These chocolate eclairs are made up of a flaky, crisp choux pastry stuffed with three fillings, including vanilla custard, chocolate pastry cream, and whipped cream, then topped with a simple chocolate glaze. This recipe can easily be modified to make delicious chocolate profiteroles too!
Over the last week, I’ve carefully documented my step-by-step instructions for making homemade crispy choux pastry, decadent chocolate pastry cream (creme patissiere), and traditional vanilla custard. That’s all been culminating towards making these delicious homemade chocolate/ custard eclairs/profiteroles.
This dessert has a bit of a reputation for being quite difficult, but I think you’ll find that with all the tips I’ve provided for making homemade choux pastry, you’ll be knocking out batches of eclairs, profiteroles, and cream puffs by the dozen!
The ingredients
All that’s needed to prepare these chocolate eclairs are just three elements: the choux pastry buns, your filling of choice, and the glaze.
Choux Pastry:
Making choux pastry takes just seven ingredients – flour, butter, cane sugar, vanilla extract, milk, water, salt, and eggs (I used Clarence Court Burford Brown Eggs). And, this recipe just needs around ten minutes of hands-on prep time. Check out my recipe post for tons of top tips for perfect choux every single time.
The Fillings:
There are tons of ways to customize this chocolate eclair dessert to your liking, and one of the easiest is changing the fillings. For this particular post, I’m sharing three of my favorite simple options. Vanilla Custard – Just five ingredients make for a creamy, rich, vanilla-infused custard. You can easily add extra flavor to the custard by including orange zest or lemon zest with cinnamon, cocoa powder, etc. Chocolate Pastry Cream (creme patissiere) – This rich chocolate pipeable custard makes for a more-ish chocolate filling to these pastries. Whipped Cream – Use dairy or coconut whipped cream for a simple filling. Add extra flavor by combining the whipped cream with homemade jam – like this strawberry jam, raspberry jam, or blackberry jam.
The Glaze:
For this post, I’ve included the process for making a super simple two-ingredient chocolate glaze with dark chocolate. You can do this with high-quality, bought chocolate or even homemade dark chocolate. Alternatively, easily swap this out for milk chocolate or white chocolate to quickly add extra topping choices to your recipe arsenal.
Step By Step Instructions
The Choux Pastry:
Once you’ve prepared the choux pastry according to this recipe, allow it to chill and then transfer to a pastry bag. Once ready to pipe, preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper lightly sprayed with water. This will steam in the oven and help the pastry to rise- be careful not to add too much.
Use a round or star-shaped nozzle (such as the Wilton 1A or 2A) and hold the pastry bag at a 45-degree angle, making sure to be steady and press with constant pressure when piping 10cm long logs, leaving 2 inches between them. For more stability, you can even have the piping tip lightly touching the surface as you pipe.
You need to make sure that the eclair doesn’t become thicker in the middle than the two ends. You can pipe the eclair shapes more like a dog bone (with slightly larger ends and a thinner middle) or a straight shape (with just ever so slightly larger ends), but never pipe the middle to be larger than the ends.
Once piped, smooth down any peaks on the dough with a water covered finger and then brush with egg wash (I used Clarence Court Burford Brown Eggs).
Bake the pastry in the oven until light golden brown and crisp – about 28 minutes. Make sure to NEVER open the oven door during the baking process, or you will release the steam inside and cause the dough to collapse.
Once ready, transfer the pastries on to a cooling rack and allow them to fully cool down before filling.
Top Tip: You can optionally prick the pastries with a toothpick in their last few minutes of baking, and this will help to release excess moisture for crispier/sturdier shells.
The Filling:
Prepare the custard and chocolate pastry cream the day before and allow it to chill in the fridge overnight. Spoon the filling into a pastry bag with a small round tip.
There are three ways to fill these eclairs:
1. The first is to slice the pastry in half, lengthwise, and fill. This way, you can pipe the filling onto the bottom half of the shell decoratively and, optionally, top with fresh fruit such as raspberries, etc.
