Makes 18-20 eclairs

Note: best served within a few hours of filling. The shells and the pastry cream can be made before-hand and combined an hour prior to serving for maximum freshness.

Ingredients

Choux dough

• 155mL (2/3c) whole milk
• 80mL (1/3c) water
• 113g (1/2c) butter
• 10g sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 90g all-purpose flour
• 30g cake flour
• 190-225g eggs (4-5 large eggs), room temperature

Filling

• 2 cups pastry cream
• (optional) 120mL (1/2c) heavy cream, whipped

Chocolate Glaze

• Chocolate ganache

Instructions

Eclair shells

1. Pre-heat oven to 325F
2. Combine milk, water, butter, salt, and sugar in a medium pot
3. Cook on medium, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a boil
4. Remove from heat, stir in flour
5. Return to heat and let cook for 2-3 minutes
6. Remove from heat and stir (on low, if using a mixer) until the dough reaches 50C (125F)
7. In a separate bowl, whish the eggs until combined
8. Using small additions, mix the eggs into the dough. The goal is to reach a consistency where the choux slowly falls off the paddle in a ribbon.
9. Spoon into piping bag with a ~1/2" star tip
10. Pipe into ~4" lines
11. Bake 40-50 minutes until golden brown all around and firm to the touch
12. Remove from oven and let cool, about 1 hour

Assembling

1. (Optional) whip the whipped heavy cream in to the pastry cream
2. Poke 3 holes in the bottom of each eclair with a small piping tip (e.g. #6 or #7), or a single hole in the end of each eclair
3. Pipe pastry cream into each hole until filled, it should ooze out of the other holes
4. Dip the top of each eclair in chocolate glaze and sprinkle on any toppings
5. Let dry
6. Store in fridge in an air-tight container with each layer separated by wax paper, although the shells will soften.