• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Barbara Bakes™
  • Home
  • About
  • Info
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • Breads
  • Breakfast
  • Dessert
    • Cakes
    • Cookies
    • Ice Cream
    • Pastry
    • All Desserts »
  • Main Dishes
    • Beef
    • Chicken
    • Pork
    • Pasta
    • Meatless
    • All Main Dishes »
  • Side Dishes
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Baking Tips
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Baking Tips
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Dessert

    How to Pipe and Fill Eclairs

    Published by Melissa on May 6, 2021 | Updated June 10, 2022 | 8 Comments

    Pin
    Share
    Tweet
    Jump to Project

    Learn how to easily make, pipe, fill and assemble homemade eclairs so you can enjoy the best French pastries at home, any time you like. 

    Featured Image Collage for post How to Make, Pipe, Fill and Decorate Eclairs

    Did you know that you make eclairs with the same easy-to-make dough used to make cream puffs? You just shape the dough differently. You could spoon the dough onto the trays in little log shapes, but it’s faster and easier to pipe the dough on the trays.

    Below my step-by-step guide is a video I created a quick video to show you how easy it is to make, pipe, fill and decorate eclairs.

    Lemon Meringue eclairs
    Print Pin This
    4.50 from 2 votes

    How to Pipe and Fill Eclairs

    Learn how to easily make, pipe, fill and assemble homemade chocolate eclairs so you can enjoy the best French pastries at home, any time you like. 
    Prep Time10 mins
    Active Time40 mins
    Additional Time10 mins
    Total Time1 hr
    Course: Dream Puffs
    Keyword: how to make eclairs
    Author: Barbara Bakes LLC

    Equipment

    • Piping bag
    • Star piping tip
    • Baking sheet
    • Parchment paper
    • Eclair stencils
    • Offset spatula or butter knife

    Materials

    • Choux dough
    • Eclair filling pastry cream, whipped cream, etc.
    • Eclair frosting chocolate ganache, frosting, etc.

    Instructions

    • Eclair dough piped on a baking sheet using the templates from my new cookbook Simply Sweet Dream Puffs.
    • Piping Eclairs
    • When you’ve made your choux dough, transfer it to a piping bag to get started. 
    • I like to use a star tip (#829) to pipe eclairs. The ridges help the eclair rise higher. Plus, they look great.
    • If you don’t have a star tip, you can use a round tip. Then use the tines of a fork to create ridges on the sides of the piped eclairs.
    • Print my eclair templates first. Then place the template underneath a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. This will help you pipe uniform and beautiful eclairs with all of your choux.
    • Then simply use the template as a guide to pipe star-shaped logs of choux dough, evenly spaced apart on the parchment paper.  
    • Remove the template and bake your eclairs as directed in the recipe. 

    • For you coffee lovers, a Tiramisu eclair.
    • Filling Eclairs
    • While the choux pastry bakes, you can make the filling for your eclairs. Make sure it’s fully chilled and set before filling the pastries. 
    • When the eclair pastries are done baking, remove them from the oven. Transfer them to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before filling. 
    • If you’re using more than one kind of filling or if the filling is difficult to pipe, you’ll need to cut each eclair in half the long way. 
    • If you want to really load up the eclair with filling, cut off just the top ⅓ so that you have a stronger base to fill.
    • If your filling is a custard filling, like the traditional vanilla pastry cream in chocolate eclairs, then you’ll want to leave the eclair intact to fill. 
    • In this case, if you are going to cover the eclair with thick frosting, poke two holes in the top of the eclair on each end. This makes for easy filling and less messy eating (gravity will keep the filling inside the eclair when the holes are on the top, rather than the ends of the pastry. 

    • Collage of making Chocolate Eclairs
    • Frosting Eclairs
    • After each pastry is filled, it’s time to frost!
    • There are two ways I use to frost eclairs. If the icing is thick and creamy, then it’s best to spread it on top of each eclair with a thin spatula or butter knife.
    • If you’re using a thinner or runny icing, it’s easier to dip the top of each eclair into the icing. 

    • Maple Pecan eclairs filled with a rich, creamy maple custard, iced with a maple icing, and decorated with chopped pecans. If you love a maple bar donut, you're going to go crazy for this eclair.
    • Decorating Eclairs
    • To decorate your eclairs, you can finish them simply by dusting them with powdered sugar.
    • Or if you’d like to dress them up with extra garnishes, do so after frosting. Sprinkle them with chopped toasted nuts, shredded coconut, colorful sprinkles, crushed candies, zest, and of course chocolate, grated chocolate, or chocolate curls, The possibilities are endless!

    Pictured in this post are my Lemon Meringue Eclairs, Strawberry Cheesecake Eclairs, Pecan Pie Eclairs, Tiramisu Eclairs, Chocolate Eclair Shells, Chocolate Eclairs, and Maple Pecan Eclairs from Simply Sweet Dream Puffs. As well as my recipe for the best Chocolate Eclairs.

