Hi everyone! I am happy to present you the first recipe of eclair! Eclairs are one of the most famous French dessert and are made of a choux pastry filled with custard cream. Today I will show you how to realize chocolate Eclairs. The custard cream’s recipe comes from one of my favourite French Pastry chef, Philippe Conticini. Traditionally the éclairs are glazed with fondant but I find it too sweet so I decided to replace it with a chocolate icing super shiny. This recipe is incredible and so easy to make.

For 25 éclairs of 12cm long:

Choux pastry:

• 300g of water
• 12g of sugar
• 144g of butter
• 192g of flour
• 300g of eggs (6) (this quantity may vary)
• 5g of salt

Chocolate custard cream:

• 1L of semi-skimmed milk
• 160g of egg yolks (=8)
• 100g of honey (or sugar)
• 40g of corn starch
• 30g of flour
• 40g of butter
• 8g of powdered gelatin (or 4 leaves)
• 60g of milk chocolate
• 200g of dark chocolate
• 3g of salt (4 pinches)

Glaze:

• 4g of powdered gelatin (or 2 leaves)
• 102g of sugar
• 37g of cocoa powder
• 37ml of water
• 70g of liquid full cream

Let’s begin with the glaze because it has to rest one night in the fridge.

1. Place the gelatin in 6 times its weight in very cold water, so in 24g. Let it sit for 15 minutes.

2. In a saucepan, bring to boil the sugar, the water and the cocoa powder. Once it has boiled add the cream and let it boil again.

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3. Off the heat, add the gelatin.

4. Refrigerate for minimum 6 hours.

Now for the chocolate custard cream:

1. Like the glaze, hydrate the gelatin in 6 times its weight in water, so in 32g.

2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the honey a few seconds.

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3. Add the corn starch and the flour.

4. Bring to simmering point the milk. Once the milk has reached simmering point, pour two third of it in three time on the egg mixture while whisking.

5. Pour everything back in the saucepan and cook on medium heat until it boils. Keep whisking.

6. Off the heat, add the gelatin, the cold butter and the two chocolates cut into pieces.

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7. Place the cream in a plate and cover with plastic wrap (the plastic has to touch the surface of the cream). Refrigerate for minimum 4 hours (you can make it the day before).

For the choux pastry:

1. In a saucepan, put the water, the butter cut into pieces, the sugar and the salt. Bring to boil over medium heat. The butter should have melted before it boils.

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2. Remove from the heat and add the sifted flour in one time. Stir until it is incorporated.

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3. Put it back on low heat and stir for a few minutes to eliminate the moisture of the dough. It’s ready when the dough is smooth and forms a ball that doesn’t separate into chunks.

4. Put the dough in another container and let it cool for a few minutes. Add the eggs, previously beaten, little by little. You can use a spatula or the flat beater of a stand mixer. To know if you’ve added enough eggs, take a bit of paste with your spatula and it should form a smooth and shiny collar. You can also trace a line in the dough with the back of your spatula, if it closes slowly, it’s perfect. If it doesn’t close you must add a bit more eggs.

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5. With a large fluted noozle, poach 12cm long sticks with enough space between each one. If you don’t have fluted nozzle, scratch the top of the eclairs with a fork, this will help the eclairs to rise better.

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This is the nozzle I used (it is a 14cm diameter):

6. Cook 15-20 minutes in a 180°C preheated oven (fan-assissted) until it has a nice golden color. If you have time you can diminish the temperature to 140° and let them in for 15 more minutes, this will make them stay crunchy even after filling them.

For the montage:

1. Take the custard cream out of the fridge and whisk it 1-2 minutes at maximum speed to incorporate as much air as possible.

2. At the bottom of the eclair, create three holes.

3. Fill each hole with cream, when you see that the cream comes out from the hole, it means that there is enough cream.

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4. Take the glaze out of the fridge and heat it in a bain-marie until it reaches the temperature of 37°, you can also use a microwave.

5. Dip the top of the eclair in the glaze and let the surplus trickle.

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It is already finished! Refrigerate until tasting!

Don’t forget to write an email to partage@justonemorecake.com to share your pictures of the recipe and your opinions! I will add them at the bottom of this article.

If you enjoyed this recipe, see the Vanilla Eclairs.

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