Chocolate Eclairs



I started my blog middle of 2009, and am quite proud of what I have achieved never expected even more than 100 followers, made some nice friends along the way.

It was suggested that I start a Facebook page and have been toying with the idea for some time, yesterday I finally published my Facebook page, so if you do not have time to check the blog, you can check the Facebook page which I will try and update with the old recipes I have already uploaded in the blog and the new ones which I will be publishing on both the blog and the Facebook page. Hope you will  " Like" my blog and please comment on updates and how I can make this a better blog.

My eclairs came out perfect( yay!), feeling very proud of myself. Was a big hit with my boys and even my nieces and nephew.  If you are a foodie and love to learn to cook like me, this book: Williams and Sonoma: Tools and Technique is the best cookbook I ever purchased.   It has step-by-step instructions on working on basic recipes and with beautiful photos.


Recipe: Chocolate Eclairs

1 quantity of choux pastry ( check the previous post here)

Pastry cream ( recipe from Tools and Technique)
1 1/2 cups full cream milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 large egg yolks ( egg white can be separated and frozen till you need them for another recipe )
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp butter ( at room temperature)

Chocolate sauce ( recipe adapted from Mary Berry ' 's Complete cookbook)
A small slab of good quality eating chocolate, I used a 100g of semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces.
about 3-4 tbsp cream

Prepare pastry cream

 1. Pour milk into a saucepan, and warm it till tiny bubbles appear on the edges. Remove from heat, add vanilla essence and leave to cool a little.

2. In a small mixing bowl whisk egg yolks and sugar till smooth, add cornflour and whisk till combined and smooth.

3. Place the bowl on a kitchen towel( to stop it from moving ) while whisking continuously pour a little of the warm milk into the bowl. Whisk well and pour the whole eggs and milk mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat on the stovetop. Stir constantly till the mixture thickens and comes to a boil.

4. Strain your pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve.  ( this gives you a nice creamy texture).
Press a piece of cling film on the top surface of the cream and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Prepare choux pastry, when piping the pastry to be baked pipe in 1 1/2 inch wide with about  3  1/2  to 4 inch long logs. Bake and cook as said in the choux pastry.

Prepare the chocolate sauce: Melt the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, take off the heat, and stir in the cream. Mix till you have a  nice glossy mixture.

5. Once the pastries are cool, pipe the cream into the eclairs. You can use those long round tips or cut the pastry in half and spoon it in.

6. Dip the top half of the pastry, in chocolate. or you can drizzle some chocolate on top with a spoon.

Enjoy!!!

Comments

  1. delicious...thanks for sharing
    it came out perfect
    view our blog
    http://indiaandworldcuisine.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete

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