Eclairs with bittersweet chocolate glaze and a white chocolate vanilla cream

In the spirit of honesty I’m going to open with, these require some extra effort.  That shouldn’t stop anyone from making them though, because they are absolutely worth all the extra effort.  The planning, the baking, the melting, the mixing, the assembling, the glazing, the trying to find a way to get them out of the house so you don’t eat them all on your own.  The most difficult of all, the moment when you realize that you have eaten the last one and all the work you will have to go through to have another.

This being my first Daring Bakers challenge, I also feel the need to confess variances from the recipe.  I had to make the dough twice.  The first time they were under cooked.  Filling a doughy wet puff with a pastry cream didn’t appeal to me, so I took another chance.  The second time I took some culinary liberty and extended the cooking time by about five minutes and them turned off the oven and let them sit while it cooled for about 20 minutes.

Isn’t it great when your instinct turn out to be right?  This made all the difference.  They were perfect.  I followed the glaze recipe exactly.  I love the chocolate sauce.  It’s great on so many things.  As for the pastry cream, I switched out the bittersweet chocolate for white chocolate and added a teaspoon of vanilla paste.  I chose the paste over extract because I wanted those little bits of seeds to show up in the cream.  I piped the cream directly into the puffs, rather than slicing them, in the hopes that they would be easier to eat without having cream slide out in all directions.  I think my plan came together perfectly.

Then I got to share the pastry love.  There were some very appreciative teachers at my son’s school that afternoon.  The principal even mentioned them at the PTA meeting that night.

Pate a Choux – Pierre Herme – Chocolate Desserts

Makes 20-24

½ cup whole milk

½ cup water

1 stick unsalted butter cut into pieces

¼ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup AP flour

5 large eggs at room temperature

In a heavy bottomed saucepan bring milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt to boil.

Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon.  The dough comes together very quickly.  Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to.  You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough.  After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.  You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate.  As you keep working the dough, it will come back together by the time you have added the third egg.  In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

The dough should still be warm.  It is now ready to be used for the éclairs immediately as follows.

Baking the éclair dough

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Divide oven into thirds by placing racks in the upper and lower half of the oven.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 plain tip nozzle with warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long 4 inch chubby fingers.  Leave about 2 inches space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.

Slide both baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes.  After 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep it ajar.  When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back.  Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until they are puffed and golden and firm.  The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes.  They can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Pastry Cream adapted from Pierre Herme

2 cups whole milk

4 large egg yolks

6 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch sifted

7 oz. white chocolate (finely chopped)

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil.  In the meantime, whisk yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan.

Once the milk boils temper in the eggs.  Slowly whisk in a 2 or 3 ladles of the hot milk into the egg mixture.  Then slowly whisk in the rest of the milk into the eggs.

Strain it back into the empty pan to remove any solid bits.  Place the mixture over medium heat and whisk vigorously and constantly until it returns to a boil.  Keep whisking for 2 minutes over medium heat.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and white chocolate.  Stir until chocolate melts.

Scrape cream into bowl and set in an ice bath.  Continue stirring, occasionally, so it remains smooth.  Once cool it’s ready to use or store in the fridge (2-3 days).  You can avoid a skin from forming on the top by pressing plastic wrap onto the top of the cream.

Chocolate Glaze – Pierre Herme – Chocolate Desserts

1/3 cup heavy cream

3 ½ oz bittersweet chocolate finely chopped

4 teaspoons unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces at room temperature

7 tablespoons Chocolate Sauce (recipe below) at room temp

In small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil.  Remove from heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate.  Stir gently.  Add butter piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Sauce – Pierre Herme – Chocolate Desserts

Makes 1 ½ cups

4 ½ oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup water

½ cup crème fraiche or heavy cream

1/3 cup sugar

Place all the ingredients into a heavy saucepan and bring to boil, making sure to stir constantly.  The reduce heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

It may take 10-15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.  You can store this in fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Assembling the éclairs

Slice the éclairs horizontally using a serrated knife.  Set aside bottoms and place tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

The glaze should be barely warm to the touch.  Spread over the tops with an offset spatula.  Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the bottoms with the pastry cream.

Pipe or spoon the pasty cream into the bottoms of the éclairs.  Make sure you fill the bottoms with enough cream to mound above the pastry.  Place the glazed tops on the pastry cream and wriggle gently to settle them.