I admit this is a very obvious choice. When you mention pâte à choux, who would not immediately think of chocolate éclairs? So, perhaps I am predictable. But at least I baked something delicious, yes?
Admittedly, this is not the first time I have made pâte à choux. Earlier in the year I made a quick batch of profiteroles – inspired after a pastry class with the head pastry chef at E’cco Bistro. I promised myself that my next batch of pâte à choux would deliver me some tasty éclairs. So here we are.
I used a vanilla pastry cream filling for the éclairs, and a simple ganache for the glaze. For both the éclairs (and the profiteroles previously), I did not end up with a neat glaze finish. I remember the beautifully smooth finish on the éclairs at Fauchon in Paris – and long to replicate that slick look!
Anyway, glaze neat or messy, these éclairs were delicious – even if they were predictable.
{ Pâte à choux } adapted from Sherry Yard
* Ingredients *
¼ cup water
¼ cup milk
45g butter, at room temperature, cubed
½ cup plain flour, sifted
2-3 eggs, at room temperature
* Directions *
Place water, milk and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until butter melts and mixture just comes to the boil. Add all the flour to the butter mixture at once and use a wooden spoon to beat until well combined. Place over low heat and cook, stirring, for at least 4 minutes or until the mixture forms a mashed potato like appearance. Remove from the heat.
Transfer to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for a few minutes to cool the mixture down. Then start to add the egg one by one. Make sure the egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Before you add your last egg, check for consistency. (See notes.) Once done, the dough should be shiny and smooth. At this stage you can fill a piping bag with the choux paste and use straight away or freeze for later. (See notes.)
Preheat oven to 220 C or 425 F. Line a baking sheet with Silpat. Pipe the eclairs onto the baking tray. Brush the tops with a little egg mixture. Bake for 10 minutes, or until begin to rise. Turn the temperature down to 180 C or 350 F. Carefully prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon and bake for another 15 minutes.
When cool, cut the top half off each one with a serrated knife. Set the tops over a cooling rack. Drizzle ganache over each top (you can use any recipe you like for the ganache). Place the tops in the ridge to set, about 15-20 minutes. Fill the eclairs with a simple pastry cream.
Makes 12 eclairs 10cm (4 in)
{ Basic Pastry Cream }
* Ingredients *
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup cornflour
* Directions *
In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together with a wooden spoon. (Never let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.) Add the cornflour to the egg mixture until you get a smooth paste. Set aside.
Meanwhile in a saucepan combine the milk and split vanilla bean on medium heat until boiling. Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. Remove vanilla bean, scrape out seeds, and add the seeds to the egg mixture.
Place the egg mixture back into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 – 60 seconds until it becomes very thick and it is hard to stir.
Remove from heat and pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool. If not using right away refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. Beat before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.
Makes 1 ½ cups
{ A few tips … }
1. You can freeze the pastry before you pipe into puffs. Transfer the mixture once cooled to a piping bag, seal and then freeze for up to 2 weeks.
2. The number of eggs given is a bit of a guide. When you have added the second last egg, check the consistency. The pastry should be more firm than runny. If it is a little runny, add the last egg. Sherry’s tip is to pinch off about 1 teaspoon of the dough with your thumb and index finger, then pull your fingers apart. The dough should stretch rather than break. If it breaks, add the last egg.
3. Steam helps these little puffballs rise. Sherry recommends putting a cup of hot water into a baking dish at the bottom of the oven when you put your puffs in to bake.
4. Filled puffs only last a couple of hours in the fridge.
5. Consider filling with a lovely chocolate custard for a different twist.
August 23, 2009 at 10:20 am
Your éclair looks beautiful! A delightful treat!
Cheers,
Rosa
August 23, 2009 at 10:31 am
I just made éclairs too!!! yours look AMAZING! I love your photography! 🙂
August 23, 2009 at 11:51 am
I agree – I always think of eclairs with that glossy chocolate top whenever I come across pate a choux! And these… these are lovely!
August 23, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Well done Julia! I’m no longer scared of pate a choux now too. Such a relief! 😛
August 23, 2009 at 2:34 pm
I remember making this for the Daring Baker’s challenge just before we left to Bali to visit my mom. I should make it again, because my whole family seem to really enjoy eating it.
Yours look so delicious Julia!
August 23, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I always love eclairs! They never go out of fashion, for me at least! Yours is absolutely beautiful!
August 23, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Sometimes the simple things are the best. I love your pastry binge, it is so interesting to see all the different varieties of this thing collectively called ‘pastry’. Beautiful and delicious, well done! (and now I want an eclair, good work 🙂 )
August 23, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Your photos are always gorgeous. And who can resist a chocolate eclair?
