Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Parisian Chocolate Eclairs


I admit I have been a chocolate eclair
lover since I first started baking as a
young girl, but I have always been just
a little disappointed in how they turned
out and how soggy they became.


Then I went to Paris and experienced
the visual delight of rows and rows
of thin, gorgeous eclairs and I knew
I was missing something.


Here is a photo I took in Paris in 2015
at Christmas time.  Of course we sampled
quite a few.


You know how your computers and phones
are suspiciously tracking you and listening in
on conversations?  Well, we are planning a
trip to Europe with our kids and all of a
sudden my Pinterest is just swarming with
pins of eclairs.

I was captured by a photo and the title
of a post by Food Nouveau
on how to make eclairs.  After reading
it, the recipe for the pastry seemed very
typical, but Marie had some tips that
were a little unusual, so I decided to give
her recipe and tips a try, and follow the
instructions exactly - I am not so good at
that, but when we took our pastry classes
in Paris, we learned how exacting that 
teacher was, so I decided to throw some
of my casualness out the door and be
more exacting.


I also decided to pipe my dough out into
thin strips to make them more like my
Parisian favorites, rather than spooning
them out like we always did growing up.

After boiling the water, butter and milk, Marie
said to let the mix cool for about 5 minutes,
stirring a few times to let some of the steam
out.  Well, that seemed logical - remove steam
and I would have a less moist pastry.

Marie's Choux Dough
(A variation)

1/2 C. water
1/2 C. milk
1 cube butter, cut into pieces
1/4 tsp salt
1 C. flour
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring the water, milk, butter and salt to a boil
in a saucepan.  Stir in the flour and let it cook
for about a minute to let moisture escape (ahh,
that steam escaping thing again.)  It will form
into a ball.

Remove from heat and place in bowl of
your mixer.  Let cool five minutes and
stir occasionally during this cooling time.
You will see a lot of steam escape as
you do this.

Place bowl on mixer stand with paddle
attached and beat in one egg at a time.
It may separate, but continue until all
eggs are used up.  It will be a nice
glossy mass now.

Pipe into eclairs or puffs, on parchment paper.
I used my half inch sized round tip, and piped
them about 6 inches long.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature
to 350 and bake another 20 minutes.  

Let cool on a rack.


We had always just cut our eclairs in half, but
I wanted mine to be Parisian, so I made
three holes in the bottoms and piped
my chocolate whipped cream inside.


Not certain this would work, I had to make a
test one to see if the filling got all the way in.
Hooray - it worked.


Then they were dipped in chocolate ganache.
These were beautiful just this way, but
I wanted to have some fun.


After the ganache had set, I piped some
wonderful chocolate buttercream on
trying out some of my new Russian tips.
(They take a little practice, but I liked
the way they turned out.)


The secret is my new one and only cocoa
powder.  I honestly can't remember which
blogger recommended it, but there is nothing
like it and I have tried all of the expensive
brands.  This runs on Amazon just under $20
and gives everything chocolate such a 
wonderful flavor (when paired with Mexican 
vanilla, of course.)  I get so many
compliments on my chocolate buttercream
and I have to give all the credit to this cocoa.

Chocolate Buttercream
1 C. softened butter (I always use salted)
4 C. powdered sugar
1/4 - 1/2 C. Extra Brute Cocoa - depending
on how dark you want it.
2 tsp. vanilla
5-6 T. milk

Mix all with paddle attachment until
smooth.  To use the Russian tips you need
a stiffer frosting, so I added about 1/3 C.
additional powdered sugar, or less liquids.

For the filling, you can do whatever
you want, pastry cream, pudding, or
whipped cream.  I whipped two cups of
cream and added 1/2 C. powdered sugar and
1/3 C. of my chocolate ganache.


Now I want to try all kinds of other
eclairs that are popping up on my Pinterest feed!!

Thanks for stopping by for a little chocolate.












Jacqueline
Jacqueline

Chocolat - French for Chocolate. I adored chocolate from a young age when I had to sneak in the cupboard to find where my mother had hidden the Nestle's Chocolate Chips. Having read about the famous chocolat shoppes in Paris, when I finally got there I was determined to try a chocolate from every Paris shoppe. I invite you to share my adventures in creating, in travel, and in life.

10 comments:

  1. Oh, how i wish I lived next door to you!! I think I could live happily eating an eclair every day of my life!! I also think I drooled a little bit while reading your post! They look delish, especially with the cute embellishments on top!!

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    Replies
    1. Imagine if we all lived close - then we wouldn’t have to eat the whole recipe. It would be so fun.

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  2. Your eclairs look so decadent and yummy. So glad you found the secret to making a nice eclair without being soggy. The piping adds a fabulous touch. My husband loves eclairs, even though he isn’t into eating sweets. Like Patti, said living close to you would be a treat.

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  3. Jackie, your eclairs are making me swoon with thoughts of a treat with coffee and no less than in Paris! Lucky are those who get to eat your eclairs. Glad you found a few tips to make something already delicious (I'm sure!) even better. And, they are so pretty......Hugs.

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  4. O my O my......i want taste them nowwwww!!!...mmmmmmm....looks so delicious .....mmmmmmm.....love Ria 💕

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  5. I know they are delicious because you have perfected all the steps. They are very pretty and so chic.

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  6. Oh my, my, my! Jackie I would think I'd died and gone to heaven having those as a dessert. I love ears and those look fabulous, down to every exacting detail!!

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    Replies
    1. 🤣🤣🤣 I love eclairs! 🤣🤣🤣 almost as much as I love autocorrect!

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  7. Oh, my! I wish I were sitting in your kitchen sampling these goodies. My chef made me eclairs once. I need to send him these recipies and ask for a repeat.
    Are you really headed back to Paris? When are you going?

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    Replies
    1. Yes we are taking the whole troupe in May to London ,Paris and Rome!

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