I love making these...they are actually easier than
you would think. As soon as I make them they're gone. Everyone loves
chocolate éclairs!
Pastry:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
Filling:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 6 egg yolks
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
Chocolate Icing
- 2 (1 ounce) squares semisweet
chocolate
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
(sifted)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons hot water
Directions
Pastry:
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.
Poke a hole on
one end of each éclair (for the filling) and set aside until your custard is
ready.
Custard Filling:
In
a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean
to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to
infuse for 15 minutes.
In
a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk
vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture
until incorporated.
Whisk
in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the saucepan. Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high
heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the
heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly.
Cover
with plastic
wrap, lightly pressing the plastic
against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 20 minutes
or until the custard is cool enough to be spooned into a piping bag to fill
your éclairs.
*Filling
techniques. I like to use a pastry piping bag, but if you don't have one handy,
you can also use a Ziploc bag and cut one corner off. When filling the
pastries, be sure to tap them on the counter to make sure the custard is
distributed the whole length.
Chocolate Icing:
Melt the
chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in
1 cup of sifted 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 dip the top of each filled éclair into the chocolate icing.
Refrigerate until serving.
This is an altered and combined version of two separate recipes found on Allrecipes and Foodnetwork.
Picture by: A Bit of Bees Knees