August 23, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Yum, these look so delicious. I’ve been craving a good coffee eclair since L’Ultime, but I think these will hit the spot beautifully 🙂
August 23, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Nothing wrong with predictable! Especially when it’s this beautiful and delicious and well, a true classic! Eclairs, bien sur! The photo of the eclair above – there’s something about it that I just love… the angle, the lighting, ooh it’s magnificent! Bravo, et BON REGAL ! 🙂
August 23, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Great looking eclairs – last time I had them was at Laduree in Paris – yours looks just as good!
August 23, 2009 at 10:30 pm
delicious! I love eclairs and these look spectacular! Thanks for sharing some tips too .
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August 24, 2009 at 5:29 am
oh Je veux un eclair un chocolat!!!!! I could eat at least 3 or 4 of them! I love Sherry Yard’s pastries. She’s an amazing pastry chef. I think I have all her cookbooks. Desserts by yard is my favorite!
August 24, 2009 at 8:00 am
There’s nothing dull about these. My mouth always starts watering whenever I see eclairs. You can probably get a smooth finish by dipping the top of the eclair straight into the ganache bowl, rather than spreading the ganache with a knife.
August 24, 2009 at 8:36 am
Choux pastry is something I’ve yet to try (possibly out of fear). I love the look of your eclairs, they’re such a guilty pleasure, especially all the pastry cream inside!
August 24, 2009 at 8:43 am
I think these look fantastic! I still haven’t made chocolate eclairs… they have been on my list since before coming a food blogger. Can’t wait to try it!
August 24, 2009 at 9:14 am
How lovely! I love how complicated choux pastry looks without actually being all that difficult (and oh! pastry cream! I eat it by the spoonful)!
For the super smooth glaze, try melting chocolate down in a double boiler and adding a couple of tablespoons of a non-flavoured (or nicely flavoured!) oil. I do that for my profiteroles and they look so purty with their shiny dark-brown tops.
August 24, 2009 at 10:07 am
Love choux pastry.And yum with vanilla pastry cream!
August 24, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Again, you never fail to impress me with your wonderful baked concoctions! Just curious: Who is the lucky people who help you eat them?
August 24, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Yum…I love love love eclairs. I made them for the first time a few months ago and was surprised by how easy they are. I keep meaning to write a post about them…
Lovely photos, as always!
August 25, 2009 at 12:07 am
oh those eclairs look simply perfect ^^ .. I’ll go to the supermarket now & try this recipe still before the weekend, promise :-)! XOXO
August 25, 2009 at 12:23 am
I always love to stop by to “your’s home”, Julia.. you always know how to make me hungry everytime to see your picture, well done, girl ! 🙂
August 25, 2009 at 2:46 am
you are such an amazing source of inspiration, darling – I’ve tried making eclairs once, but it was a complete disaster. Time to try them again – yours looks beautiful!
August 25, 2009 at 2:55 am
Your eclairs look lovely. Congrats on the win in the EKKA (I knew you were going to win something). And I love eclairs any sort and these look like the sort I want *mouth watering*….Fabulous work and photography as usual. Cheers from Audax in Sydney.
August 25, 2009 at 9:43 am
What an absolutely beautiful food blog you have! All your photographs are amazing and all the desserts/sweets you create look so mouth watering! 🙂
August 25, 2009 at 10:06 am
You have the perfect namesake:) Just right.
I think I keep repeating myself:) But really ..so artistically presented and pretty.
August 25, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Beautilful, as always!
Your are very talented!
August 25, 2009 at 8:14 pm
You’ve done a beautiful job, my pre-dinner tummy is grumbling!
August 25, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Yummmm! So delicious looking . . . Who doesn’t love a great chocolate eclair? Is it possible that the Fauchon eclairs were glazed with a chocolate fondant icing? That would dry very slick and smooth. But, your ganache frosting looks more delish than fondant.
August 26, 2009 at 12:03 am
Your eclairs look just lovely. Nice blog you have here too…
August 26, 2009 at 1:54 am
I am so jealous of anyone who can make pâte à choux – especially when it looks as perfect as yours! So beautiful!
August 26, 2009 at 8:57 am
How beautiful those pics! Eclais are delish!
August 27, 2009 at 8:27 am
eclairs are certainly delicious! my husband’s favorite, and one of mine, too.
August 28, 2009 at 9:33 am
Predictable isn’t a bad thing – this looks like a very delicious predictable thing in fact 🙂
August 30, 2009 at 10:20 am
Niiice! If you want a slick glaze, you could look back to one of the previous DB challenges, when we did Pierre Hermes’ eclairs. I remember the glaze recipe being quite shiny!
August 30, 2009 at 9:45 pm
beautiful
have a nice day
val
August 31, 2009 at 8:07 pm
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August 31, 2009 at 11:19 pm
. . . and I hope your “baking wish list” NEVER subsides! Every post is more astounding than the next. Your work is not just instructive and entertaining, it is truly inspirational. Just beautiful.