The éclair is a childhood favourite for many people and a classic French pastry. Choux cream and éclairs differ only in shape and use the same ingredients: soft pastry filled generously with sweet cream that's delicious in every bite, and even better chilled.
As many people know, choux cream and éclairs differ only in shape. Today we present an éclair recipe with soft pastry generously filled with sweet, fragrant cream that's delicious in every bite.
Éclair Ingredients
For the Choux Pastry
- 100 g water
- 100 g fresh milk
- 10 g sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 85 g salted butter
- 120 g cake flour
- 4 eggs (size 2)
For the Custard Cream Filling
- 400 g fresh milk
- 4 egg yolks (size 2)
- 90 g sugar (add more if you like it sweeter)
- 30 g cornflour
- 20 g salted butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
How to Make Éclairs
- Make the custard: bring the milk to the boil. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale, sift in the cornflour and fold together. Add half of the boiled milk and stir until combined, then pour everything back into the milk pot.
- Cook over low heat, stirring, until thickened, then turn off the heat. Add the butter and vanilla for extra aroma and stir well. Transfer to a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to cool.
- Make the pastry: bring the water, milk, sugar, salt and butter to the boil until the butter has completely melted. Remove from the heat, add the sifted flour and stir until there are no lumps and the dough no longer sticks to the pot. Return to the heat and stir for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until a thin film forms on the bottom of the pot.
- Once a film forms, remove from the heat and transfer to another pot to bring the temperature down, stirring with a spatula to release the heat. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each, until all 4 are in. Stir until the dough is thick: when you lift some and let it drop back into the bowl, it should hang in a triangle shape.
- Put the dough into a piping bag and pipe rounds onto a tray. Bake at 190°C with top and bottom heat for 25 minutes. After baking, leave them in the oven with the door slightly open for about 10 minutes to adjust the temperature so they don't collapse, then let them cool outside. Finally, pierce a hole in each pastry and pipe in the custard until full. Done!
If you're tired of heavy desserts like cakes and pies, try making éclairs. The soft pastry and custard cream filling are light, sweet and fragrant, delicious in every bite, and loved by all ages.
Recipe credit: Krua Pa Mariah.
