Double Chocolate Eclairs Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. In a large saucepan, bring water, butter and salt to a boil. Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny. , Using a tablespoon or a pastry tube with a #10 or large round tip, form dough into nine 4x1-1/2-in. strips on a greased baking sheet. Bake 35-40 minutes or until puffed and golden. Remove to a wire rack. Immediately split eclairs open; remove tops and set aside. Discard soft dough from inside. Cool eclairs. , In a large bowl, beat milk and pudding mix according to package directions. In another bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar and vanilla; fold into pudding. Fill eclairs (chill any remaining filling for another use). , For frosting, in a microwave, melt chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Stir in sugar and enough hot water to achieve a smooth consistency. Cool slightly. Frost eclairs. Store in refrigerator.

Steps:

• In a saucepan melt the butter or margarine in boiling water.
• Add flour and salt all at once, stir vigorously, cook and stir till mixture forms a ball that doesn't separate.
• Remove from heat, cool slightly.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Pipe dough through a pastry tube fitted with number 10 or larger tip onto a greased baking sheet, making 4x3/4 inch strips.
• Bake in 400°F oven about 30 minutes or till golden brown and puffy.
• Remove from oven, cut off tops of eclairs, remove the soft centers, cool completely on rack.
• Just before serving fill each with chocolate custard filling and drizzle tops with the chocolate glaze.
• CHOCOLATE CUSTARD FILLING:.
• Combine sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt.
• Gradually stir in milk and cut up chocolate.
• Cook and stir till bubbly for 2-3 minutes longer, stir about 1 cup hot mixture to 2 beaten egg yolks, return to hot mixture.
• Cook and stir till mixture boils.
• Add vanilla and let cool.
• CHOCOLATE GLAZE:.
• Melt chocolate and butter over low heat.
• Stir in the sifted powdered sugar and the milk.
• Blending till smooth and of drizzling consistency.

Steps:

• To make the filling, heat the milk and vanilla to boiling point. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale, then stir in the cornflour. Pour the hot milk over the egg yolk mixture and whisk until smooth. Return to the pan and heat gently, stirring constantly, until thick.
• Put the thick custard into a clean bowl, add the chocolate and stir until melted. Cover the surface with cling film and leave to cool completely.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. To make the pastry, heat the milk, butter and 4 tbsp water over a gentle heat until the butter melts. Increase the heat and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and quickly beat in the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. Keep stirring until the mixture is smooth, glossy and comes away from the sides of the pan. Allow to cool for a few mins, then gradually add the eggs, mixing well between each addition until the mixture reluctantly drops off the spoon, don't add all the egg unless you need to.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment, then spoon the pastry mix into a piping bag fitted with 1cm wide star or round nozzle, or into a disposable piping bag with a similar-size hole snipped off for piping. Pipe 12-14 even buns, about 10cm long and 2cm wide, leaving space for expanding between each one. Bake for 15 mins or until golden brown and doubled in size. Cool.
• For the glaze, heat the double cream, sugar and vanilla to boiling point. Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and pour over the cream mixture. Stand for 2-3 mins, then add the butter and stir until smooth and glossy.
• To assemble the eclairs, cut them in half lengthways and pipe in the filling. Spread the chocolate glaze over the top of each eclair and leave to set before serving.

Steps:

• Prepare the custard: Stir together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and kosher salt in a medium saucepan until smooth. Whisk in the milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream. Add the vanilla bean and seeds and the butter and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large heatproof bowl.
• Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and making sure to get the edges, until the mixture begins to thicken, 2 to 4 minutes. (It's helpful to have both a spatula and a whisk handy while making the custard. Switch between the two.) Let it come up to a very slow boil and cook for 1 minute more. Strain the custard through the sieve into the bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 1/2 hours.
• Prepare the puffs: Bring the butter, sugar, salt and 3/4 cup/175 milliliters water to a simmer over medium heat in a medium saucepan, stirring with a wooden spoon. As soon as it comes to a boil, add the flour, stirring constantly, until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring the dough occasionally.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Add the eggs to the dough in the pan, one at a time, stirring vigorously between each addition with a wooden spoon. The dough will break apart and slide around in the pot before it comes back together. Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large round or star tip. (The author used Ateco #826.)
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Pipe the dough into 4 1/2-inch-by-3/4-inch lengths about 3 inches apart. With a damp fingertip, flatten any points. Bake until éclairs are deep golden brown and puffed, rotating the sheets halfway through, 22 to 25 minutes. They should be very light and crisp. Turn the oven off. Poke each éclair on either end with a toothpick to allow some steam to release. Return the puffs to the oven and prop the door open a crack with a wooden spoon. Allow the puffs to dry out in the oven, about 15 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Prepare the glaze: Bring the heavy cream and salt to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate and corn syrup. Let the mixture stand for 1 minute and then whisk to make a smooth sauce.
• To finish the custard, whip the remaining 1/4 cup heavy cream to soft peaks. Whisk the cooled custard to loosen it, then fold in the whipped cream. Transfer the custard to a pastry bag fitted with a fluted tip. Slice the top third off each éclair and fill the bases of the éclairs with custard. Dip the tops of the éclairs in the glaze and set them on top of the custard-filled bases. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Start by making the custard filling. Heat the milk until almost boiling in a saucepan. Meanwhile, mix together the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a bowl, then stir in the flours, a couple of tsp at a time, to a smooth paste.
• Gradually whisk in the hot milk, pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over a high heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 mins until thick - it will go alarmingly lumpy but don't worry, just keep stirring it vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth
• Lay a sheet of cling film directly on the custard surface, then cool and chill until you're ready to fill the buns.
• To make the choux buns, heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Sift the flour with the sugar and a pinch of salt into a small bowl. Put the milk and butter into a medium saucepan with 125ml water and gently heat so the butter melts but the liquid doesn't bubble.
• Once the butter has completely melted, increase the heat until the liquid comes to a fast rolling boil. Immediately turn off the heat, tip in the sifted flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until you a have a smooth dough that comes away from the sides of the pan. Spread over a large dinner plate to cool to hand temperature.
• Allow to cool for a few minutes, then gradually add the eggs, mixing well between each addition until the mixture reluctantly drops off the spoon. Don't add all the egg unless you need to.
• Cut two large sheets of baking parchment. On each one draw two sets of 'track' lines with a 10cm gap - these will be your guidelines so your eclairs will all be roughly the same size. Use the paper to line two large baking sheets - penside down.
• Spoon your choux mixture into a piping bag with a 1cm star or round wide nozzle, or into a disposable piping bag with a similar-size hole snipped off for piping. Pipe two rows of well-spaced, squashed 'S' shapes on each sheet between the guidelines. Bake, one tray at a time, on a high-ish shelf for 25 mins, reducing temperature to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 as soon as they go in the oven.
• After 25 mins, poke a hole in the end of each bun, or using a small serrated knife, split down the middle and return to the oven, upside-down, to dry out for 5 mins until crisp and golden. Set aside to cool.
• While the buns are cooling, finish your filling. Whisk the cream until thick, then use your electric whisk to beat the cooled, set custard until just smooth again. Fold in the cream. Spoon your filling into a piping bag - use a small nozzle if you're filling the buns through the holes you've pierced, or a large nozzle if you've split the buns in half. Carefully pipe the custard into each cooled bun - they should feel heavy once full.
• To make the icing, melt 100g plain chocolate and 25g butter together in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Once melted, remove from the heat and stir in 75ml double cream and 1 tbsp sifted icing sugar. Once cooled a little, spread over the tops of the buns and leave to cool.