How to make choux pastry for eclairs. How to make eclairs

“Eclairs,” if translated into Russian from French, mean “lightning.” Perhaps the explanation for this is that the cakes were taken from the tray at the speed of light.

According to the classic recipe, eclairs made from choux pastry are elongated pastries with filling inside. Decoration is chocolate glaze or powdered sugar.


Cooking rules:

  • eggs, the main ingredient, should be as fresh as possible and at room temperature;
  • the dough requires long mixing, use a mixer or blender;
  • the base must be butter; replacing it with margarine may result in the dough not “rising”;
  • The consistency of the dough is thick sour cream.

You will need:

  1. 100g butter;
  2. 200g wheat flour;
  3. 200ml warm water;
  4. 4 chicken eggs;
  5. a pinch of salt.

Recipe with photos step by step

Cooking method


Prepare the choux pastry recipe for eclairs step by step. First you need to melt the butter. Place the plate in the microwave 30 seconds, or melt in a water bath. Then add water and add some salt. Mix. Pour into a large saucepan.


Place on the fire and begin to “brew” the dough, gradually adding flour. Mix quickly with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir without interruption, keeping it on fire for about 1 minutes. Remove the cooked dough from the heat. Let cool 5-10 minutes.

Attention: If you start adding eggs right away they will curdle.

When the mixture has cooled slightly, add 1 chicken egg at a time, stirring constantly. We move from hand kneading to whipping with a mixer. The consistency should be similar to thick sour cream.


Line a baking tray with baking paper or foil. Lubricate with vegetable oil. Turn on the oven at 200 degrees. Transfer the dough into a pastry syringe with a wide nozzle. Squeeze onto a baking sheet.

Advice: If you don't have a pastry syringe, use a regular tablespoon. 2 tbsp is enough. dough for 1 cake.

The distance between eclairs should be at least 2-3cm. Length of cakes 10-15cm. Baking 10 minutes at 220 degrees and 25 minutes at 170 degrees. We take it out of the oven. Let it cool.


The eclairs are ready. Now you know how to make choux pastry for cakes according to the classic recipe.

Attention: You can find recipes for eclairs without eggs on the Internet, but in almost all of them the cakes do not rise. So is it worth translating products?

Custard + shortbread = eclairs


This option is considered the most suitable for a holiday and beautiful. The cakes combine shortbread and choux pastry. As a result, you get airy desserts with a crispy crust. Compared to the classic version, this one is more labor-intensive.

For the choux pastry you will need:

  • 4 eggs;
  • 120g flour;
  • 80g butter;
  • 100g fresh milk;
  • a pinch of salt.

For the shortbread dough you will need:

  • 125g granulated sugar;
  • 125g wheat flour;
  • 100g butter;
  • a pinch of salt.

Cooking method

  • Let's prepare shortbread dough. Mix butter at room temperature with granulated sugar, wheat flour and salt. You should have crumbly dough. Form a ball. Wrap with cling film on one side. Roll out into a pancake width 10-15cm. Cover with cling film. Place in the refrigerator for 1h. Let's get it. Cut into 2cm strips. Wrap each one in cling film. Put it in the refrigerator.
  • Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.
  • Let's prepare the choux pastry. Place the butter and milk in a small saucepan and add a little salt. Bring to a boil in a water bath. When the liquid boils, begin to add flour, stirring vigorously. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Add eggs to the cooled mixture, one at a time.
  • Fill the pastry bag. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Squeeze out oblong cakes through the bag. Place a strip of shortcrust pastry on each one. Baking 10 minutes. Then open the oven a couple of mm and let out the steam. We bake for another half hour in this manner.

You should get delicious dry cakes with a golden crust. Let's move on to filling them with cream. Bon appetit.

How to prepare choux pastry for eclairs with milk

You can experiment with the filling for cakes as you wish: custard, cottage cheese, condensed milk, etc., unlike dough. Choux pastry does not involve assumption or change. The only option is to replace water with milk. In this case, yeast must be added.

You will need:

  • 200ml fresh milk;
  • 4 eggs;
  • 65 ml vegetable oil;
  • 10g yeast (dry);
  • 200g wheat flour;
  • a pinch of salt;
  • a pinch of sugar.

