Make delicious Chocolate Eclairs with this easy recipe. These little treats filled with the whipped cream are so light and airy, and the dark chocolate ganache on top makes them irresistable.
Another tick in my baking wishlist- Chocolate Eclairs! This was the first time I tried my hands on these light choux pastries and I finally nailed this one. Who knew a mixture of just flour, eggs, butter and water can make something so delicious! Contrary to popular belief, chocolate eclairs are super easy to make! I have been a victim of overestimating them. Turns out these little treats are easier to make than you think.
Chocolate eclairs are choux pastries, which is a French form of pastry making. Making this pastry looks rather intimidating but it’s actually really simple. To make choux, like in cream puffs, profiteroles and in this case eclairs all you have to do melt butter along with sugar and some salt in a pot of water. Once the butter melts and all the ingredients are mixed int together you just toss in the flour all at once and mix it in using a wooden spoon or a spatula. The dough will come off rather easily from the sides of the pan and will look nice and smooth once mixed. Now you just need to add in the vanilla to mask off the eggy flavour (very important that you use good quality stuff here because this is a dominant flavour) and also add in the eggs one by one. Once the mixture is a good dropping consistency, pipe it on a baking tray and bake! I filled my eclairs with the classic whipped cream and dipped in in some chocolate ganache, but sky is the limit here. You can do coffee fillings, Nutella fillings, and even caramel.
- For the eclair:
- Butter, ½ cup or 115 grams
- Sugar, 1 teaspoon
- Water, 1 cup or 240ml
- Salt, a pinch
- Flour, 1 cup or 128 grams
- Eggs, 4 (at room temp)
- Vanilla Extract, 2 teaspoon
- For the Ganache
- Dark Chocolate, 150 grams
- Fresh Cream or Heavy Cream, 200 grams
- For the filling:
- Whipping cream, 1 cup
- Icing sugar, ¼ cup
- Decorative sprinkles
- For the eclair: Start by boiling the water, butter, salt and sugar in a large saucepan. Once the ingredients come to a boil, remove the saucepan off the heat and pour the flour in one go. Mix continuously until a dough is formed.
- Transfer this dough into a bowl and let it cool down. Once cool, start adding the eggs one by one and mix them in. Once all the eggs are in, add in the vanilla extract. The mixture will be of a good dropping consistency now, so transfer it into a piping bag with your favourite nozzle on.
- Before piping prepare a cookie tray by brushing it with butter and lining it with parchment paper. Start piping about 3 inch long pastries on the parchment. If you think the pastry is too thin, double layer it. Once done, put the tray into the refrigerator to set for about 15 minutes.
- Next, brush the pastries with some egg wash on top and bake them in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes at 180 degrees celsius.
- For the chocolate ganache : transfer chopped chocolate in a large bowl. Next, heat cream in a saucepan and once its scalding, pour it over the chopped chocolate. Cover and ket it sit for about 10 minutes and then mix it using a spatula. You should now have a glossy ganache.
- In another bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks form and add in the icing sugar. Transfer this into a piping bag with a small nozzle.
- To assemble: Take a cool eclair, using a knife or something sharp, make 2 holes at the bottom of it. Fill the eclair with whipped cream through these holes. Next, dip them in chocolate ganache and sprinkle some chocolate balls or sprinkles on top. Serve cold.
If you're wondering why all the ingredients aren't same in weight measurements its because, every ingredient weighs differently.
Can’t wait to try these1
Also, can I do a milk wash instead of the egg wash?
Hi, you can but you wouldn’t get the same color without the egg wash 🙂