Éclairs: Recipe for the French original

Éclair is a pastry of French origin, made from choux pastry or using the same recipe as bigne, filled with chocolate cream or custard cream, and then covered with chocolate icing or white icing. In French, éclair means quick, and I don’t think this is the right adjective for this cake, but it also means lightning, and perhaps this word is more appropriate since éclair has the elongated shape of a lightning bolt. This is certainly not one of the quickest recipes I’ve ever made, but they are really good and make a great impression, especially when offering them to your friends. Have you ever thought about baking éclairs at home? Try my recipe and let me know how you like them.

Ingredients:

For the choux pastry:

• 250 ml (1 cup) water
• 150 g (1 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
• 100 g (7 tablespoons) butter
• 4 eggs

For the custard cream:

• 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) milk
• 60 g (1/4 cup) sugar
• 30 g (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
• 3 egg yolks
• Vanilla
• For the chocolate cream:
• 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) milk
• 70 g (1/3 cup) sugar
• 15 g (2 tablespoons) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 15 g (2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
• 3 egg yolks
• For the chocolate glaze:
• 100 g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate

For the white glaze:

• 100 g (3/4 cup) powdered sugar
• Water

How to prepare Éclairs:

For the choux pastry:

1. Put the water and butter in a saucepan and place it on the stove.
2. Let the butter melt while stirring.
3. Add all the flour at once and stir with a whisk until the dough separates from the bottom of the pan and forms a ball.
4. Remove the dough from the pan.
5. Wait a few minutes until the dough has cooled slightly.
6. Add one whole egg and incorporate it into the dough using a hand mixer.
7. Once the first egg is fully incorporated, add the second egg and continue mixing.
8. Add the eggs one at a time, only adding the next egg when the previous one is fully incorporated.
9. In the end, you will have a sticky dough.
10. Fill the dough into a piping bag and cut off the tip.
11. Pipe strips onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
12. Bake the choux pastry in a preheated oven at 210°C (410°F) for about 15 minutes, until it has risen, is cooked through, and lightly golden brown.
13. Remove the choux pastry from the oven and let it cool. In the meantime, prepare the cream.

For the custard cream:

1. Put the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and add the flour.
2. Whisk quickly.
3. Add the seeds from the vanilla pod.
4. Slightly warm the milk and pour it into the bowl while stirring.
5. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until it thickens.
6. Remove the pan from the heat, transfer the cream to a bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap (directly on the cream to prevent a skin from forming).

For the chocolate cream:

Repeat the same process as for the custard cream, but replace part of the flour with cocoa powder.

For filling the éclairs:

1. Take each cooled éclair and make two holes in the bottom.
2. Fill a piping bag with the chocolate cream or custard cream and fill the éclairs completely.
3. Place all éclairs on a plate.

For the chocolate glaze:

1. Melt the dark chocolate (see tips for melting chocolate).
2. Dip the top of each éclair in the melted chocolate.

For the white glaze:

1. Mix powdered sugar with a little water until you have a smooth glaze.
2. Drizzle the éclairs with the white glaze.

Enjoy!