Cooking method

  • Break the eggs into a deep bowl. Beat them with a mixer into a foamy mass. Pour milk into a small saucepan. We put it on fire. Bring to a boil.
  • Sift the wheat flour. Combine flour and milk. Mix with a mixer until smooth. Pour 1 tbsp into a cup. warm water. Add yeast. Mix until the yeast dissolves. Add sugar. Mix again. Pour into the base. Beat with a mixer until smooth. Pour in the foamy mixture of eggs. Mix again. Add a pinch of salt and vegetable oil. Mix with a mixer until it becomes thick sour cream. If necessary, add more flour.
  • Cover the baking sheet with baking paper greased with vegetable oil. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. We spread the dough with sticks, 10 cm long. the distance between them is 2-3cm. Baking 30 min.
  • Let's get it. Transfer to a plate. Let it cool.

"Eclair" translated means "lightning, flash." Some explain this by saying that eclairs were swept off the table with lightning speed, others claim that the name comes from their shiny appearance. Most likely, both of these versions are reliable.

The history of the famous cakes

Eclairs with excellent custard are truly considered one of the world famous cakes. The history of eclairs dates back to the 18th century. The idea was invented and personified by the French pastry chef Marie-Antoine Carême. The famous culinary specialist of his era worked in the kitchens of George IV, Talleyrand and the All-Russian Emperor Alexander I. His talent gave impetus to a new direction in cooking.

Classic eclair and its variations

Classic eclair- This is an elongated cake with custard inside. It is topped with either glaze or chocolate.

But there are also varieties of eclairs: shu and profiteroles. The contents of the cake have not changed, but in “Shu” they cut off the top, put cream inside, grease the top with cream and cover the cake. And “Profiteroles” are cakes with a diameter of 2-3 centimeters with filling or cream. French confectioners unanimously claim that the ideal eclair should be 14 centimeters long and perfectly even in shape, filled with vanilla or chocolate cream. The top is covered with icing or fondant.

A few rules for preparing classic choux pastry

To prepare classic choux pastry for eclairs, you need to remember the small rules:

  • The eggs should not be cold, so remove them from the refrigerator before cooking;
  • The choux pastry needs to be actively kneaded, so use a mixer;
  • Only natural ingredients must be used. No substitutes or vegetable fats. Cakes may not rise or come out thick;
  • The consistency of the preparation should be similar to homemade sour cream.

The correct step-by-step recipe for choux pastry with photos

For the correct recipe for choux pastry for eclairs you will need:

  • Water – 250 milliliters;
  • Butter – 100 grams;
  • Flour – 200 grams;
  • A pinch of salt;
  • Chicken eggs – 4 pcs. (as fresh as you can find).

Let's look at the preparations step by step with photographs.

Place the butter cut into squares in a water bath. Add 250 milliliters of water and a pinch of salt.

When the butter melts, add flour and mix the mixture with a mixer.

We obtain a homogeneous mass, which we continue to stir for 5 minutes, removing it from the water bath.

During this time, the dough will cool slightly and acquire the necessary elasticity. Eggs should be added to the brewed mixture one at a time.

There's no need to rush. Killed one egg, kneaded until perfectly smooth, then the next.

The dough should be thin and not too thin. It slides off the spoon easily and spreads slightly when trying to shape it into the desired shape.

Preheat the oven to 180-200 degrees. Moisten a baking sheet with water, place parchment paper on top and grease it with oil.

Using a pastry bag (or if you don’t have a pastry bag, use a plastic bag with the end cut off), lay out sticks the length of your index finger. You should leave at least 3-4 centimeters between the eclairs on the baking sheet.

Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven. After 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 150 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes.

The oven must not be opened during baking; the cakes may fall. The finished dough should be golden brown and dry on all sides.

Choux pastry according to GOST (state standard)

This is a nostalgic recipe for choux pastry according to USSR GOST. It’s easy and quick to prepare, and the cakes turn out tender and tasty.

For the test you will need:

  • Flour – 200 grams;
  • Butter – 100 grams;
  • Eggs – 300 grams (5-6 eggs);
  • Water – 180 ml;
  • A pinch of salt.

The dough is prepared according to this simple recipe, like the classic choux, but with minor changes.

Place the pan on the fire and put butter in it. When the butter has melted, add water and salt.

Add the pre-sifted flour and quickly stir the dough. Keep on fire for about 1 minute, stirring continuously.

Remove from heat and let the dough cool slightly. We beat the eggs into a separate bowl and beat them a little.

