I was pretty late to my love affair with eclair. In fact, I used to hate it. But I realised later on in life that it was only because I’ve had horrible ones growing up. The eclairs I had when I was growing up in Asia had this terrible filling that was very greasy, like the kind of mouthfeel you get with cheap, high-melting-temperature chocolates. Gross.
So when I learnt how to make my own, a world of opportunities opened up for me. I started my love affair with eclairs and I hope you do too!
Makes 12 (approx. 260 calories per serve)
Prep time 1h
Bake time 20 mins
Ingredients
Choux pastry
140ml water
100g butter
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
100g plain flour
3 eggs (approx. 60-70g each)
Filling
460ml milk
100g sugar
25g cornflour
1 tbsp vanilla paste
3 egg yolks
1 egg
Chocolate ganache
100g dark chocolate, cut into pieces
100ml thickened cream
Tip: For best results, use an open star tip like this one when you’re piping out your eclairs.
Combine the water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat until it is gently simmering. Turn the heat to low, add the flour and stir until it clumps to become a ball of dough. Take off the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes.
Beat through the eggs, one at a time until a sticky but firm consistency is reached.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Line a tray with baking paper. I find it easier sometimes to draw lines on the paper in dark pencil on the reverse side to provide a guide on piping equal eclairs that bake at the same time.
Transfer the mixture into a piping bag and pipe into eclair logs. I used an open star tip that provides a beautiful shape to the eclairs. Gently tap the edges so there are no pointy bits that could burn in the oven.
Bake the eclairs in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Turn off the oven and cut a slit into each of the eclairs to release steam. Pop them back into the oven with the door slightly ajar and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Be careful that your oven knobs don’t get damaged from an open oven door because that’s happened to me before when I forgot to press them back in!
Remove tray from the oven and allow them to cool completely before piping.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Add the milk to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. In a separate bowl, mix through the sugar, cornflour, vanilla paste, egg yolks and egg. Gradually add in this mixture while whisking vigorously until the mixture thickens into a custard consistency. Let it cool and transfer into a piping bag.
Make a couple of small slits in the base of the cooled eclairs and pipe the filling into the eclair. Don’t overfill.
Make the ganache by microwaving the chocolate in the microwave. Then stir in the thickened cream.
Dip the eclairs into the ganache and let it set. Chill and serve.
Thermomix Adaptation
Ingredients
Choux pastry
140g water
100g butter
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
100g plain flour
3 eggs (approx. 60-70g each)
Filling
460g milk
100g sugar
25g cornflour
1 tbsp vanilla paste
3 egg yolks
1 egg
Chocolate ganache
100g dark chocolate, cut into pieces
100g thickened cream
Place the water, butter, salt and sugar in the mixing bowl, place measuring cup into lid and cook 5 min/100°C/speed 1.
Add the flour and mix 20 sec/speed 4, without measuring cup. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
Mix speed 5, without measuring cup, and add the eggs in one at a time. Let it mix for another 30 seconds after adding the eggs until fully incorporated.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Line a tray with baking paper. I find it easier sometimes to draw lines on the paper in dark pencil on the reverse side to provide a guide on piping equal eclairs that bake at the same time.
Transfer the mixture into a piping bag and pipe into eclair logs. I used an open star tip that provides a beautiful shape to the eclairs. Gently tap the edges so there are no pointy bits that could burn in the oven.
Bake the eclairs in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Turn off the oven and cut a slit into each of the eclairs to release steam. Pop them back into the oven with the door slightly ajar and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Be careful that your oven knobs don’t get damaged from an open oven door because that’s happened to me before when I forgot to press them back in!
Remove tray from the oven and allow them to cool completely before piping.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Add the milk, sugar, cornflour, vanilla paste, egg yolks and egg into mixing bowl then Thicken/100C.
Make a couple of small slits in the base of the cooled eclairs and pipe the filling into the eclair. Don’t overfill.
Make the ganache by microwaving the chocolate in the microwave. Then stir in the thickened cream.
Dip the eclairs into the ganache and let it set. Chill and serve.
More Tea-Time Recipes
- Quick Tea Scones
- Ol’ Cinnamon Roll
- Tiramisu Cake
- Next Day Almond Croissants
- Classic Crispy Homemade Croissant