I made these for my High School BFF's birthday last week. Yum. The only problem was that I gave her all but 3 of them. So, I made them again this weekend. Yum. Again.
Eclairs:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
7 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups flour
5 large eggs (1 whisked with 2 Tablespoons water)
Pastry Cream
Chocolate Ganache
The directions in the book are super long, and I did some of it my own way, so here's the jest of how I did it.
Preheat oven to 425.
In medium saucepan, bring water, milk, butter, sugar and salt to a boil. Stir the flour in energetically until the dough pulls away from the sides (3 minutes?). Now add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Just keep beating with a wooden spoon - this is a muscle building exercise.
Transfer some of the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe 1x5 rectangles onto a greased (or parchment lined) cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes without disturbing. Turn off the oven and leave alone until they are browned and feel light and hollow (20-25 minutes longer). Immediately pierce each end with a chopstick, or something similar. Transfer to wire rack and let them cool completely.
Pastry Cream:
Here's where I cheated. The real recipe sounds divine. It really does. But I was running low on eggs and it calls for 7 yolks. So, I went the easy route and used a whipped cream recipe I'd seen Paula Deen use on Food Network. It was pretty good.
3 cups heavy cream
3 Tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix
1 Tablespoon confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Whip all together until stiff peaks form. Fit into pastry bag with a 1/4 inch round tip.
Fill those pastries with yumminess.
(Another alternative is to use instant vanilla pudding. I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I used that this weekend because a) I didn't have much time, and b) I was out of whipping cream. And they were still a hit at our family get together.)
Chocolate Ganache:I've always made ganache with just chocolate, cream, and a little vanilla. I tried the recipe in the cookbook, and let me tell you, it was good. And you only need about 1/2 of this recipe. Keep the rest in the fridge for a tasty brownie or cake topping.
10 oz chopped chocolate (62 percent cacao is what it calls for, but I used dark chocolate chips - and it was still good)
2/3 cup sifted powdered sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
3 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
Combine chocolate and powdered sugar. Heat cream in sauce pan to a gentle simmer. Poor over the chocolate and stir until creamy and the sugar is dissolved. Heat over a pan of boiling water if it needs more heat to melt the chocolate. Whisk egg yolks in small bowl. Pour about 1/2 cup of chocolate into yolks while whisking to temper them. Pour the mixture back into the chocolate and whisk to combine. Add the butter and stir until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean heatproof bowl.
Dip the top of the stuffed eclairs into the warm ganache, let the excess drip off, then set the finished eclair on wire rack to dry. Once the ganache is dry, serve immediately, or refrigerate, covered, for up to 3 hours (if they'll last that long!)
Transfer some of the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe 1x5 rectangles onto a greased (or parchment lined) cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes without disturbing. Turn off the oven and leave alone until they are browned and feel light and hollow (20-25 minutes longer). Immediately pierce each end with a chopstick, or something similar. Transfer to wire rack and let them cool completely.
Pastry Cream:
Here's where I cheated. The real recipe sounds divine. It really does. But I was running low on eggs and it calls for 7 yolks. So, I went the easy route and used a whipped cream recipe I'd seen Paula Deen use on Food Network. It was pretty good.
3 cups heavy cream
3 Tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix
1 Tablespoon confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Whip all together until stiff peaks form. Fit into pastry bag with a 1/4 inch round tip.
Fill those pastries with yumminess.
(Another alternative is to use instant vanilla pudding. I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I used that this weekend because a) I didn't have much time, and b) I was out of whipping cream. And they were still a hit at our family get together.)
Chocolate Ganache:I've always made ganache with just chocolate, cream, and a little vanilla. I tried the recipe in the cookbook, and let me tell you, it was good. And you only need about 1/2 of this recipe. Keep the rest in the fridge for a tasty brownie or cake topping.
10 oz chopped chocolate (62 percent cacao is what it calls for, but I used dark chocolate chips - and it was still good)
2/3 cup sifted powdered sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
3 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
Combine chocolate and powdered sugar. Heat cream in sauce pan to a gentle simmer. Poor over the chocolate and stir until creamy and the sugar is dissolved. Heat over a pan of boiling water if it needs more heat to melt the chocolate. Whisk egg yolks in small bowl. Pour about 1/2 cup of chocolate into yolks while whisking to temper them. Pour the mixture back into the chocolate and whisk to combine. Add the butter and stir until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean heatproof bowl.
Dip the top of the stuffed eclairs into the warm ganache, let the excess drip off, then set the finished eclair on wire rack to dry. Once the ganache is dry, serve immediately, or refrigerate, covered, for up to 3 hours (if they'll last that long!)