Slowly add the eggs into the dough, stirring constantly until smooth. The consistency of the dough should be the same as in classic choux pastry.

Place the dough into a piping bag and squeeze out 10-12 centimeter sticks onto a baking sheet lined with oiled paper. Set the oven for 10 minutes at 220 degrees, and then reduce to 170 degrees and bake for another 20-25 minutes.

Option for preparing the base with milk

If you can experiment with the filling for eclairs and put inside from sweet to sour-salty, then the recipe for choux pastry does not allow liberties. The only thing you can replace water with is milk. And only if you are preparing the dough with yeast.

To prepare choux pastry with yeast, take:

  • Milk – 200 ml;
  • Flour - 200 grams;
  • Melted butter - ¼ cup;
  • Chicken eggs – 4 pcs.;
  • Dry yeast – 10 grams;
  • Salt – 5 g;
  • Sugar – 5 grams.

First, beat the eggs until foamy. Pour flour into a bowl and add milk, boil. Beat with a mixer until we get a homogeneous mass.

We dilute the yeast in a spoon of warm water and add it to the dough together with sugar. Add the eggs to the dough and beat until smooth without lumps.

Salt the dough, add butter and, if necessary, add flour, bring to the required consistency. Leave for one hour or a little more, the dough should triple in size.

Place the finished dough in the form of 8-12 centimeter sticks and bake for 30 minutes.

Basic recipe for airy eclairs

To make eclairs at home, you need to follow specific instructions for making the dough from which the cakes are formed in the process.

To prepare baked goods, you need to take the following products:

  • Flour – 200 grams;
  • Margarine – 150 grams;
  • Chicken eggs – 4 pieces;
  • Salt – ½ teaspoon;
  • Water – 200 ml

You will also need custard for the filling, glaze and eclair topping - powdered sugar.

To prepare the dough, you need to heat a glass of water over a fire, then add salt and softened margarine. Boil.

Reducing the heat, add flour little by little and mix thoroughly. Once the mass is homogeneous, quickly remove from heat and let it cool.

Beat the eggs one at a time and mix especially thoroughly.

Using a pastry syringe, make eclairs onto a baking sheet covered with oiled paper or parchment.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, set the temperature at 200 degrees.

Pipe the custard into the cakes.

Pour icing over the top and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

The best fillings for French cakes

The traditional filling for eclairs is white custard.

However, over time, they began to be filled with different creams. Chocolate, caramel, vanilla - this is just a small part of what the world famous dessert is now stuffed with.

To make classic custard, you need to take:

  • Granulated sugar – ½ cup;
  • Starch – 15 grams;
  • Butter – 150 grams;
  • Water – 150 milliliters.

Stir starch and then sugar in cool water. Place the container on low heat and very carefully, stirring, bring to a colorless jelly.

Remove from heat, let cool and add oil. Beat with a mixer until the desired thickness.

If you love eclairs with chocolate cream, then there is nothing easier than making it yourself.

Have to take:

  • Cream or milk - 2 cups;
  • Granulated sugar – 100 grams;
  • Chocolate – 50 grams.

Whip cold cream together with sugar until desired thickness. Having melted the chocolate, add it to the cream and whisk everything together.

You can experiment a little with caramel cream, for example, adding nuts or raisins.

Ingredients for making caramel cream

  • Honey – 70 grams;
  • Butter – 150 grams;
  • Granulated sugar – 250 grams;
  • Any nut (peanuts, almonds) – 200 grams;
  • Cream or milk – 250 grams;
  • Ginger – 0.5 tablespoon.

Lightly fry the nuts in a frying pan and then finely chop. Boil the cream and add ginger.

Remove the cream from the stove and let it cool well for about five minutes. Strain the cream, add salt and honey, bring to a boil.

In an empty saucepan, melt the sugar until caramelized. Slowly pour the creamy mixture into the caramel, stirring constantly, and reduce the temperature.

Add oil to the pan and stir. Remove from the oven. The filling is ready.

Preparing vanilla flavored frosting

To prepare the chocolate glaze, take:

  • Granulated sugar – 100 grams;
  • Water – 100 milliliters;
  • Cocoa – 25 grams;
  • Margarine – 50 grams.

Grind softened margarine with cocoa. Boil water and add granulated sugar to it, stir until completely dissolved. Add warm syrup to margarine and cocoa, stirring thoroughly.

