These are something that the hubbie has been asking for now for a while. I do not personally like eclairs or cream puffs, but I aim to please around here. It was also something on my list of things to tackle. After watching a special on Pate a Choux by Alton Brown, I was ready to try and manage these little guys.
Thanks to everyone for all the kind words in my last post, you are an amazing group of people! For those of you that follow the space program, I am sure you saw the Shuttle did not launch last Friday and it has been delayed to no earlier than November 30th. I will keep you up to date, but if you are interested in all the details of the problems the Shuttle engineers have been having, I prefer Spaceflight Now. They have daily updates on the status of the Shuttle mission.
Chocolate Cream Puffs and Eclairs
Dough:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
Cream Filling:
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 cup whole milk
2 large egg yolks
2 tbsp butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting:
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate
1 tbsp butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp hot water
To prepare the cream puffs or eclairs, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium saucepan bring water and butter to a roiling boil. Stir in flour and reduce heat to low. Continue to stir vigorously over low heat until the mixture forms a ball, about a minute. Remove from heat and beat in eggs. With a spoon continue to beat until smooth. To form cream puffs, drop 1/4 cup of mixture on prepared baking sheet. To form eclairs, fill a prepared pastry bag with mixture and form a line 4-5 inches long and 1-2 inches wide, think "finger-shaped". Bake for 35-40 minutes or until puffed and golden, remove from oven and let cool away from drafts.
To prepare cream filling, mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Add in milk and stir continuously over medium heat until mixture thickens and begins to boil. While stirring, let mixture boil for one minute. Remove from heat and add half of milk mixture to slightly beaten egg yolks. Mix, then place milk and egg mixture into the saucepan with remaining milk. While continuously stirring, bring to a boil over medium heat and let boil for one minute. Remove from heat and add in butter and vanilla. Pour mixture into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap directly on surface, and let refrigerate for at least 1 hour to chill.
To prepare chocolate frosting, melt chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Once chocolate is melted, remove and add in powdered sugar and water. Beat until smooth and spreadable.
To fill cream puffs or eclairs cut off the top third of each and fill with cream filling and replace tops. An alternative to filling cream puffs would be to inject the cream filling. To do this, use a sharp object to create a small hole in side of cream puff or eclair, then using a prepared pastry bag inject the cream filling. While chocolate is still warm, spread over filled cream puffs and eclairs.
I found that my cream filling was a bit on the runny side, to cure this I lowered the amount of milk required in the recipe. This is why I injected the cream filling rather than cutting the tops off. If you like a thicker cream filling be sure to boil until it has thickened to your liking. When chilling your pastry cream, be sure to place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the cream, otherwise it will form a thickened crust on the top and no one wants to eat that!
I used a pastry bag to make both the eclairs and cream puffs, this allowed an evenly distributed circle and finger shape. After forming the shapes, slightly dampen your finger and smooth out any leftover points made by the pastry bag, you don't want a pointy cream puff! For filling these guys, I found if I didn't pre-cut a small hole that when I tried to shove the pastry tip into the cream puff it would crack the surface. You can use any sharp object to create an entry point, first thing I saw was my meat thermometer!
This recipe is slightly adapted from BettyCrocker.com
Happy Baking!
I love eclairs and cream puffs and these look absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, I know that I am much better at eating them than I ever would be at making them! I hope your husband enjoyed them and was appreciative!
ReplyDeleteThese look incredible! I've never had a homemade eclair; I bet it's amazingly fresh
ReplyDeleteYou are a good wife to make treats you don't like. They turned out beautifully.
ReplyDeleteMy mom use to make cream puffs every once in awhile and this recipe takes me back. Thank you for that! These look delicious!
ReplyDeleteHow funny, I posted eclairs today, great minds must be on the same wave length! Have a great day! Your came out mighty tasty looking.
ReplyDelete-Gina-
These look great, Debbie! Isn't the actual pate a choux so much easier than you thought it would be? I made it for cream puffs last month, and I was pleasantly surprised at how simple it was. These, however, put those to shame. They're precious and I bet they taste SO delicious!
ReplyDeleteThey look wonderful
ReplyDeleteGreat Job! These look great!
ReplyDeleteHoly Cannoli those look amazing! I have such a sweet tooth so I know I'll be making them soon :)
ReplyDeleteThey look great.
ReplyDeleteYou did a dine job with these Debbie. These little guys would not last long near me (=
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, those are to die for. This recipe is hereby officially "bookmarked".
ReplyDeleteThese look amazing! I can almost taste them.
ReplyDeleteI tried to make eclairs once and they were an epic fail. They didn't rise at all, I had slice them completely in half to get the filling in, so they were more like pastry cream sandwiches. As soon as we bit into them cream just oozed out all over the place. I'm happy to see yours didn't suffer the same fate!
delicious favourite eclairs looks good
ReplyDeleteI want to quote the first post, by lisa, word for word lol...
ReplyDeleteThey look amazing!! you did a great job!! Delicious!
YOU'VE AN AWARD TO PICK FROM MY BLOG. CONGRATS!
ReplyDeleteI'M MAKING A COOKIES CATALOGUE FOR MY FUTURE REFERENCE. I INTEND TO WHISK ALL THE COOKIE RECIPES YOU HAVE IN STORE HERE.
These look so cute. Your husband is a lucky man!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job on these eclairs considering you haven't made them before. They're perfect. I'm so much more fond of a pudding/custard filling than when people try to use a heavy whipped cream. Bravo on a wonderful French pastry!
ReplyDeleteLooks wonderful. My hubby loves these too. ;)
ReplyDeleteYummy, yummy and yummy!! These look so scrumptious, thanks for sharing. I hope there won't be another delay on the launch.:)
ReplyDeleteI love eclairs, but I need to learn how to make them like you did. I'm way too picky.
ReplyDelete