Chocolate Eclairs

Eclairs are one of my family's favorite desserts. It’s a perfect combination.   A crisp exterior surrounds a smooth, creamy, light as air custard and topped with a rich chocolate glaze - it’s heaven on a plate.

I bought an Accent Decorator from Pampered Chef recently and was anxious to try it out. So when I offered to make dessert for an upcoming get together, of course I decided to bring chocolate eclairs. The decorator makes filling eclairs a breeze, but you can use a pastry bag as well.

We love the eclairs at Schmidts, a local pastry shop, because their custard is a mix of vanilla pudding and whipped cream. So for my eclair filling I made my favorite homemade vanilla pudding and mixed it with whipped cream.

Usually I use the Betty Crocker recipe for the choux pastry, but this time I tried a recipe from the Food Network and I liked it even better. Instead of mixing the eggs into the dough in the saucepan, you put the dough into a mixing bowl before adding the eggs, which stops the cooking process and you don’t have to worry about working so quickly.

Making eclairs at home can be a bit time consuming, but it isn’t difficult. If you haven’t tried it yet, it's well worth the effort!

Vanilla Pudding
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

In a saucepan combine the sugar, flour and salt. Gradually stir in milk gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to boil. Cook for 2 minutes more.

Remove from burner. Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the hot mixture in the saucepan. Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Transfer pudding mixture to a medium bowl. Cover with plastic; refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour or overnight.

Pastry Cream
Vanilla Pudding (above)
1/2 cup whipping cream

When vanilla pudding is chilled, whip cream to form soft peaks and gentle fold in to vanilla pudding. Keep covered and chilled until ready to use.

Pastry
Food Network
1 cup water
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, plus 1 extra, if needed

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt and sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return to the heat and cook, stirring, 30 seconds.

Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer). Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, add 3 eggs, 1 egg at a time. Stop mixing after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add the remaining 1 egg and mix until incorporated.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe fat lengths of dough (about the size and shape of a jumbo hot dog) onto the lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between them. You should have 8 to 10 lengths.

Use your fingers to 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. Let cool on the baking sheet. Fit a medium-size plain pastry tip over your index finger and use it to make a hole in the end of each eclair (or just use your fingertip). Using a pastry bag fitted with a medium-size plain tip, gently pipe the custard into the eclairs, using only just enough to fill the inside (don't stuff them full).

Shiny Chocolate Glaze
Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
5 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 1/2 teaspoons water

Place the chocolate chips, margarine, and corn syrup in small saucepan over low heat and stir until the chocolate and margarine melt, 2 minutes. Add the water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is of a pouring consistency.

Dip the tops of the eclairs in the warm chocolate glaze (or spread on if that’s easier) and set on a sheet pan. Chill, uncovered, at least 1 hour to set the glaze. Serve chilled.