To prepare classic glaze for vanilla eclairs you need:

  • Water – 5 large spoons;
  • Vanillin – 1 packet;
  • Crushed sugar – 150 grams.

Mix vanilla and crushed sugar. Then add 4 tablespoons of water and place on the stove.

When the glaze thickens, remove from the oven. Pour glaze over the top of the eclairs.

We offer you options for baking fillings. Curd cream recipes: wide selection and step-by-step preparation. Try it!

The recipe for classic custard can be found here. It differs from the modern one several times.

Now you can make pancakes, right at home. Get the recipes here! This easy dish is quick to prepare but so much fun!

More secrets for making eclairs

For the perfect dough, use only high-quality, fresh, natural products.

Special requirements for eggs: to get a good result, you need to use only fresh eggs. To check the freshness of the eggs, dip them in water. Stale eggs will float.

Both the dough and the cream contain only natural oil. Products with spread or margarine are significantly inferior in taste.

Taking all of the above into account, you can prepare excellent eclairs!

What are your favorite childhood cakes? I am sure that the majority will answer: eclairs! Of course, who doesn't like light, crispy cakes with a delicate cream inside, covered with shiny icing? Yummy, and that’s all!

Eclairs are French pastries that have been widely known throughout the world since the late nineteenth century. They are elongated choux pastry pies with light cream inside.

Ideal eclairs should be smooth, even and uniform, with a length of 10 to 14 cm.

Many people do not dare to cook them at home, but prefer to buy ready-made ones in the store. It seems that such a delicious dessert must have a complex, multi-step recipe with a long list of ingredients. But in reality it turns out to be just the opposite.

The ingredients are very affordable and can be found in any refrigerator, and the preparation method is quite simple if you strictly follow the instructions. Believe in yourself and be sure to try cooking. I think the result will exceed all your expectations!

Basic rules for preparing dough for eclairs

Proper eclairs are made only from choux pastry. What is it really? The basic principle is that a mixture of flour, butter and water is “brewed” and then, after cooling slightly, the eggs are added. The result is a sticky, thick dough that does not spread, so to speak, holds its shape.

The increase in dough volume occurs due to the formation of steam inside the eclairs during baking at high temperatures.

Proper cakes do not tear because they are made only from dense, strong dough.

Classic recipe

Ingredients:

  • water - 250 ml;
  • butter - 100 g;
  • flour - 200 g;
  • eggs – 4 pieces;
  • salt.

Cooking time: 70 min.

Calorie content per 100 grams: 204 kcal.

Choux pastry recipe for eclairs step by step:


Choux pastry for eclairs: recipe according to GOST step by step

The recipe is designed to make 20 cakes. Please note that water for cooking must be measured in grams, and not, as usual, in milliliters.

Ingredients:

  • wheat flour – 200 g;
  • large chicken eggs - 5 pcs. (or 6 pieces of medium size);
  • butter – 100 g;
  • pure water – 180 g;
  • table salt - a pinch.

Cooking time: 1 hour. 10 min.

Calorie content per 100 grams: 210 kcal.

How to cook:

  1. In a saucepan, bring a mixture of diced butter, water and salt to a boil;
  2. Sift the flour thoroughly. It is advisable to do it a couple of times so that the baked goods are airy and fluffy;
  3. Pour the flour into the pan and mix thoroughly with a spoon or spatula;
  4. The dough will begin to brew and stick together into one lump. Let it brew thoroughly, continuing to stir quickly right on the burner;
  5. Transfer to a bowl and let cool;
  6. Beat eggs in a separate container;
  7. Add them gradually to the dough, gently kneading it with a spatula or using a mixer;
  8. Line a baking tray with baking paper;
  9. Using a cooking bag or a regular plastic bag, squeeze the dough onto a baking sheet in the form of sticks about 12 cm long and 18 mm in diameter (you can also in the form of circles, then you will get round eclair balls);
  10. Bake in a preheated oven first for 10 minutes at 220°C, then another 25 minutes at 180°C;
  11. Prepare your favorite cream and fudge, fill and decorate the eclairs according to your own preferences.

How to prepare lean choux pastry for eclairs

If you adhere to a vegetarian diet and exclude animal fats from your diet, then this is not a reason to deny yourself such wonderful and tasty desserts as eclairs.

The following recipe is just for you: it does not contain eggs, milk or butter!

