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Chocolate éclairs
Makes 10
Ingredients
- For the choux pastry:
- 65ml whole milk
- 55g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1tbsp caster sugar
- pinch of fine sea salt
- 100g plain flour
- 4 eggs, room temperature, beaten
For the filling
- 500ml crème pâtissière, room temperature (see instructions)
- 30g bittersweet dark chocolate
- 15g unsweetened cocoa powder
For the glaze
- 150g bittersweet dark chocolate
- 60g unsalted butter
- 50g icing sugar
- 60ml water
For the crème pâtissière
- 1 vanilla pod
- 350ml whole milk
- large piping bag
- 1.5cm piping nozzle
- 5mm piping nozzle
Method
First, make the crème pâtissière. Slit the vanilla pod lengthwise with a small sharp knife and scrape out the seeds. Add them, along with the pod, to the milk in a suitable saucepan. Bring almost to the boil, being careful not to let it burn, then fish out the vanilla pod. Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/Gas 4 and line a large baking sheet with baking paper. To make the choux pastry, put 65ml water, milk, butter, sugar and salt into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Take it off the heat and slowly fold in the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon until smooth.
Return to a medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes, until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the heat and whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until you have a smooth, dropping consistency. Spoon the mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm plain nozzle and leave for 5 minutes or so to cool and stiffen slightly.
Pipe 10 large, sausage-shaped éclair shells, about 15cm long, on to the baking sheet, spacing them 5cm apart to allow room to expand. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. Do not open the oven door during baking, or they will collapse.
To make the filling, have the crème pâtissière ready in a bowl. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water until there are no lumps. Pour the melted chocolate into the crème pâtissière, spoon in the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth, then let cool completely.
Transfer the filling to a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Using the top of the nozzle, pierce the underside of the éclairs in three places along the length and gently squeeze in the filling as evenly as possible.
For the glaze, melt the chocolate in the same way as above. When melted, add the butter and sugar, whisking until it looks shiny and creamy. Remove from the heat, leave to cool for 10 minutes. Then dip each éclair in the icing and smooth over using a spatula. Wait until the icing hardens before serving.