Thick custard filled pastry with decadent chocolate topping.
Today is the day that custard almost made me lose my mind.
Custard recipes attempted: 3
Days spent testing this recipe: 3
Spoonfuls of custard taste tested: too many
Trips to the grocery store: 3
Number of batches: 4
Number of times I lost my cool: 3
Number of times I scared my dog with my victory screams: 1
With 3 batches of custard in my trash and at the peak of frustration, I looked into Lambeau’s (my black lab) chocolate brown eyes and declared “this ends tonight”. He looked mighty confused.
…30 minutes later…
Custard, you have met your match!
So what went wrong with the first 3 batches?
I made the mistake of using 2% milk instead of whole milk. I should have known better…more fat is always the answer! I also was a chicken and kept taking the custard off the stove too soon out of fear of curdled eggs.
Moral of the story: Use whole milk and don’t be a chicken.
If you want to use some fancy french vocab, the shell dough is called pâte à choux, the custard filling is called crème pâtissière, and the chocolate glaze is called a ganache. Profiteroles or cream puffs are the same concept as an éclair; they are just a different shape. They both use a pâte à choux for the dough and a custard filling.
This is what your pâte à choux should look like before and after baking…
You can smear your pâte à choux into the 3 x 1 inch rectangles with a knife but you will get smoother tops on the shells by piping them on. Also you really need to watch the shells when they are baking by checking on them frequently after the 15 minute mark. Once they get to the light golden brown, it only takes another 5 minutes in the oven for them to be burnt.
Now if you just want one or two éclairs and aren’t really interested in learning the process of making éclairs, I recommend heading over to the local bakery and buying them. Making éclairs isn’t a short process and can be slightly frustrating. That being said, if you are interested in the process and need a lot of éclairs for an event, go for it! People will be super impressed you made them yourself and you feel so accomplished when they turn out right! If you follow the instructions carefully, you’ll have beautiful éclairs and a wonderful dessert!
Happy éclair eatin’!
…and voilà!
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- pinch of salt
- 3 cups whole milk (don't try to use anything different)
- 3 egg yolks, beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter
- ½ cup salted buttter
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs (do not use extra-large eggs because the dough will be too thin)
- 4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Fill a large bowl halfway with ice cubes and add enough cold water to cover the ice. Set aside. I use the top of a cake carrier for this.
- In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
- Gradually stir in the whole milk.
- Cook over medium-low head stirring constantly with a spatula for 10-15 minutes or until it starts to boil. If it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, lower the heat.
- Ladle some of this mixture into the egg yolks and whisk until combined to temper the eggs.
- Pour the eggs into the pan with the rest of the milk mixture.
- Cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes or until it gets an almost pudding thickness. This is a fine line between curdling the eggs and getting thin custard. Do not let the custard boil.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and butter.
- Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and place in the ice water bath.
- Let it sit in the bath for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the bath, place plastic wrap right on the surface of the custard, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Place butter and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil.
- Add the flour and salt and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute or until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan.
- Remove from the heat and add the eggs one at a time, stirring until completely combined and the dough is completely consistent. You could also use a stand mixer to get it really combined.
- Pipe the batter onto an ungreased baking sheet using a piping bag or a ziplock with a ½ to 1 inch opening. You need 12 shells that are 3 x 1 inch rectangles.
- Bake for 16-30 minutes or until lightly golden. If you make the full batch, it will be around 25-30 minutes; if you halve the batch, it will be around 16-22 minutes. I would recommend setting a timer for 15 minutes and checking on them every 5 minutes after that.
- Turn off the oven.
- Using a knife, poke a hole in one end of each shell.
- Put the shells back in the cooling turned off oven for 20 minutes.
- Simmer cream in a saucepan.
- Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and stir until completely smooth and consistent.
- Pipe the cold custard into the shells using a piping bag or a ziplock with a small opening.Tap the shell on the counter to get the custard to the bottom of the éclair.
- Dip the tops of the éclairs into the glaze.
Adapted from Teen Cooks
Lovin’ the pastry?
Try out my recipe for Napoleons!
