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Eclair recipe
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Eclairs

Fluffy, creamy, delicate – these eclairs are addictive, that's how delicious they are. You'll want to snack on all of them at once once you've tasted one. Whether for a special occasion or simply for dessert during the week, eclairs are guaranteed to enchant everyone at the dinner table. With this recipe you can make the choux pastry mini cakes with butter pudding filling yourself.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Französisch
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 50 minutes
Cooling time 1 hour
Servings 24 eclairs

Equipment

  • piping bag

Ingredients

for the dough

  • 100 g butter (room temperature)
  • 250 ml water
  • approx. 4 eggs
  • 150 g flour**
  • 1 pinch of salt

for the filling

for the chocolate glaze

  • 100 g dark chocolate
  • 60 g butter

Instructions

Preparation of the dough

  • Put softened butter, water and salt in a thick-bottomed saucepan and bring to a brief boil, stirring constantly so that the butter melts before it boils.
  • Take the saucepan off the heat, immediately add flour in one swoop and mix briskly with a wooden wooden spoon until a large ball of dough has formed.
  • Put the saucepan back on the stove and heat the dough, stirring and turning it with a wooden spoon, for about 1 - 2 minutes, until the dough comes off the bottom of the saucepan as a dumpling, leaving a white layer of starch.
  • Take the saucepan off the heat, transfer the dough to a clean mixing bowl and let it cool to lukewarm.
  • Using a wooden spoon or a mixer, gradually stir into the dough, one at a time, as many eggs as it takes to make it shiny and stick to a wooden spoon in peaks. It is best to whisk the last egg in a small bowl and add just enough of it to the dough in batches until it has the right consistency. The dough must be spreadable, in no case runny or solid.
  • Fill the dough into a piping bag with a round hole nozzle or a star nozzle and pipe on a baking tray lined with baking paper about 10 cm long strips with plenty of space between them.
  • Bake the pastries in a preheated oven at 190 °C top and bottom heat for about 35 minutes until golden brown and let them cool down.

Preparation of the filling

  • Whisk eggs in a thick-bottomed saucepan.
  • Add sweetened condensed milk and milk and mix with a whisk until homogeneous.
  • Add flour and mix thoroughly until all lumps have dissolved.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, and simmer for about 2 - 3 minutes to form the pudding. Remove the pudding from the heat and let it cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
  • Beat soft butter for about 5 minutes to an airy, creamy, light mass.
  • Add the pudding in portions, whipping it each time to a homogeneous mass.
  • Add vanilla and whip again briefly to a homogeneous cream.

Filling the eclairs

  • Fill the choux pastry pieces with the cream by placing the cream in a piping bag with a thin, long nozzle, inserting the nozzle into each pastry piece and piping the cream into the cavity of the pastry. Alternatively, you can cut each pastry piece in half lengthwise, pipe the cream onto the bottom piece using a piping bag and a star nozzle, and place the top piece on top.

Preparation of the chocolate glaze

  • Melt dark chocolate and butter together slowly in a water bath.
  • Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the filled eclairs with the chocolate glaze. Alternatively, dip the top of each eclair into the chocolate glaze.
  • Chill the eclairs for about 1 hour.

Notes

  • Add eggs first to the cooled choux pastry dough.
  • Do not take the choux pastry out of the oven too soon, or it may collapse. It is ready when it turns a golden brown color. Do not open the oven door during baking.
  • Butter and the pudding must be room warm and both about the same temperature when whipped together to make the cream, so they can combine well.
  • Note the detailed tips and tricks for making eclairs at the top of the post.