Chocolate Eclairs

Ingredients: 

For choux pastry (This pastry can be used for cream puffs and éclairs)

1/2 cup (125g) whole milk or 1/2 cup water

115g unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

1/4 teaspoon sugar 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour

5 large eggs, at room temperature

1cup heavy whipping cream (whipped)

150g dark chocolate

Method:

In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the 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, or using your hand mixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. 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, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again 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 be still warm. It is now ready to be used. Once the dough is made transfer it into a star nozzle attached piping bag and pipe 5cm lengths on to a parchment paper lined pan.

Bake these shells in a 180C preheated oven for about 25 minutes in the middle rack of oven. The shells will turn slight brown. Take the baking pan out lower the oven to150C. Cut a small cut about 1cm from one side of each shell to release extra steam, again transfer the éclair shells into the oven for 10 minutes. You can make 20 to 24 eclairs. When finish baking cool the shells completely. 

Melt the chocolate over a heat proof bowl set on a sauce pan of simmering water. Cut each éclair in half scrap inside eclair's gently. Pipe whipped cream into éclair's and coat the top of each éclair with melted chocolate. 

Note: Mostly a custard cream filling is used to fill éclairs below I am writing a custard cream recipe, but I like whipping cream in my éclairs that's why I used whipped cream.

Custard Cream  

Ingredients:

500g Milk
3 drops Vanilla essence
100g Egg yolk
100g Sugar
50g Corn flour
70g Butter

Method:

Whisk egg yolk and half of sugar. Add in corn flour and mix until smooth. Bring milk and remaining half of sugar and vanilla essence to the boil (careful, boiling milk will overflow). Slowly beat in half of hot milk into the egg yolk mixture. Stir. Return the egg yolk and hot milk mixture into the remaining hot milk and continue to stir under low heat. Mixture will start to thicken and turn into cream. Add butter and continue to stir until all the butter melted. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 3hour's. Using a piping bag, pipe pastry cream into cream puffs or eclairs........enjoy