Chocolate eclairs

You’ll Love These Homemade Eclairs Filled With Vanilla Cream, And Topped With Chocolate Glaze.

for the pastry cream:

• 2 cups whole milk

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 6 egg yolks

• 135 g sugar

• 1/4 cup cornstarch

• 1 tbs cold unsalted butter

• 1 - 2 tbsp whipped cream

whisk or beat the yolks and sugar until thick and pale, then whisk in the cornstarch .

Heat the milk and vanilla bean and seeds in a saucepan over medium heat until just below boiling point, then, whisking constantly, add it to the egg mixture.

Return mixture to the saucepan over medium heat and whisk constantly for 3 minutes or until mixture is smooth and thick.

Remove pan from heat, remove and discard vanilla bean, then stir in butter.

Transfer to a bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap against the surface to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate until needed.

The custard can be made up to 24 hours in advance.

whip some cream up and folded it into my chilled custard to lighten the filling up.

for the choux pastry:

• 1 cup water

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 1/2 tsp sugar

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

heat the butter, sugar, salt and water in a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is melted, bring to the boil.

remove from the heat and throw in all the flour at once and beat rapidly with a wooden spoon.

Reduce heat to low and continue beating for 2 minutes or until dough forms a smooth ball and comes away from the sides of the pan.

It’s important to cook the dough without browning it. Remove from heat and set aside for 5 minutes to cool.

Transfer the dough to a bowl and beat in the eggs really well, one at a time. You can use an electric mixer with a beater blade attachment if you have one.

The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip, pipe fat lengths of dough onto the lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between them.

Brush the surface of each eclair with the egg wash and smooth out any bumps of points of dough that remain on the surface.

Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, about 25 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking.

You can leave them to cool in the oven with the door ajar to allow them to become crisper if you like, or transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the Chocolate Glaze:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 120 g semisweet chocolate chips or chopped

heat the cream in microwave and pour into a large bowl.

put the chocolate into the cream and whisk until melted and smooth.

Set aside and keep warm. The glaze can be made up to 48 hours in advance.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to use, and rewarm in a microwave or over hot water when ready to use.

To assemble :

transfer the cream to a piping bag. Slice the éclairs horizontally Pipe pastry cream onto base.

Dip the tops of the eclairs in the warm chocolate glaze and set on a wire rack or sheet pan. Chill, uncovered, at least 1 hour to set the glaze. Serve chilled.