Chocolate Eclair Recipe With French Pastry Cream



You are here:  > > Chocolate Eclair Recipe

Pate a choux, or choux puffs, like chocolate eclairs and cream puffs rate highly on most everyone’s list of favorite desserts. For me I am torn between eclairs and profiteroles filled with luscious ice cream and topped with rich golden caramel.

Chocolate eclair on a plate with with strawberry coulis and chantilly cream.Eclair Au Chocolat

Choux paste is fairly easy to make and very versatile and allows you to create both sweet and savory dishes, like gougers filled with mushroom duxelles. Once cooked the shells should be firm and crisp on the outside and soft and moist on the inside.

The shells can be made several hours in advance but for best results they should be filled immediately before serving.

Ingredients for chocolate eclair recipe: eggs, flour, butter, water, milk, salt, and sugar.

Ingredients for chocolate eclair recipe: eggs, flour, butter, water, milk, salt, and sugar.

For the pastry shells combine the milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt in a 2-1/2 quart saucier.

Combine the milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt in a 2-1/2 quart saucier.

Flour in a bowl and butter milk mixture in a pot.

Bring to a boil over low heat. Once the mixture comes to a low boil, remove it from the burner.

For the pastry shells off-heat add all of the flour at once.

Off-heat add all of the flour at once.

For the pastry shells stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is incorporated, and the batter is smooth.

Stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is incorporated, and the batter is smooth. Place it back over medium heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, while stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Adding eggs to the pastry dough.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, stir to fully incorporate the egg before adding the next egg.

Pastry dough for eclairs.

Continue until all of the eggs are mixed in and the batter is smooth and shiny.

Pastry dough piped onto a sheet pan.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and pipe into logs, leaving 2 inches of space between each shell. Dip your finger into a bowl of water and smooth any points on the pastry shells. Brush the shells gently with the egg wash and transfer the sheet pan to the preheated oven. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 375º F / 190º C. Bake another 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.

Eclair shells.

When the eclair shells are done transfer them to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Pastry Cream For Chocolate Eclairs

Ingredients for pastry cream: eggs, vanilla paste, sugar,flour milk, and salt.

Ingredients for pastry cream: eggs, vanilla paste, sugar, flour, milk, and salt.

In a 21/2-quart saucier combine the remaining sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

In a 2-1/2-quart saucier combine the remaining sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Combine the yolks, half the sugar, and the flour together into a mixer bowl.

Combine the yolks, half the sugar, and the flour together into a mixer bowl.

Whisk on medium high speed until the yolks reach the ribbon stage.

Whisk on medium high speed until the yolks reach the ribbon stage. You can see this by picking up the beater and as the batter falls off it creates a pattern that resembles a ribbon.

With the mixer running slowly stream the hot milk into the egg mixture.

With the mixer running slowly stream the hot milk into the egg mixture. After adding the milk pour everything back into the pan. Cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, over medium heat until the mixture begins to bubble, then cook another 2 to 3 minutes.

Pastry cream in a bowl with plastic wrap over the surface.

Transfer the cream to a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. To prevent a skin from forming place a sheet of film onto the surface of the cream.

Ganache For Chocolate Eclairs

Ingredients for ganache: cream and chocolate.

Ingredients for ganache: cream and chocolate.

Place the chocolate into a mixing bowl. In a medium saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Allow to stand for 1 minute.

Place the chocolate into a mixing bowl. In a medium saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Allow to stand for 1 minute.

Gently stir to blend, with a rubber spatula. Set aside.

Gently stir to blend with a rubber spatula. Set aside.

Chocolate eclairs on a wire rack.

Transfer the pastry cream to a pastry bag, fitted with a number 806 tip. Slightly smaller tip than the one used to pipe the eclairs. Push the pastry tip into the hole and gently squeeze filling the shell to the half way point. Turn the shell and repeat. Dip the top of the shell into the ganache and place on a wire rack to allow the chocolate to cool and set.

Chocolate eclair on a plate with strawberry coulis and whip cream.Chocolate Eclair Strawberry Coulis Chantilly Cream

My Chocolate Eclair Recipe

  • Yield: 6 eclairs
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 50 minutes
  • Oven: 425º F / 220º C.

