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Learn to make a cream filled chocolate eclairs at home that taste just like the ones they sell at the French bakeries.
French Pastries
Tessa has been home for the holiday weekend so we decided to channel our inner French pastry chef and give the recipes a try at home to see if we could do it. Making French pastries is not hard it just takes time and lots of butter, cream and sugar!
It was easier than I thought when you know a few tricks.
What is Pate a Choux?
It is the French word for dough and is a combination of water, butter, salt, flour and eggs and is the dough used for eclairs, cream puffs and other French pastries.
How to Make Pate a Choux
The first step in the process of making an eclair as is to make the Pate a Choux which is the “dough.”
- Combine butter, salt and water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat and add the sifted flour.
- Beat the dough with a wooden spoon.
- Put back on heat and beat the dough for one minute or until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and doesn’t stick to the spoon.
- Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl and add the eggs one at a time while stirring. The dough will be smooth and slightly loose.
- Put the dough into a large pastry bag. Use a 1/2 inch plain tip in the bag and then pipe your dough onto a parchment covered cookie sheet. See photo below for the correct texture. The dough should be not too stiff yet soft enough so that it slides off the spoon when tilted.
- Pipe eclairs onto a parchment lined baking sheet. The eclairs should be 4-5 inches long but you could make them any size you want.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes. The trick to making eclairs so that they don’t sink is to open the oven a few times through out the baking process to release the steam. I opened the oven 10 minutes into the process to release steam and then at 15-20 minutes I turned the oven down to 350 and stuck a wooden spoon in the door to keep it ajar and continue baking until they are golden brown.
Eclair Pastry Cream
While they are baking you can make your pastry cream or custard which is what you will fill the eclairs with.
Pastry Cream Ingredients
- Milk. I use whole milk.
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Flour
- Cornstarch
- Butter
- Vanilla
How to Make Pastry Cream for Eclairs
- Put milk in pan and bring to a boil.
- Whisk sugar and yolks together until the mixture whitens.
- Add in cornstarch/flour to sugar and eggs
- Pour a third of the hot milk into egg mixture and stirring as you add it.
- Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and bring to a boil while whisking vigorously.
- Transfer to bowl and add vanilla and butter. Cool.
- Put pastry cream into a pastry bag.
- Poke two holes into the bottom of each eclair.
- Pipe custard into the bottom of the eclairs through two holes you have made with the end of a wooden spoon. Fill the shell 3/4 full of cream.
Eclair Chocolate Glaze
- Over low heat, melt chocolate and butter in a sauce pan stirring constantly.
- Add in sugar and enough milk to make it a nice spreading consistency.
- Cover the top of each eclair with melted chocolate
What is the Difference Between a Cream Puff and an Eclair?
They are both made from Pate a Choux and the difference is the shape and what you fill them with. An eclair is long and rectangular and is filled with a custard and topped with chocolate where a cream puff is round and filled with Chantilly Cream. Find my recipe for Cream Puffs here.
How Long Will They Last?
Eclairs should be stored in the refrigerator and I think they are best eaten the day they are made. They will hold up fairly well in the refrigerator overnight.
Making eclairs and cream puffs is really not difficult and is quite fun. I like to call it Project Baking. It is not a quick and easy, throw together dessert. It takes some time and does make a bit of a mess (at least I made a bit of a mess) but let me tell you the rewards are well worth it! Just take a bite and then close your eyes and imagine yourself in Paris at a patisserie enjoying a cream puff and eclair!
More delicious French treats:
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Chocolate Eclairs
Ingredients
Pate a Choux
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup unsalted butter 8 oz.
- 1 tsp salt 1/4 oz.
- 2 cups flour sifted (8 oz.)
- 7-8 eggs
Pastry Cream (For eclairs)
- 2 cups milk
- 3/4 cup sugar 5 oz.
- 7 egg yolks 4 oz.
- 2 Tbsp cake flour 1/2 oz.
- 4 Tbsp corn starch 1 oz.
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp butter 1 oz.
Chocolate Glaze
- 2 squares semi sweet chocolate
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp milk
Instructions
Pate a Choux
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Put water, butter and salt in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat and add the sifted flour.
- Beat the dough with a wooden spoon; Put back on heat and beat the dough for one minute or until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and doesn’t stick to the spoon.
- Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl and add the eggs one at a time while stirring. The dough will be smooth and slightly loose.
- Using a 1/2 inch plain tip fill the pastry bag with mixture.
- Pipe eclairs onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Open the door 1-2 times to release the heat. Then lower the heat to 350 degrees and keep door ajar with a wooden spoon until they are golden brown.
- Cool completely at room temperature.
Pastry Cream
- Put milk in pan and bring to a boil.
- Whisk sugar and yolks together until the mixture whitens.
- Add in cornstarch/flour to sugar and eggs
- Pour a third of the hot milk into egg mixture and stirring as you add it.
- Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and bring to a boil while whisking vigorously.
- Transfer to bowl and add vanilla and butter. Cool.
- Put into a pastry bag and pipe into the bottom of the eclairs through two holes you have made with the end of a wooden spoon. Fill the shell 3/4 full of cream.
Chocolate Glaze
- Over low heat melt chocolate and butter in sauce pan stirring constantly. Add in sugar and enough milk to make it a nice spreading consistency.
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Kirsten says
i made the dough using the right ingredients but for some reason it’s like a think soup not dough. How did I go wrong!? What can I do to thicken it without ruining it
Leigh Anne says
I would add in some more flour – not sure why it would be like soup??
Gina Roberts says
Thanks for the tips. Mine have always sunk so I didn’t make them for 10 years until now. And they are turning out great. Gina
Matea says
Thanks for sharing this tutorial; I’ve been searching for a recipe for eclairs and this tutorial really helped! I can’t wait to make them!
Leigh Anne says
Matea, Enjoy your eclairs!
kristina smith says
Which recipe is just for the eclaires ?
Leigh Anne says
Kristina, I went into the recipe and designated which part of the recipe was for which item. Hope this will make it more clear. Thanks.
Pretties and Pastries says
Thank you so much for taking these wonderful recipes back to us and making them seem like it is something that is actually achievable 🙂 I know what I am doing this weekend!