2. Pipe the filling inside the pastry shells from the ends. Use a filling tip like a bismarck tip on the piping bag and insert it in both ends of the eclair, filling the pastry with the filling before wiping the ends to remove any excess.
3. Pipe the filling through the bottom. If you want to create some sort of fancy decoration over the top of the eclairs, then you can fill the pastry shells through the bottom. Use a small tip and make 2-3 holes in the bottom of the pastry and use to fill then wipe away any excess.
Repeat the process with all of the choux shells.
The Chocolate Glaze:
In a small pan, heat the cream until it begins to simmer, then remove from the heat and add the chocolate, broken into pieces. Stir well until the chocolate is completely melted and you have a smooth, glossy glaze.
Once ready, carefully dip each pastry into the warm glaze. When lifting them from the bowl, shake lightly to allow any excess to drip back into the bowl and then place on a cooling rack to set. You can use a toothpick to clean up any edges and wipe away excess glaze.
How To Store
It’s best to eat these chocolate eclairs within 1-2 days. As soon as they are filled, the filling will slowly make the pastry turn less crisp, and they are best within the first 12 hours.
You can also freeze the eclairs by laying them out in a single layer on a baking sheet until frozen, then placing in a freezer-safe bag/container. You can freeze the pastries for between 1-2 months. Simply allow thawing at room temperature for around an hour.
The empty choux buns/ eclairs can also be frozen. Freeze in a single layer on a tray before transferring to a ziplock bag for up to three months. To use them, allow the pastry to thaw in the fridge and then bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 300°F/150°C to crisp up again.
Recipe Notes & Variations
- To adjust this into a profiterole/cream puff recipe, then you simply need to change the way you pipe the pastry onto the sheet. Hold the piping bag directly above the sheet and pipe, moving straight up as you go – to avoid extra ripples in the dough. Make them around 4cm/1.5inches round and 2 inches tall and pipe 3-4 inches apart (this should make 20).
- A friend who’s been baking for years let me know that using Silpat in place of parchment paper also works well in creating stable eclairs.
- It’s best to allow the choux cases to cool down in an area where they can cool gradually. If cooled too quickly, they run the risk of collapsing. You can do this by leaving them in the oven with the door cracked open for a while (though this isn’t best if you’re making multiple batches). Alternatively, leave in a warm, draft-free area of the house.
- Alternative Fillings: You can also fill the eclairs with curds, jams, ganache, diplomat cream, etc. and or mix fillings.
- If making into cream puffs, then you can slice in half and then fill with a small scoop of ice-cream, like this Homemade Caramel Ice-Cream.
Related Recipes
- The Ultimate Vanilla Custard
- Chocolate Pastry Cream (Creme Patissiere)
- Easy Homemade Chocolate Syrup
- Simple Homemade Strawberry Syrup (3 Ways)
- How To Make Homemade Coconut Condensed Milk
- How To Make Coconut Whipped Cream
- Delicious Chocolate Pastry Tarte Soleil
- Simple Guide On How To Make Croissants At Home
If you try this Chocolate Eclairs recipe, then let me know your thoughts and any questions in the comments. Also, feel free to tag me in your recreations @AlphaFoodie.
Chocolate Eclairs (Filled 3 Ways)
Ingredients
- Choux Pastry (see recipe on the blog that yields 8 eclairs)
- Vanilla Custard (see recipe on the blog)
- Chocolate pastry cream (see recipe on the blog)
- whipped cream
Chocolate Glaze
- 1 dark chocolate tablet (see recipe on the blog)
- ½ cup cream
Instructions
The Choux Pastry:
- Once you’ve prepared the choux pastry according to this recipe, allow it to chill and then transfer to a pastry bag. Once ready to pipe, preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper lightly sprayed with water. This will steam in the oven and help the pastry to rise- be careful not to add too much.
- Use a round or star-shaped nozzle (such as the Wilton 1A or 2A) and hold the pastry bag at a 45-degree angle, making sure to be steady and press with constant pressure when piping 10cm long logs, leaving 2 inches between them. For more stability, you can even have the piping tip lightly touching the surface as you pipe.
