Eclair and Cream Puff Recipe

Eclairs or cream puffs are amazing and I can’t stress this enough. They require some time and love but once done, you will want to eat them all. The ones pictured above are cream puffs although I make both countless times for my family. They get their name depending on their shape, either cream puff or eclair. Both French pastry filled with pastry cream and topped with chocolate ganache.

Although there are about a billion recipes out there, some are better than others. In my opinion, no one does eclairs like the French so I would turn to a French cookbook, my favorite being The Art of French Pastry. Not only do the recipes make for some awesome desserts but the instructions themselves are so well done. Anyways, for this recipe it is taking it super simple and delicious. It will become your new favorite dessert!

Pastry:

• ¾ c water
• ¾ c flour
• 6 tbsp butter, cut in cubes
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 4 Eggs, room temp
• ½ tbsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache:

• 2 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 tbsp heavy cream
• ¼ tsp salt

Pastry Cream:

• 1 ½ c milk/heavy cream
• ¼ c sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• ¼ c cornstarch
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Note: Make the cream first to let it rest while you make the pastry part. I normally make the cream in the morning or even overnight so that it will be completely cooled and set when I’m ready to assemble the eclairs. I also recommend a double recipe of the pastry cream for more filled cream puffs.

Pastry Cream:

1. To make the pastry cream start by heating the milk and cream mixture in a pan on medium. I do half milk and half heavy cream but it’s really up to how thick you want it.
2. In a separate bowl mix together the egg yolks, cornstarch, and sugar until combined. 
3. Test the cream mixture with your finger. It should be warm, not boiling! 
4. Slowly add the cream mixture into your eggs and then put the whole thing back into the pan. This should be slow so that the eggs don’t curdle. *Eggs should be room temperature to start with.
5. Stir with a whisk and make sure the bottom doesn’t have build up. It’s important that you watch this, I can’t count the amount of times I have accidentally curdled pastry cream.
6. Once it starts to thicken don’t take it off the heat immediately. Stir harder than ever so the pastry cream gets to its full potential. 
7. Take it off the heat and add vanilla, you don’t want to add it in early because otherwise the delicious vanilla flavor can’t be tasted.
8. All of that goes into a bowl and in the fridge to set. Make sure to put saran wrap over it. It should touch the pastry cream’s top to avoid a weird skin.

Eclairs/Cream Puffs:

1. Preheat your oven to 425
2. Start by heating a pan on medium heat. Add butter and salt, then melt.
3. Pour in your water and wait till it comes to a full boil.
4. Take it off the heat after quickly adding your flour, make sure you stir right away. Once it is combined…
5. You can either put this mixture in a stand mixer immediately or wait to add in the eggs to the pan itself once it is slightly cooler.
6. I add this mixture to a stand mixer and turn on low speed to cool it down. This also gives it more of a mix.
7. Then one by one add in your eggs. Cracking them beforehand is a great way to ensure you don’t have any shell in your eclairs.
8. It should be combined before you scrape down the sides and put it into a piping bag.
9. The mixture should be easy to put in the piping bag without being too runny. Adjust the recipe as needed depending on the size of your eggs.
10. Once you have a pan prepped with either spray or parchment paper you get to decide what shape you want to make. They both puff up in the oven so try to spread them apart and make them smaller than the size you actually want.  
11.  I tend to go cream puff because they are easier to fill and eat. I pipe small circles and pop them in the oven for 5 minutes. Without taking them out, I decrease the temperature to 350 and leave them in there for another 30 minutes. 
12. Once I see they are golden, I shut off the oven and open the door slightly. Over the span of 30 minutes I open the door more and more until it is all the way open. I do this to make sure they keep their shape so whatever you do, don’t open the oven during the cooking process.
13. Once they are cool I set them on a baking rack. I get out my pastry cream, stir and put in a piping bag. 
14. I fill all of them and then make the chocolate ganache. After topping them you can either eat them right away or let the chocolate set. Either way, Enjoy!