← Nouns Cooking · Bakery

Ingredients

• 500 ml whole milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 100 g caster sugar
• 40 g Cornflour (cornstarch)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract or bean paste
• 25 g Butter
• 250 ml Water
• 100 g Butter, diced
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• 150 g plain flour, sifted
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 100 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 100 ml double (heavy) cream

Method

1. Make the crème pâtissière: heat the milk until steaming. Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornflour in a bowl, then slowly whisk in the hot milk. Return to the pan and whisk over medium heat until it boils and turns very thick, then cook for 1 minute more. Off the heat, whisk in the vanilla and butter. Press cling film onto the surface and chill for 2 hours.
2. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, 400°F) and line two baking trays. Bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to a rolling boil in a pan, then tip in all the flour at once and beat hard with a wooden spoon until it forms a smooth ball that leaves the sides. Stir over the heat for 1 minute more to dry it.
3. Tip into a bowl and cool for 5 min. Beat in the eggs a little at a time; stop when the paste is glossy and drops from the spoon in a V shape. You may not need all the egg.
4. Spoon into a piping bag with a 1.5 cm nozzle and pipe 20 straight lines, 12 cm long, spaced well apart. Smooth any peaks with a wet finger.
5. Bake for 20 min, then lower to 180°C (160°C fan, 350°F) and bake for 10–15 min more until deep golden, crisp and light. Do not open the oven before 20 min or they will collapse. Poke a small hole in the end of each to let steam out, and cool on a rack.
6. Beat the chilled crème pâtissière smooth and pipe it into each éclair through two small holes in the base until they feel heavy.
7. For the glaze, heat the cream until steaming, pour over the chocolate and stir until smooth. Dip the top of each éclair in the glaze and leave to set.

Tips

• Underbaked choux goes soggy and flat: they should sound hollow when tapped.
• Unfilled shells freeze well; re-crisp them in a hot oven for 5 minutes.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food Great British Chefs BBC Good Food (crème pâtissière)