- You need to make sure that the eclair doesn't become thicker in the middle than the two ends. You can pipe the eclair shapes more like a dog bone (with slightly larger ends and a thinner middle) or a straight shape (with just ever so slightly larger ends), but never pipe the middle to be larger than the ends.
- Once piped, smooth down any peaks on the dough with a water covered finger and then brush with egg wash.
- Bake the pastry in the oven until light golden brown and crispy. For me, this takes around 28 minutes. Make sure to NEVER open the oven door during the baking process, or you will release the steam inside and cause the dough to collapse.
- Once ready, transfer the pastries on to a cooling rack and allow them to fully cool down before filling.Top Tip: You can optionally prick the pastries with a toothpick in their last few minutes of baking, and this will help to release excess moisture for crispier/sturdier shells.
The Filling:
- Prepare the custard and chocolate pastry cream the day before and allow it to chill in the fridge overnight. Spoon the filling into a pastry bag with a small round tip.
- There are three ways to fill these eclairs:The first is to slice the pastry in half, lengthwise, and fill. This way, you can pipe the filling onto the bottom half of the shell decoratively and, optionally, top with fresh fruit such as raspberries, etc.Pipe the filling inside the pastry shells from the ends. Use a filling tip like a bismarck tip on the piping bag and insert it in both ends of the eclair, filling the pastry with the filling before wiping the ends to remove any excess.Pipe the filling through the bottom. If you want to create some sort of fancy decoration over the top of the eclairs, then you can fill the pastry shells through the bottom. Use a small tip and make three holes in the bottom of the pastry and use to fill then wipe away any excess.
- Repeat the process with all of the choux shells.
The Chocolate Glaze:
- In a small pan, heat the cream until it begins to simmer, then remove from the heat and add the chocolate, broken into pieces. Stir well until the chocolate is completely melted and you have a smooth, glossy glaze.
- Once ready, carefully dip each pastry into the warm glaze. When lifting them from the bowl, shake lightly to allow any excess to drip back into the bowl and then place on a cooling rack to set. You can use a toothpick to clean up any edges and wipe away excess glaze.
How To Store
- It's best to eat these chocolate eclairs within 1-2 days. As soon as they are filled, the filling will slowly make the pastry turn less crisp, and they are best within the first 12 hours.You can also freeze the eclairs by laying them out in a single layer on a baking sheet until frozen, then placing in a freezer-safe bag/container. You can freeze the pastries for between 1-2 months. Simply allow thawing at room temperature for around an hour.The empty choux buns/ eclairs can also be frozen. Freeze in a single layer on a tray before transferring to a ziplock bag for up to three months. To use them, allow the pastry to thaw in the fridge and then bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 300°F/150°C to crisp up again.
Video
Notes
- To adjust this into a profiterole/cream puff recipe, then you simply need to change the way you pipe the pastry onto the sheet. Hold the piping bag directly above the sheet and pipe, moving straight up as you go – to avoid extra ripples in the dough. Make them around 4cm/1.5inches round and 2 inches tall and pipe 3-4 inches apart (this should make 20).
- A friend who’s been baking for years let me know that using Silpat in place of parchment paper also works well in creating stable eclairs.
- It’s best to allow the choux cases to cool down in an area where they can cool gradually. If cooled too quickly, they run the risk of collapsing. You can do this by leaving them in the oven with the door cracked open for a while (though this isn’t best if you’re making multiple batches). Alternatively, leave in a warm, draft-free area of the house.
- Alternative Fillings: You can also fill the eclairs with curds, jams, ganache, diplomat cream, etc. and or mix fillings.
- If making into cream puffs, then you can slice in half and then fill with a small scoop of ice-cream, like this Homemade Caramel Ice-Cream.
Aurora
You are amazing
Support @ Alphafoodie
Thank you so much, Aurora. I hope you give this recipe a try. Eclairs are so easy to make 🙂