Well friends, here we are again.
It has taken me five pieces of biscotti to write that much so if that’s not an indication of the state of things then I don’t know what does.
I don’t know why I wanted eclairs amidst this lockdown. I think I saw a picture somewhere in my hours of endless scrolling. Anyway in order to come to a recipe that made a bubble safe number of eclairs I had to myself make an unholy number first. Each recipe I turned to reported that it made upwards of 20 eclairs. I know it is a time for comfort eating but 20 between 2-4 people probably is pushing it.
Originally I had wanted to make Paris-brest - basically doughnut shaped rings of choux pastry but my first attempt ended up looking really ugly and deformed so I stuck to good old logs for round two. Also yes I know I should have injected the custard into the choux shells but I forgot but also that seemed too risky and like too much effort.
The custard recipe that follows will make more than enough for eclairs plus spare to accompany a pud later on in the week but if you’re short on milk then please do halve the custard recipe. Just make sure regardless of the amount you make that you don’t chicken out too early like I did and remove it from the heat before it properly thickens. The amount of sloppy custard pup has licked off the ground after plummeting from half eaten eclairs is more than any pup should realistically eat. Equally if you can’t be bothered making custard (totally understand) then just skip that step and use whipped cream instead.
The chocolate coating is just a 1:1 ganache glaze. I used 100g of both cream and chocolate but as the recipe is just a simple ratio if you only have say 83g of chocolate left in your lockdown pantry then use 83g of cream.
The puff of a choux pastry mainly relies on the rapid production of steam which causes the pastry to expand. You can us solely water or solely milk in this recipe; Using more milk (or all milk) than water will create a sturdier pastry with a bit more chew.
Bubble Friendly Eclairs (Chocolate Eclairs with Custard)
Makes 8
Custard:
500ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 2 teaspoons essence
1/2 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup corn flour
Choux pastry:
62g flour (high grade is better but plain is fine)
1 teaspoon sugar
40g butter
100ml liquid (50:50 milk and water is what I used)
2 eggs
Chocolate glaze:
100g dark chocolate
100g cream
First make the custard as it it going to need to firm up in the fridge for a couple of hours before you can use it.
In a medium sized saucepan warm the milk to just below a simmer.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or in a large bowl with a handbeater) beat together the egg yolks, vanilla, sugar, and cornflour until thick and pale.
While the beater is still on a medium speed slowly pour in the hot milk pausing to scrape down the sides when you are about a third of the way through. Once all the milk has been added and the egg well mixed in transfer the custard back to the saucepan. Cook the custard over a low heat using a spatula to stir and scrape the thickened custard off the bottom. Being careful not to let the custard boil, gently cook until the custard just below a simmer and it becomes very thick - don’t worry too much about lumps as you can always beat those out later. Transfer to a large shallow container (to aid cooling) and cover the top with cling film to prevent a skin forming. Pop in the fridge to cool and thicken some more.
To make the choux start by preheating the oven to 230 degrees Celsius and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Prepare your stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Insert a large round piping tip into a piping bag. I you don’t have a piping bag you can make choux puffs instead of eclairs by using two spoons to dollop dough onto the baking tray.
Get all of your ingredients ready to go as you will need to act quickly once you start.
Sieve together the sugar, salt, and flour.
Whisk together the eggs and reserve a tablespoon in a separate bowl to use as egg wash.
Gently melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan before adding the rest of the liquid. Turn up the heat and bring quickly to a rapid boil. At this point tip in your flour mixture and with a wooden spoon quickly mix the dough together until it becomes a single ball. Transfer dough to the bowl of your mixer and turn it on to a medium speed. Beat the egg into the dough little at a time and mix on a medium speed until smooth.
Quickly transfer dough to your piping bag and pipe out eight logs onto your baking tray ensuring they are evenly spaced. Carefully brush with the reserved egg wash before placing in the oven.
Bake for 15 minutes before reducing the temperature down to 180 degrees Celsius and baking for another 20 minutes. Other recipes say this should be longer but I don’t really like my shells too dry (contrary to the purists out there). Once time is up just turn the oven off and leave the door ajar to cool.
Once the eclair shells are completely cool you can make up the ganache glaze.
Either finely chop or grate your chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl. Pop your cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and leave to sit for a minute before using a spatula to gently stir until smooth. If you still have lumps of solid chocolate you can make a bain-marie with saucepan to help gently melt the lumps.
To assemble, slice the eclairs in half lengthways with a serrated knife and place the halves together. Pop the custard into a piping bag or use a spoon to dollop it on the bottoms of the eclairs. Before placing the top of the eclair back on the base carefully dip it into the chocolate glaze so that it is evenly coating the top surface. Place top back onto the base. Decorate with whatever you have lying around. I used freeze dried crumbs of raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, almond bits, and some flowers I foraged from the driveway.