Ingredients:

  • 2 stacks flour;
  • 2 table. spoons of vegetable oil;
  • 1 stack boiling water;
  • salt.

Cooking time: 65 minutes.

Calorie content per 100 grams: 198 kcal.

How to cook:

  1. Mix the flour with salt, fold it into a mound and make a depression in the middle;
  2. Pour boiling water and vegetable oil into the center of the well;
  3. Stir the dough slightly and leave to cool until warm;
  4. Now you can knead it with your hands until it has a homogeneous consistency, this will take about 10 minutes;
  5. Let the dough rest for 25 minutes;
  6. Knead lightly again for a couple of minutes;
  7. That's it, the lean dough for eclairs is ready, you can make cakes from it and bake them as usual.

How to make choux pastry for eclairs with milk and dry yeast

Choux pastry does not tolerate experiments with the composition and stages of preparation. However, you can try to prepare another time-tested variety of it. Here the water is replaced with milk and dry yeast, and the result is almost better.

Keep in mind when you start baking that milk gives the products a darker color.

Therefore, make sure that the rosy color of the eclairs does not confuse you, and that they are well baked.

Ingredients:

  • 200 g of premium flour;
  • 200 g cow's milk;
  • 4 medium chicken eggs;
  • 70 g plums oils;
  • 10 g dry yeast;
  • 20 ml water;
  • salt and sugar - a pinch each.

Cooking time: 2 hours.

Calorie content per 100 grams: 285 kcal.

How to cook:

  1. Boil the milk and pour it over the sifted flour;
  2. Beat the resulting mixture with a mixer until smooth;
  3. Melt butter;
  4. Dissolve dry yeast in warm water and mix it with sugar, add to the custard mixture;
  5. Beat the eggs thoroughly until a thick foam forms;
  6. The eggs should be poured a little at a time into the main dough, stirring constantly;
  7. Add salt, add oil and mix again until a viscous state of fatty sour cream;
  8. It is better to let the dough rise for one hour, then shape it into sticks and bake for 30 minutes in a hot oven at 200°C.

How to form and what to bake eclairs from choux pastry

The easiest way to form eclairs is to use a piping bag. You can use a variety of attachments, especially beautiful eclairs are obtained using “round” or “open star” attachments with a diameter of 10-12 mm.

There is a little trick to quickly fill such a bag: you need to place it in a tall glass and straighten the edges. Then the dough will fill it evenly, without voids, and you won’t stain anything.

If you don’t have a cooking bag yet, then you can use a regular plastic bag, cutting off one of its corners to the desired diameter. This method is less convenient, but economical.

Eclairs are placed on a baking sheet covered with cooking paper in a checkerboard pattern, obliquely, diagonally. The preferred length is 10-14 cm. Try to leave enough distance between them, at least 3 cm, because they will increase in size during baking.

To ensure that the eclairs are the same size, you can make some kind of marks on the baking sheet for your convenience using a ruler and flour.

The best filling options for custard cakes: recipes

There are a great variety of fillings and creams for filling eclairs. The most common options are vanilla, coffee and chocolate, the most unusual are caramel, pistachio, coconut. But everyone has the right to choose their favorite, especially since there is plenty to do here!

Eclairs are filled with cream using a pastry syringe.

If you don’t have one, you can simply carefully cut the cake from the edge and spoon in the filling.

Classic custard

Ingredients:

  • 400 ml milk;
  • 150 g plums. oils;
  • 2 table. l. Sahara;
  • 1 ½ table. l. flour;
  • 2 whole eggs and 1 yolk;
  • 1 table. l. powdered sugar.

Cooking time: 40 min.

Calorie content per 100 grams: 215 kcal.

How to cook:

  1. Add sugar to milk, bring to a boil. Check that the granulated sugar is completely dissolved;
  2. Let the resulting mixture cool slightly;
  3. Mix the flour with all the eggs and powdered sugar, add to the sugar-milk mixture;
  4. Put on fire and stir;
  5. Cook until the cream thickens. Make sure that it does not boil;
  6. Cool, add soft butter and beat with a mixer into a fluffy mass;
  7. You can play with the shades of flavor of the cream, adding vanillin, vanilla essence, citrus zest or cocoa powder if desired.

Ingredients:

  • 200 g cottage cheese;
  • 1 stack granulated sugar;
  • 200 ml cream;
  • 1 packet of vanilla sugar.

