Ingredients
Scale
- 50g unsalted butter, diced
- 100g plain flour, sifted
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 3 medium eggs, beaten
- Chocolate Glaze
- 100ml double cream
- 1 tbsp soft light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100g dark chocolate (70%), chopped
- 25g unsalted butter
Instructions
- The Creme Patissiere:
- Heat the milk and vanilla to boiling point. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale, then stir in the cornflour. Pour the hot milk over the egg yolk mixture and whisk until smooth. Return to the pan and heat gently, stirring constantly, until thick.
- Put the thick custard into a clean bowl. Cover the surface with cling film and leave to cool completely.
- The Choux Pastry:
- Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. To make the pastry, heat the milk, butter and 4 tbsp water over a gentle heat until the butter melts. Increase the heat and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and quickly beat in the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. Keep stirring until the mixture is smooth, glossy and comes away from the sides of the pan. Allow to cool for a few mins, then gradually add the eggs, mixing well between each addition.
- Line a baking sheet with grease proof paper, then spoon the pastry mix into a piping bag fitted with a 2cm star nozzle (I prefer this to the plain one because it gives you a nice shape! Pipe the pastry out with a good 2 cm distance between them and at whichever size you would like. Bake for 15 mins or until golden brown and doubled in size. Leave to cool.
- The Glaze:
- For the glaze, heat the double cream, sugar and vanilla to boiling point. Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and pour over the cream mixture. Stand for 2-3 mins, then add the butter and stir until smooth and glossy.
- To assemble the eclairs, pipe in the creme patissiere with a long pointy pipe nozzle. Spread the chocolate glaze over the top of each eclair and leave to set before serving.
- Alternatives –
- My sister and I didn’t just make classic eclairs, we made ones with mango puree in the creme patissiere. Just chop some mango up and pulp it up in a food processor, then add sparingly to the creme patissiere.
- If you don’t like chocolate glaze, then just undertake the SAME process but use white chocolate instead of milk chocolate and add colourings as you which – we added pink.. because we LOVE IT!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Dessert