Make every day Chocolate Éclair Day for your customers with this delicious (and reliable) bulk recipe.
Note: This recipe is for regular bakers, who have tried basic choux pastry (and profiteroles). Techniques utilised in this recipe include choux pastry, piping technique for eclairs, pastry cream, glazing.
Makes: 100 eclairs
EQUIPMENT:
- Piping bags: 40cm piping bags for the choux pastry dough.
- French star pastry tip with 1-2cm opening: to pipe the eclair cases.
- Whisks
- Silicone spatula
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- 2 x baking mats
- 2 x half sheet pans
INGREDIENTS:
Choux Pastry for the Eclairs
- 1180 ml water
- 565 g unsalted butter
- 2.5 tsp kosher salt (use less, if you’re using fine salt or table salt)
- 15 tsp granulated white sugar
- 710 g Millstone White Bread Flour, sifted
- 1130 g eggs about 20 large eggs
- Optional: 5 tsp vanilla extract
Filling for the Eclairs: Vanilla Pastry Cream
- 3428 ml milk
- 535 g sugar
- Pinch salt
- 178 g corn starch (cornflour) (3 tbsp / 30 g for a stiffer pastry cream)
- 21 tsp vanilla bean paste / extract / 1 vanilla bean pod
- 21 large egg yolks
- 7 large egg
- 307 g unsalted butter softened
Chocolate Glaze
- 1700 g semisweet chocolate
- 885 ml whipping cream ¾ cup
- A generous pinch of kosher salt
- 140 g unsalted butter
- Optional: 150 ml corn syrup
METHOD:
Pastry Cream (make night before)
- If using vanilla bean pods, split the bean and scrape the vanilla seeds/caviar out of the beans.
- Add the bean and caviar with the milk into a saucepan. Heat the milk over medium high heat and bring it to a simmer, almost to a boil.
- While the milk is being heated, place the sugar, egg and yolks, corn starch and salt in a bowl. Whisk until you have a thick, smooth mix. (If you are using vanilla bean paste or extract, add it to the egg mix too). Place the bowl with the egg mix on a towel or napkin (to prevent the bowl from slipping while whisking, in the next step), and set aside until the milk comes to a boil (almost to a boil).
- As soon as the milk starts to simmer / bubble, remove it from the heat. Slowly pour about a half of the hot milk in a thin stream, into the egg mix, WHILE WHISKING CONSTANTLY to temper the egg mix. When the eggs have been tempered, add the egg mix back into the hot milk in the saucepan.
- Heat the custard base, over medium heat, while whisking vigorously until it starts to thicken – this should take about 1 – 2 minutes depending on the heat of your stove and size of your saucepan.
- While whisking, let the custard come to a boil (the custard will release bubbles). Lower the heat and cook for a further 1-2 minutes after you see the first bubbles break the surface. Lower the heat and whisk constantly for about 30 – 60 seconds after the first bubbles break the surface.
- Remove from the heat and add the butter. Whisk in the butter, until it’s completely mixed in.
- Pour the custard into a bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap is touching the whole surface. This is to prevent a custard skin from forming on top. You can also choose to pass the custard through a sieve to remove any lumps.
- Let the custard cool down to room temperature and then let it chill in the fridge for a few hours, until it’s completely chilled.
Choux Pastry
- Preheat oven to 190°C.
- Place the water, butter, salt and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan and heat over medium heat while stirring occasionally. (Make sure the salt and sugar dissolve completely in the warm water, and the butter melts BEFORE the water comes to a boil).
- As soon as the water comes to a boil (with a few bubbles breaking through the surface), move the pot away from the stove and add all of the sifted flour into the boiling liquid. Using a wooden spoon or a heat-proof silicone spatula, stir the mixture vigorously to allow the flour to absorb all the water and form a ball of dough, and remove any flour clumps in the dough.
- After about 45 – 60 seconds of mixing, return the saucepan to the stove (on medium heat), and let the dough cook for a further 2 – 3 minutes while stirring and mixing. Do this until you see a film of dough forming on the bottom of your saucepan (note: this only occurs with stainless steel saucepans, not in non-stick saucepans).
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the dough into a large mixing bowl. Mix the dough gently, for about 2 – 3 minutes, to release the steam and allow it to cool down (lower than 70°C). Alternatively, you can flatten the dough along the wall of the mixing bowl and let it cool down for a few minutes.
