Chocolate Eclairs

Had a hankering for cream puffs the other day. Hubby and the kids also love cream puffs, so I decided to make a batch.

I've made puffs filled with fresh cream and also creme patisserie (vanilla pastry cream). I might try custard one day. This time however, I wanted to try making chocolate eclairs. There is a bakery near my shop which sells super delicious cream puffs filled with fresh cream. I decided to do the same but throw in a chocolate glaze to make them eclairs, since I adore chocolate and chocolate just makes everything even yummier dontcha think??!!

You can find the choux recipe for the buns here in my old post. Small round buns are called profiteroles and the larger ones are just choux buns. Eclairs traditionally come in finger shaped buns. Here are the recipes for the creme patisserie and chocolate glaze.

To make the cream patisserie:

1 1/4 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, warm the milk over low heat until it is just hot enough to steam. While the milk is warming, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, flour, and cornstarch until the mixture is completely smooth.

Once the milk is steaming, add half of it, whisking constantly, to the egg mixture. Add the milk and eggs back into the hot milk, continue stirring, and heat it for 1-2 minutes, until the custard is very thick. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and chill before filling pastry.

To make the chocolate glaze:

4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

Place the chopped chocolate in a heat safe bowl and set aside. Heat the heavy cream just to boiling over low-medium heat and remove from the heat immediately. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and stir until it forms a thin, smooth consistency. Set the chocolate glaze aside at room temperature for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.