouth. Light pate a choux pastry baked to golden perfection, filled with luscious cream filling, and dipped into chocolate... they are so, so good. The French are geniuses when it comes to dessert pastry.

Bucket list: Go to France and visit a patisserie to consume the magnificent butter laden goodies I see.

The first time I made pate a choux, I followed the simple directions: Mix the liquid ingredients with the flour and cook it until the flour is absorbed, let cool, and mix in the eggs. I seriously didn't think light puffy pastries could come from this dense dough. So, I continued on, I piped the dough then baked it. Lo' and behold! As I fervently stared at the dough through the oven glass I saw it, the dough was puffing up and about 20 minutes later, I had made my first batch of eclairs. I think pate a choux seems daunting because it sounds so fancy, but it's really so simple to make. I have never made pate a choux that didn't puff to golden little pastry perfection. Compare this to my chocolate chip cookie recipe that comes out different every time I make it, even though I use the same recipe, that's saying something. Though, I have a secret I'm almost ashamed of, almost. Most of the time, I cheat. I use boxed vanilla pudding -gasp!- I add a little less milk, add some cream and it's just as yummy as ever. This time however, I decided I'd make vanilla bean pastry cream and fold in lightly sweetened whipped cream to make the eclair filling, and my goodness, these have been taken to the next level! No more boxed pudding mix for me... well if I have the time to make the pastry cream.


[Piped and ready to bake]
Pate a choux pastry is very versatile. It can be piped into mounds to make cream puffs, cheese can be folded into the batter to make Gougeres. Oh! the possibilities are endless! For my baby shower last year, I made little strawberry shortcakes by creating cream puffs filled with my pudding filling and adding slices of strawberries. Making eclairs take a little prep time but they come together super fast. A piping bag (or two) makes it a breeze. I also use Wilton cake tip #240 to fill the eclairs. The tip is longer and narrow, and fills them perfectly. The only downfall is cake supplies can be a little pricey, but if you live near a Michael's or JoAnn's store, they always have a '40% off one item coupon' that you can print off to use. I buy a lot of my baking supplies this way :)


[Ready to Fill]
Chocolate eclairs are actually simple to make. Even if you are new to baking, I have confidence you can pull them off. Try them sometime and indulge in a little French pastry deliciousness!


Chocolate Eclairs
Makes 20-24 eclairs
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Ingredients:

Pate a Choux:
1 cup water
1 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
1 1/4 cups AP flour
4 eggs, room temp

Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream:
1/2 cup sugar
3 TBS corn starch
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 egg yolks
2 TBS butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Chocolate Ganache:
8 oz. (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

-Pastry Cream: Place the egg yolks into a small bowl and gently whisk to break them up. Place the sugar and corn starch into a sauce pan. Add the milk, heavy cream, and vanilla bean paste. Whisk to combine and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Move pan from heat and take about 1 cup of the hot mixture and stream it into the egg yolks while whisking. This tempers the egg yolks so that they do not scramble. Now, pour the tempered mixture back into sauce pan and cook for another 4-5 minutes until the pastry cream thickens to a pudding like consistency. Add the butter a small piece at a time until it’s all incorporated. Pour mixture into a glass bowl, press plastic wrap directly onto it and chill until cold.

Note: The vanilla bean pastry cream can (and should) be made the night before and let to chill in the fridge overnight. The mixture needs to be cold to mix with the whipped cream.

-Pate a Choux: Preheat oven to 400F. In a sauce pan combine the water, butter, salt and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and add all of the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until the the flour is absorbed by the liquid and continue to cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat when the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan and into a ball. Cool for about 5 minutes. Once cooled, add the eggs one at a time into the dough until it is completely incorporated. Repeat until all the eggs are mixed in. Transfer batter to a pastry bag (or large ziplock bag) and pipe 4 inch lines spaced 1 1/2 inches apart onto parchment or silpat lined baking sheets. A wet finger can be used to even out the pastry. Place into oven and turn the heat down to 350F and bake for 20-25 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR! Once baked, cool on a cooling rack.

Note: I mix the batter in the pan, less dishes for me. I also use my hand mixer with only one beater to incorporate the eggs, but a wooden spoon can just as easily be used. Just as well, you can transfer the dough to your stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment. My pastry bag has a 1 inch opening. If using a ziplock bag or disposable pastry bag, cut a 1 inch opening.

-Ready to Assemble:Whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar together until firm peaks form. With a whisk, fold whipped cream into the vanilla bean pastry cream and transfer to a piping bag fitted with a round tip. From one end, fill all of the cooled eclairs with the cream filling (you may need to fill from both ends to completely fill the eclairs, or you can also cut them in half to fill them). Place the chocolate for the ganache an a bowl. Heat the cream until it just boils and pour over the chocolate. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes then stir to combine until all of the chocolate melts. Dip the top of the eclairs into the ganache and place onto cooling rack to harden. Voila!!