Cooking time: 20 min.

Calorie content per 100 grams: 112 kcal.

How to cook:

  1. Mix low-fat cottage cheese with granulated sugar well by hand with a fork or spoon, and then beat with a mixer or blender;
  2. Add vanilla sugar and cream, beat thoroughly again;
  3. The delicate and airy cream is ready. Very simple and fast!

How to make chocolate glaze

Glaze applied to eclairs , while it's still warm. It is convenient to spread it with a pastry brush. There is another way: carefully prick the bottom of the cake with a fork and dip the top into the liquid glaze.

By adding butter, the glaze for this recipe becomes smooth and shiny after hardening.

The top of the glaze can be sprinkled with nuts, confectionery powder, caramel, decorated with fresh berries or fruits, mint leaves, and chocolate figures.

Ingredients:

  • 4 table. spoons of milk;
  • 100 g butter;
  • 4 table. spoons of cocoa;
  • 150 g sugar.

Cooking time: 20 min.

Calorie content per 100 grams: 442 kcal.

Recipe step by step:

  1. Mix milk with sugar and cocoa powder in a suitable container;
  2. Put on fire;
  3. When granulated sugar dissolves, add butter;
  4. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly and making sure the glaze does not burn.


And the main advice: cook with love and in a good mood, then you will definitely get an elegant, delicious dessert on the level of the famous French confectioneries!

Another choux pastry recipe is very clearly shown in the following video.

Hi guys!

Who doesn't love eclairs? I think there are no fools. Everyone loves these ingenious custard cakes with a thin shell, airy cream and chocolate icing.

In the classic version, French eclairs are filled with custard.

And I’m still trying to remember what those iconic custard pies were sold with: it seems to me that they were mostly with Charlotte butter cream, right?

But I remember for sure that I always had too much of this filling and was too fatty. What I liked most was the shell itself. I will say even more, now I take more pleasure in “cleaning up” the dummies immediately from the baking sheet than in ready-made eclairs with filling.

Therefore, today I will suggest you to prepare a modernized and lighter version of eclairs: with mascarpone, cream and strawberries.

It tastes very similar to those Soviet custard pies, but these ones are much lighter and airier.

But the filling is a matter of taste, of course. The main thing is us Let's look at it in detail how to prepare the perfect choux pastry for eclairs, and also learn all the nuances of baking and filling eclairs.

In general, today’s article is brilliant! Here we put together the entire process of making eclairs from A to Z: starting with choux pastry and ending with two main types of coating. Meanwhile I'll give you as many as 3 filling options to choose from.

Now eclairs, along with, are experiencing their second youth. All the pastry chefs in the world compete like crazy for the smoothest, hollowest and most original eclairs. How and what they are not decorated with now.

Here are just a few examples from Tal Spiegel, a pastry chef obsessed with desserts and shoes:

So where to start?

Choux pastry recipe

First, let's write down the list of ingredients for the choux pastry. Despite its sophistication and genius, the composition of the choux pastry for eclairs is incredibly simple and short.

Required Products:

  • water - 200 ml
  • butter - 100 gr.
  • sugar - 5 gr.
  • salt - 1 pinch
  • flour - 130 gr.
  • eggs, room temperature - 210 gr. (≈4 pcs.)

Cooking method:


In the meantime, while the eclairs are cooling, I’ll tell you about mascarpone cream and give you a couple more recipes for my favorite fillings for eclairs.

3 recipes for eclair cream

Cream with mascarpone

Let's take the following products:

  • heavy cream 33−35%, cold - 200 gr.
  • mascarpone cheese, cold - 200 gr.
  • powdered sugar - 80 gr.
  • vanilla extract - 1 tsp.

additionally:

  • any fruit or berry puree - 70 gr.

Recipe:

  1. Cool the mixer bowl and beaters for 2-3 minutes. This will make the cream whip faster.
  2. Whip the cream to stiff peaks.

    Be careful not to over-whip the cream, otherwise it will separate. Stop the mixer periodically and look at the consistency: if the cream holds its shape and does not fall off, then the whipped cream is ready.

  3. Separately, thoroughly mix the mascarpone with powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth (+ fruit puree if desired).
  4. We transfer the cream into the mascarpone and carefully mix the two masses with a spatula using folding movements from bottom to top.

    Do not stir for too long, otherwise the cream may curdle.

