How to Make Chocolate Eclairs

Hi guys! Yes I am back with chocolate after my savory experiment with the quiche. But obviously chocolate is love. I'm going to post about these chocolate eclairs that I made. making Eclairs is a step by step process and has many elements. None of these is difficult to make and neither very time taking.

The one thing that elevates an eclair is the decoration and plating. The choux pastry is simple enough to make, the filling is whipped cream and the glaze is also quite easy to prepare. Once the choux pastry dough is made, use a wet pastry bag to pipe out the eclairs. Being wet, the dough will not stick to the bag. You can also use a spoon but a piping bag would be neater. On baking, the eclairs will rise and fill with steam. Once baked, you need to take out the eclairs and pierce them otherwise they would sink.

After the eclairs are cooled, use a piping bag to fill the eclairs. I hold the eclairs vertically and fill them up from the side. This is a very neat method but makes it difficult to know if the eclairs is filled. You will feel the weight of the cream in the eclairs but its only by experience that you realize that. For an easier method, and if you do not have a piping bag, you can slice the eclairs from the side and fill them with a spoon. A third method is to make 2-3 holes on the top of the eclairs and fill them up from there. This will give the best results, however, only do this if you are going with a thick glaze.

Once filled, it is not time to decorate. Do not prepare the glaze in advance as it will harden. Once your eclairs are filled, make the glaze. Use a double boiler because its easier to get right than in a microwave. It might take more time, but the results are worth it. The glaze requires light corn syrup that might not be that readily available in every city so you can order online. A little goes a long way.

Once my glaze was prepared, I dipped my eclairs in it and then topped with some choco chips and white chocolate shards. To prepare the shards, just melt the chocolate and brush on on baking paper or acetate sheet. Brush in a thin layer and wait for it to harden. If you are short on time or its very hot or humid, you can put it in the freezer also. Once dry just start pulling it off the sheet and it would break into shards itself. The cooking chocolate that I use is pre-tempered, however, if yours is not, you need to temper the chocolate for the shiny result.

I just randomly decorated a few with just choco chips, a few with just the white chocolate and some with both. If the glaze is hardened already, just use some whipped or melted chocolate to stick your decorations on. 

For the easiest decoration technique, all you need is some castor sugar. You could sprinkle it on top the eclairs directly or even use stencils and make designs from the sugar. Depending on your creativity, you can use whatever you like, in whichever way you like. This is why I like decorating, because you can easily make it your own.

So without any further ado, here is the recipe-

Time taken: 1 hour (including baking time)

Makes 8

Ingredients:

Choux pastry

1/4 cup Unsalted Butter

2/3 cup Water
1/8 tbsp Salt
2/3 cup Flour
2 large Eggs

Cream

1/2 cup Whipping Cream

1 tbsp Vanilla Essence

Castor Sugar, as needed

Chocolate Glaze

3/4 cup Dark Cooking Chocolate

3 tbsp Unsalted Butter

1 tbsp Light Corn Syrup

1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method:

Choux pastry

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. In a saucepan, add butter, water and salt. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from heat. 
3. Add flour and beat till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.
4. Once cool enough to touch, add the eggs slowly and mix using an electric mixer till light and fluffy.
5. Rinse an icing bag with water and fill with the dough.
6. On an ungreased baking tray or butter paper, pipe out lines of desired length and thickness. keep in mind that it would rise on baking.
7. Using water make the ends of the eclairs neat. The water makes sure the dough does not stick to your hand.
8. Bake for 30-40 minutes, till they stop making a faint sizzling sound.
9. Remove from oven and pierce on the side to let the steam out. If not pierced, they would sink. 

Cream

1. Take the whipping cream in a chilled bowl, and whip till soft peaks.
2. Now add vanilla extract and sugar, if required. You can also add rum at this step.
3. Now beat again till stiff peaks form and the cream is light and fluffy.
4. Pour the cream in an icing bag and holding them vertically fill the now cool eclairs from the side you pierced earlier.
5.  Try to feel the weight of the eclairs to determine if they are filled properly.

Chocolate glaze

1. In a double boiler, combine chocolate, butter and corn syrup. Stir till melted into a smooth mixture.
2. Then, add vanilla and stir.

Assembly

1. Dip the top of the filled eclairs in the mixture, removing in an arc motion.
2. Be careful since the hot mixture can burn your skin.
3. Set down the glazed ecalirs to harden. (about 2-3 minutes)
4. Garnish as desired. (chocochips, white chocolate, sprinkles, ganache, raspberry coulie, icing sugar are some options) 
5. Serve.