- Crack all the eggs into a jug and whisk well to combine.
- Optional: When the dough has cooled down, mix in the vanilla if using.
- Next add the eggs in batches of 5 – 6, mixing each batch well into the dough before adding more. You can use a stand mixer or a spatula to mix in the eggs. Stop adding eggs when the dough starts to get a sheen and looks glossy. Then check for the right dough consistency with the choux pastry test.
- Place the dough in a 40cm pastry bag and secure the bag opening, then set it aside until you get the baking trays ready. Line a baking tray with a silicone baking mat. Also have a bowl of water and a bowl of confectioner’s sugar with a small mesh strainer ready as well.
- Fit a different pastry bag with a 1 – 2cm French star tip. Then snip the end off of the choux pastry bag from the previous step, and place that in the bag with the French star tip.
- Hold the pastry bag at a 45° angle, with the French star tip touching the mat. Pipe 8 – 10 eclairs (10-12cm in length) on the lined baking tray. When piping, make sure the ends are a little larger than the middle portion of the eclairs. Twist the piping tip at the end so that you end with a slightly pointed/jagged end.
- Dip your finger in water and pat the ends of the eclairs to flatten the pointed ends. Sift some confectioner’s sugar over the eclairs.
- Place the baking tray in the middle rack of your oven and set the timer to 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, check if the eclairs have turned golden brown. If they have, then open the oven door and quickly prick each of the eclairs with a sharp toothpick or skewer on one end.
- Close the oven door and let the eclairs bake for a further 5 – 10 minutes until they turn a darker golden colour. You want the eclairs to be baked a little longer so that they hold their shape better.
- Remove them from the oven, and immediately prick the eclair cases on the other end. Let them cool down for about 10 minutes on the baking tray and then transfer them onto a wire rack.
- Pipe more eclairs on the lined baking tray and bake. Repeat until you have used up all of your choux pastry.
- Once the eclairs have cooled down, they are ready to be filled. If you’re filling them later, place the unfilled shells in an air-tight container and freeze for later.
Filling
- Make vanilla pastry cream or chocolate pastry cream according to the linked recipes, the day before, and let it chill in the fridge overnight.
- Place the filling of your choice in a 40cm pastry bag, with a small round tip (5 – 10mm in diameter).
- Use a French star tip or the round tip to carefully make 3 holes on the bottom of your eclair shells. Fill the eclair shells with pastry cream through these holes.
- Wipe off any excess pastry cream. Repeat with all the eclair shells.
Chocolate Glaze
- Place the chocolate chips in a large, microwave-safe bowl.
- Heat the cream and salt in a separate bowl in the microwave or a saucepan. When the cream starts to simmer, immediately pour it over the chocolate chips. Add the corn syrup and butter. Stir the chocolate chips until they have completely melted and you have a glossy chocolate glaze. If the chocolate isn’t completely melted after stirring, microwave for 10 – 20 second bursts to melt the chocolate completely.
- Dip each filled eclair in the chocolate glaze (read the post for more details on how to cleanly glaze your chocolate eclairs).
- Place the glazed eclairs on a wire rack and allow the chocolate glaze to set.
- Serve at room temperature, or chilled.
TIPS & TRICKS:
- How to store leftover eclairs
If you have any leftover filled eclairs, place them on a baking tray in a single layer and freeze. Once frozen, you can keep them in an air-tight container, with parchment paper between each layer. Then return them to the freezer. Defrost frozen eclairs by keeping them at room temp. for about 1 hour. - How to make and store eclairs ahead of time
We recommend storing unfilled pastry shells in the freezer, to keep them fresh. Then thaw out the frozen shells overnight, and you can warm them in the oven for a few minutes to make them crisp again (optional). Then let them cool down and fill with your desired filling. Make sure to fill thawed shells just before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1 eclair
Calories: 246kcal (12%)
Carbohydrates: 11g (4%)
Protein: 2g (4%)
Fat: 11g (17%)
Saturated Fat: 6g (38%)
Cholesterol: 62mg (21%)
Sodium: 20mg (1%)
Potassium: 74mg (2%)
Sugar: 4g (4%)
Vitamin A: 290IU (6%)
Calcium: 17mg (2%)
Iron: 0.8mg (4%)
Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Recipe sourced from https://www.theflavorbender.com/perfect-classic-chocolate-eclairs/