  5. We transfer the finished cream into a pastry bag with the thinnest tip you have, and fill the eclairs on both sides, making holes on the sides or bottom of the eclair with the same tip or the back of a teaspoon.

If you don't want to bother with piping bags, you can just make custard "sandwiches," as my husband says. To do this, cut the eclairs lengthwise to about the middle and use a regular spoon to fill the cakes with cream.

Vanilla custard

For it we will need:

  • milk - 500 gr.
  • sugar - 120 gr.
  • natural vanilla – 1 pod or vanilla extract - 1 tsp.
  • eggs - 50 gr. (≈1 pcs.)
  • yolk - 40 gr. (≈2 pcs.)
  • corn starch - 60 gr.

additionally (for a more airy cream):

  • heavy cream 33−36%, cold - 150 g.
  1. Pour milk into a saucepan and add ½ part sugar (60 gr.) (Sugar will prevent the milk from burning). Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a knife. Place the vanilla pod along with the seeds in a saucepan with milk and place it over moderate heat. Bring the milk to a boil.
  2. While the milk is heating, in a separate bowl, whisk the egg, yolks, and remaining 60 grams. sugar and starch until a homogeneous mass is formed.
  3. When the milk begins to boil, reduce the heat to low and remove the pan from the heat. Remove the vanilla stick, pour about 1/3 of the milk into the bowl with the egg mixture, stirring vigorously.
  4. Pour the resulting mixture back into the pan with milk and quickly stir with a whisk.
  5. Return the pan to low heat and cook until a thick, homogeneous cream without lumps forms. It will take 1-2 minutes, no more.
  6. After the cream has thickened, remove the pan from the heat, cover with cling film so that the film adheres closely to the surface of the cream (otherwise an unpleasant crust will form) and leave until completely cooled.
  7. Before filling the eclairs with custard, mix it well with a whisk.
  8. For a more airy version, add whipped cream to the cooled custard, after mixing it first (I described how to whip cream in the previous recipe for cream with mascarpone).

Chocolate custard for eclairs

Modern eclairs are often prepared with chocolate cream. Let's cook that too.

Ingredients:

  • custard - 500 gr. (recipe above⇑)
  • dark chocolate - 150 gr.

Preparation:

  1. Prepare the custard according to the recipe indicated above (do not add vanilla).
  2. Add finely chopped chocolate to the just prepared cream and mix thoroughly with a whisk until the chocolate is completely dissolved.
  3. Cool the chocolate cream by covering it tightly with cling film.
  4. Stir with a whisk before use.

You can also mix whipped cream into the chocolate cream, as in the previous recipe. The eclair in the next photo is filled with exactly this cream.

Glaze recipe

Previously, our glaze for eclairs was made from regular fudge sugar with cocoa. It was wonderful. When bitten, the glaze crunched slightly and had a unique grainy structure. I really liked her.

But we won’t make lipstick. With such a wide selection of quality chocolate, it is no longer relevant.

We will prepare the simplest frosting from cream and chocolate.

For the glaze, prepare:

  • heavy cream, 33−36% - 100 gr.
  • dark chocolate - 100 gr.

Preparation:

  1. Bring the cream to a boil over moderate heat.
  2. Cut the chocolate into small pieces and pour in hot cream.
  3. Mix thoroughly with a spatula until a homogeneous glossy glaze is obtained.
  4. Cool the glaze slightly before applying.
  5. Dip the filled eclairs into the glaze halfway through and leave to harden.

As you can see, this time I have eclairs without glaze. I decorated them on top with the same mascarpone cream as inside and added slices of strawberries and caramelized nuts.

It turned out incredibly tasty.

And finally, so that you are fully warned and armed, I will give you one more, fashionable recipe for coating eclairs, called craquelin.

It is widely used by confectioners all over the world. It cooks quickly, looks impressive, and you can always have a spare in the freezer. So, here's the recipe.

Craquelin for covering eclairs

Required Products:

  • butter - 100 gr.
  • flour - 120 gr.
  • sugar (white or brown) - 120 gr.
  1. Mix all ingredients in a mixer or blender for literally 30 seconds.
  2. Quickly collect the resulting dough into a ball and roll it into a thin layer 1-2 mm thick between two sheets of parchment paper.
  3. Place the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes.
  4. Cut out rectangles from the dough corresponding to the size of the eclairs. Before baking, cover each eclair with a strip of craquelin and bake.

