Hey guys! I am back with another new baking challenge post with yet another dad joke of a title! Today, I decided to create my all-time favourite dessert- chocolate eclairs. I have been obsessed with frozen superstore eclairs this entire lockdown. Probably the reason I gained all this weight! So I thought, why not try making it fresh from scratch at home? Appearance wise, it did not turn out very aesthetically pleasing but at the risk of sounding cocky, I am confident to "d'eclair" it as the best dessert I have made so far in this blog!
I am pretty sure everyone is already familiar with what an eclair is. It is made with choux dough filled with cream, that is then topped with chocolate icing. Like many desserts around the world, it originated in France and the name actually comes from the French word eclair which means "flash of lightning". It was named so because it is eaten quickly or, in a flash, which seems pretty fitting right?
So, without further ado, let's dive into how these wonderful pastries are made!
Ingredients
Choux dough:
2 cups unsalted butter
2 ½ cup water
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
8 eggs
Cream Filling:
200g instant vanilla pudding mix
5 cups cold milk
2 ½ cups heavy cream
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Chocolate icing:
5 squares semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup butter
2 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup hot water
Directions
Preheat oven to 230 degrees C. Grease a baking tray with some butter.
In a medium saucepan, add the butter and water. Bring it to a boil, stirring until butter melts completely. Reduce heat to low, and then add flour and salt. Stir continuously until mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan and begins to form a stiff ball. Remove from heat. Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between to incorporate completely into the mixture. With a large spoon, place the dough onto the baking tray in 5 inch long strips.
Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce heat to 165 degrees C. Bake for 20 minutes more, until the dough sounds hollow when lightly tapped on the bottom. Cool completely on a rack.
Note: You can poke a hole into the choux pastry while they are cooling off to let the air out, so that it does not get too soggy inside.
For the filling, combine pudding mix and cold milk in a bowl according to package instructions. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract. Fold whipped cream into pudding. Cut off tops of the pastry shells with a sharp knife. Fill shells with pudding mixture and replace tops.
For the icing, melt the chocolate and butter together in a medium saucepan over low heat. Mix in confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Then add hot water, one tablespoon at a time, until icing is smooth and of desired consistency. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and drizzle over filled eclairs. Refrigerate until serving.
This is how they turned out! My photography skills did not do them justice but I swear they tasted much better than they look!
If you are as much of an eclair lover as I am, or if you want to show somebody how much you "eclair" about them through something sweet, or if you wanna "d'eclair" your love to a special someone who loves homemade pastries, or if you are sick and tired of my really bad puns, I definitely suggest giving this easy and simple recipe a try! Till next time, take eclair!
I ‘eclair’ about you! Can I get a serving of your baked heaven next time? ;)