Equipment

  • Pastry bag
  • Pastry tip 808 - for the eclair shells
  • Pastry tip 806 - to fill the eclairs

Ingredients

For The Pastry Cream

  • 5 large egg yolks (See notes)
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons / 125 grams fine sugar
  • Generous 1/4 cup / 40 grams AP flour
  • 2 cups / 500 milliliters whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
  • Pinch salt

For The Egg Wash

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tablespoon / 15 milliliters milk

For The Eclair Shells

  • 1/2 cup / 125 ml whole milk
  • 1/2 cup / 125 ml water
  • 8 tablespoons / 113 grams butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon / 3 grams salt
  • 1 teaspoon / 5 grams fine sugar
  • Generous 1 cup / 150 grams AP flour
  • 4 large eggs

For The Ganache

  • 12-1/2ounces/ 360 grams 72% chocolate, broken into small pieces
  • 9 ounces / 260 grams heavy cream

Method

For The Pastry Cream

  1. Combine the yolks, half the sugar, and the flour together into a mixer bowl. Whip, using the whisk attachment,  on medium high speed until the yolks reach the ribbon stage. You can see this by picking up the beater and as the batter falls off it creates a pattern that resembles a ribbon.
  2. In a 2-1/2-quart saucier combine the remaining sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
  3. With the mixer running slowly stream the hot milk into the egg mixture. After adding the milk pour everything back into the pan. Cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, over medium heat until the mixture begins to bubble, then cook another 2 to 3 minutes.
  4. Transfer the cream to a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. To prevent a skin from forming place a sheet of film onto the surface of the cream.

For The Egg Wash

  1. Combine the milk and yolk together into a small bowl. Mix with a  fork or small whisk to blend. Set aside.

For The Eclair Shells

  1. Preheat the oven to 425º F / 220º C.
  2. Combine the milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt in a 2-1/2 quart saucier. Bring to a boil over low heat. Once the mixture comes to a low boil, remove it from the burner.
  3. Off-heat add all of the flour at once and stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is incorporated, and the batter is smooth. Place it back over medium heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, while stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
  4. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, stir to fully incorporate the egg before adding the next egg. Continue until all of the eggs are mixed in and the batter is smooth and shiny.
  5. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a pastry tip with a 1/2 inch or 1 centimeter opening. (Pastry tip 808)
  6. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and pipe into logs about the size of a hot dog. Leave about 2 inches of space between each shell. Dip your finger into a bowl of water and smooth any points on the pastry shells, if you don’t those points will burn while the shells are baking. Set aside while you make the egg wash.
  7. Brush the shells gently with the egg wash and transfer the sheet pan to the preheated oven. Bake for 10 minutes and turn the heat down to 375º F / 190º C. Bake another 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.
  8. When the eclair shells are done transfer them to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

For The Ganache

  1. Place the chocolate into a mixing bowl. 
  2. In a medium saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer.
  3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Allow to stand for 1 minute, then gently stir to blend, with a rubber spatula. Set aside.

To Make The Eclairs

  1. Transfer the pastry cream to a pastry bag. (Pastry tip 806)
  2. Make a slice in both ends of the shells with a paring knife. Push the pastry tip into the hole and gently squeeze the bag until you feel the cream filling the shell to the half way point. Turn the shell and repeat.
  3. Next dip the top of the shell into the ganache and place on a wire rack to allow the chocolate to cool and set.

Notes

  1. For a lot of recipes egg size really makes little difference. But there are recipes where the size of the eggs will impact the end result. This is the case with pate a choux. If you use too much egg, the resulting shells are going to be “eggy” tasting, not pleasant. 
  2. Fine sugar or baker’s sugar is simply sugar that has been milled to a finer crystal size. There is no need to go and buy one of those half-gallon sized containers of baker’s sugar, especially when the quantity you need is small. Just measure your sugar into a food mill and pulse it 3 to 4 times with one second pulses. Viola, fine sugar.
  3. When you are making a custard it is critical to temper the yolks very slowly, gradually bringing up the temperature of the egg without cooking it. However, when you add a starch to the egg the starch works to prevent the egg from cooking immediately, so you can temper the yolks for a pastry cream faster than you can for a custard.
  4. The pastry cream calls for one vanilla bean. If you don’t have vanilla beans and you don’t want to spend 10.00 dollars on one dried out desiccated bean at your grocer you can substitute vanilla or vanilla bean paste. The substitution will depend on the strength and should be on the container for the product. A good rule of thumb is 1 vanilla bean equals 1 tbsp vanilla or vanilla bean paste.
  5. You can also make a pastry bag out of parchment paper or you can pipe out of a 1 gallon baggie by cutting off the corner.

Tags: chocolate eclair recipe, eclair au chocolat, french pastry cream, pate a choux, ganache recipes