    Dream Puffs - Shockingly Easy Fun-Filled Treats front cover

    You can download Simply Sweet Dream Puffs from Amazon. Amazon has a Kindle app that you can use to read e-books on almost any device, including laptops and desktop computers. It’s also available on iTunes and where other eBooks are sold.

    Eclair dough piped on a baking sheet using the templates from my new cookbook Simply Sweet Dream Puffs.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe
    No ratings yet

    Eclair Shells – Pâte à Choux

    Prep Time15 mins
    Cook Time45 mins
    Total Time1 hr
    Course: Baking Tips
    Keyword: baking, cream puff, pastry
    Servings: 12 eclairs
    Author: Barbara Schieving
    Prevent your screen from going to sleep

    Ingredients

    • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
    • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 6 pieces
    • 1 teaspoon sugar
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • 3 large eggs room temperature
    • Egg Wash optional
    • 1 egg
    • 1 teaspoon water

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 425°. Lightly grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper. Measure flour and set aside.
    • Bring butter, sugar, salt, and ¾ cup water to a boil in a 3-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Immediately remove from heat, and quickly stir in flour mixture all at once. Return to heat and stir with a wooden spoon for 1 to 2 minutes, or until dough is smooth and forms a ball. Transfer dough to the bowl of an electric mixer, and let cool 5 minutes.
    • Add 3 eggs, 1 at a time, beating until mixture is smooth and glossy. Spoon dough into a pastry bag fitted with a ⅝-inch plain tip. Pipe dough onto prepared pans into 1 ½-inch rounds (1 ½ inches high). Smooth out peaks and round tops with a moistened finger.
    • Whisk together remaining 1 egg and 1 tsp. water. Brush tops of dough with egg mixture.
    • Bake at 425° for 5 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 375°, and bake 30 minutes or until puffy and golden brown. Turn oven off; let shells stand in closed oven 10 minutes. Remove from baking sheets to wire racks, and cool completely.
    /How-to-Make-Eclairs-Collage
    Pin
    Share
    Tweet
    « Best Cinco De Mayo Recipes
    Chocolate Eclairs »
    about us

    About Melissa & Barbara

    As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...

      • Facebook
      • Instagram
      • Pinterest
      • Twitter

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




    1. Dalila

      May 11, 2016 at 8:37 pm

      Hi! I’d like (and dont’t find) the receipt of your chocolate eclairs but those ones that are brown in its dough…

      pls, tks, Dalila.

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        May 11, 2016 at 8:43 pm

        Hi Dalila – the chocolate pastry dough recipe is not on my site. It’s in the Dream Puffs cookbook which is available where ever eBooks are sold.

        Reply
    2. Foodiewife

      October 24, 2015 at 3:56 pm

      Congratulations on your book finally being able to be downloaded. This video is awesome! I can’t wait to read your book, and plan what pastries to make when my son comes from for Christmas. He tall, thin and can eat a lot! Me? Never trust a skinny cook, LOL!

      Reply
    3. Annamaria @ Bakewell Junction

      October 13, 2015 at 9:52 pm

      Barbara,
      My hubby loves eclairs. He will want every one you have on this post.
      Annamaria

      Reply
    4. Melissa @ My Recent Favorite books

      October 05, 2015 at 5:12 pm

      The recipes and the book look great!

      Reply
    5. Carol

      October 05, 2015 at 1:47 pm

      Oh my….all those dreamy eclairs….I’d love a taste of each one! I’ve always stuck to making cream puffs, never tried eclairs….I will now. I didn’t know the ridged top would make them rise higher…oh the cool things I’m learning from you! 🙂

      So many flavors to try….and I’ve never made a chocolate eclair OR cream puff shell either….what fun! A chocolate lovers dream for sure……

      Reply
    6. Mary

      October 05, 2015 at 11:32 am

      They look delicious and cute video too!

      Reply
    7. Rosa

      October 05, 2015 at 9:36 am

      Perfect éclairs! Incredibly tempting…

      Cheers,

      Rosa

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome!

    Melissa and Barbara smiling

    Baking made easy! Sharing fabulous recipes for cookies, cakes, pies, breads and more. Barbara Bakes (and Melissa too!) Recipes from both of our kitchens to yours.

    Learn More »

    Popular Posts

    meat and beans sandwiched between two tacos covered in salsa, cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and a dollop of sour cream

    Mexican Pizza

    Featured Image for post Easy To Make Naan - Indian Flatbread

    Easy To Make Naan – Indian Flatbread

    Homemade Creme Brule

    A Smash Cake for Baby's first birthday

    Easy-To-Make Smash Cake for a First Birthday Party

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    SEEN ON

    as seen on promo graphic

    SEEN ON

    as seen on promo graphic

    About

    • Home
    • About
    • Contact
    • Press

    Browse

    • Recipe Index
    • Popular
    • Baking Tips
    • Travel

    Subscribe

    • Newsletter
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

    As an Amazon affiliate, and affiliate with other businesses, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 barbarabakes.com. All rights reserved. DISCLOSURE - PRIVACY POLICY.