Chocolate and Caramel Éclairs
Éclairs are among the finest examples of French Pâtisserie. In the classic Chocolate Éclair, a crisp choux pastry shell is filled with a luscious vanilla pastry cream and covered with a bittersweet chocolate glaze. In the Caramel Éclair, a variation picked up from my Patisserie Lanciani days, the pastry cream is flavored with coffee essence, and it is crowned with a crisp caramel.
To ensure that we presented the best versions of these éclairs, my team and I experimented with elements of both. For the chocolate we tested two different glazes. There wasn’t much difference in the look and taste but we favored the ganache glaze over the Sacher version simply because it is a more straightforward recipe.
The testing of the caramel éclairs concerned the filling. There was white chocolate mousse around from another project so we compared some filled with those to the Lanciani-inspired coffee pastry cream. I love this white chocolate mousse, but the coffee flavor balanced better with the caramel and it was winner. Hard work, but someone has to do it!
Like our Napoleons, we find it more appealing to make these individual pastries smaller than the large, often disappointing, ones found in pastry shops. This is big project, and piping out éclairs definitely takes some practice. However, even if yours are mishappen, they will be absolutely delicious and you will be extremely proud of your efforts.
Chocolate and Caramel Éclairs
| Yield: 12 éclairs | Serves: 12 | Difficulty: Advanced |
Ingredients
1 recipe Pâte à Choux
1 recipe Pastry Cream
1 cup (8 fl oz) heavy cream
Ganache Icing
½ cup heavy cream
4 oz chocolate, 61% to 64%, wafers or chopped
2 tsp light corn syrup
Coffee Flavoring:
2 tsp powdered instant espresso, or powdered instant coffee
Hot water, as needed
Caramel:
1 ½ cup (10.5 oz / 28 g) granulated sugar
½ cup (2 fl oz) water
¼ tsp cream of tartar
Special tools and equipment needed:
- 21†pastry bag, disposable
- Ateco #808, â…†wide plain round pastry tube
- Ateco #802, ¼“ wide plain round tube
- Chopstick
- Small heavy bottomed saucepan
- Small pastry brush
- Half-sheet pan or large cookie sheet, lined with a silpat or parchment paper
- Latex gloves (for caramel éclairs)
Baking the éclairs:
- Make the Pâte à Choux, cover with plastic film placed against the dough, and let sit for one hour.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Snip off a small piece at the end of the pastry bag just large enough to accommodate the pastry tube.
- Fill bag with the Pâte à Choux.
- Pipe ½†wide by 4†long éclairs, leaving 1†space between them.
- Bake they begin to brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Lower the heat to 375°F and continue baking until well-browned and crisp, approximately another 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely.
- Unfilled éclairs may be stored in Ziplock bag and frozen for up to month.
Filling chocolate éclairs:
- In a chilled bowl, whip the cream until just firm peaks. Whisk ¼ into the pastry cream and fold in the remainder.
- Using the thicker end of the chop stick, poke two holes in the bottom, flat side, of the éclair.
- Fit pastry bag with the 802 round tip. Fill bag halfway with lightened pastry cream.
- Holding an éclair in one hand and the pastry bag in the other, pipe pastry cream into each hole until the éclair feels heavy and is filled. Set aside.
Icing the chocolate éclairs:
- Make ganache icing – bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Add the chocolate all at once. Cover and let sit for 2 minutes.
- Gently whisk until all the chocolate is melted. Let stand for 15 minutes.
- Dip the top of the éclair in the glaze, allowing the excess to drip off. Place on a serving dish. Continue with remaining éclairs.
- Refrigerate if not serving within 1 ½ hours. Note: the glaze will dull somewhat as it chills.
Filling caramel éclairs:
- Dissolve the powdered espresso in just enough hot water to make a paste.
- In a chilled bowl, whip the cream until just firm peaks. Whisk ¼ into the pastry cream along with the coffee solution. Fold in the remainder of the whipped cream.
- Using the thicker end of the chop stick, poke two holes in the top, rounded side, of the éclair.
- Fit pastry bag with the narrow round tip. Fill bag halfway with coffee pastry cream.
- Holding an éclair in one hand and the pastry bag in the other, pipe pastry cream into each hole until the éclair feels heavy and is filled. Set aside.
Icing the caramel éclairs1:
- Fill a metal mixing bowl one-third filled with cold water. Set aside.
- Place a clean silpat on a half-sheet pan or cookie sheet. Alternatively, oil a cookie sheet with a thin layer of vegetable oil.
- Place the sugar, cream of tartar, and water in a small saucepan. Stir to dissolve, being careful not to get sugar on the sides of the pan. These crystals can cause the sugar syrup to crystallize, which is an unfixable mess.
- Bring the sugar syrup to the boil over medium heat. Use the brush dipped in cold water to wash down any sugar on the sides of the pan.
- Once the syrup starts to color reduce the heat and watch very closely as it progresses to a dark caramel very rapidly.
- When the syrup is a light to medium amber, use a pot holder to remove the pan from the heat and plunge into the ice water to stop the cooking.
- Place the pan on a trivet on your work surface.
- With your latex glove covered hands, dip the flat edge of the éclair into the hot caramel, and place on the half-sheet pan or cookie sheet. Continue with remaining éclairs.
- Once the caramel top is set, remove to serving dish, caramel side up.
Notes
1. Be very careful working with hot sugar syrup and caramel.