These eclairs no longer need to be covered with glaze; they are amazing on their own.

For the chocolate craquelin subtract 20 grams. flour and replace them with 20 gr. cocoa.

And by adding food coloring, you can get an even more interesting result))

With that, I'm leaving.

Prepare your eclairs and don’t forget to share your impressions in the comments.

Thanks to all!

Good luck, love and patience.

Eclair is a custard cake. According to historical information, it was invented by the French cook Marie-Antoine Carême, who was a great connoisseur of French cuisine.

How to make eclairs at home

Eclairs are very “picky” cakes. To prepare them correctly, everything is important: kneading and thickness of the dough, oven temperature, baking time.

To prepare the dough you need:

  • 1 glass (250 ml) water;
  • 1.25 cups or 200 g flour;
  • 4-5 large eggs;
  • 100 g butter;
  • a pinch of salt.

Let's start cooking:

  • To prepare the choux pastry, take a stainless steel pan with a thick bottom.
  • Pour water into the pan, add salt and oil.
  • Place the pan on the fire and let it boil.
  • When the butter melts, turn the heat down to low, add the flour and stir vigorously with a spoon so that there are no lumps.
  • Remove from heat, let the dough cool to 60-70°C, and break 1 egg into the dough, mix vigorously with a spoon by hand until the dough is homogeneous.
  • We also add the remaining eggs to the dough. When adding the last egg, you need to make sure that the dough is not runny, perhaps you only need to add half an egg. The dough should be like very thick sour cream, but not spread on the baking sheet.
  • If the dough is still thick after mixing in the eggs, you can add another egg while it is warm.
  • And if you added all the eggs at once, it will be difficult to knead the dough until smooth, and besides, it may be liquid, and there is no way to fix it (you cannot add flour, otherwise the dough will not rise in the oven). The only way to fix a batter is to knead a new portion of thick dough and mix both portions together.
  • Grease a baking tray with a small amount of vegetable oil, squeeze out sticks about 10 cm long from a pastry bag. The sticks can be laid out with 2 tablespoons, after first soaking one in cold water, and using the other to help form oblong sticks.
  • You need to place the sticks at a distance of 2-3 cm, they will increase in volume.
  • Heat the oven to 180°C, place a baking sheet with the dough, bake for 30-40 minutes, until browned. The oven must not be opened during the entire baking period, otherwise the cakes may not rise.
  • Let the cakes cool, cut them on one side and fill them with cream using a pastry syringe or a teaspoon.

How to make eclair cream at home

Custard for eclairs

For the cream you need:

  • 4 yolks;
  • 1 cup of sugar;
  • 4 tbsp. level spoons of flour;
  • 0.5 l of milk;
  • 20 g butter;
  • vanillin.

Let's start cooking:

  • In a saucepan, mix the yolks, sugar, vanilla and flour, gradually pour in the milk and stir so that there are no lumps.
  • Let it cook over low heat, stirring all the time.
  • When the cream begins to thicken, add oil and cook, stirring until thickened.
  • Stuff the eclairs with the cooled cream.


Curd cream

For the cream you need:

  • 200 g cottage cheese (fat);
  • 100 ml cream 33% fat;
  • 0.75 cups powdered sugar.

Let's start cooking:

  • Beat the cream with a mixer until foamy, add powdered sugar (half the required volume).
  • Grind the cottage cheese through a sieve 2 times, add the remaining powder, mix.
  • Mix whipped cream with cottage cheese and fill eclairs.


Chocolate buttercream

For the cream you need:

  • half a can of condensed milk;
  • 200 g butter;
  • 3 tbsp. spoons of cocoa powder.

Let's start cooking:

  • Beat the softened butter with a mixer, add condensed milk little by little and continue whisking, add cocoa and mix well. To improve the taste, you can add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of cognac. The cream is ready, you can stuff the cakes.


How to make glaze for eclairs at home

Chocolate icing for eclairs

For the glaze you need:

  • 1 bar of dark chocolate;
  • 1 tbsp. spoon of butter.

Let's start cooking:

  • Break the chocolate bar into small pieces, pour it into a saucepan, add butter and melt in a “water bath”, stir.
  • Using a pastry brush, brush the cream-filled cakes with glaze and let the cakes dry.



So, we learned how to cook delicious eclairs with cream at home.