Description
Classic homemade eclairs made from delicate choux pastry filled with rich vanilla pastry cream and topped with a smooth chocolate ganache. This recipe guides you through making the pastry cream, choux dough, baking the eclairs to golden perfection, and finishing them with a luscious chocolate glaze for an irresistible French dessert.
Ingredients
Pastry Cream:
- 4 large egg yolks, cold or room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (23g) cornstarch
- 2 cups (480ml) whole milk (do not use low-fat or nondairy)
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean (or extra 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- small pinch salt
Choux Pastry:
- 1 batch choux pastry dough (recipe for dough not included but assumed prepared)
- Egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk or water
Chocolate Ganache:
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream
- 4 ounces (113g) semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
Instructions
- Make the pastry cream: In a heatproof bowl, whisk together egg yolks and cornstarch until combined and thickened slightly. Heat milk and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat to a gentle simmer. Slowly temper the egg yolk mixture by gradually whisking in the warm milk mixture, then strain back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat whisking constantly until thickened to custard consistency (about 1–2 minutes, 185–190°F). Remove from heat and whisk in butter, vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds, and salt. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before using.
- Prepare choux pastry dough: Make the choux pastry dough according to recipe directions up to step 4. Use immediately or refrigerate up to 3 days before baking.
- Preheat oven and prepare baking sheets: Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly brush parchment with water to create humidity that helps pastry puff.
- Pipe the eclairs: Transfer choux dough to a piping bag fitted with a large tip. Pipe 4-inch long, 1 1/2 inch wide logs spaced 3 inches apart on sheets. Smooth any peaks with a wet finger and brush each log with egg wash.
- Bake the eclairs: Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes. Without opening the oven, reduce temperature to 350°F (177°C) and bake an additional 8–12 minutes until golden and puffed. Cool completely on a rack before filling.
- Prepare chocolate ganache: Place chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat cream to gentle simmer and pour over chocolate. Let sit 2–3 minutes, then stir until smooth. Cool for 15 minutes to thicken.
- Fill the eclairs: Fill a piping bag with chilled pastry cream fitted with a small round tip. Poke a hole in one end of each eclair and pipe cream inside until filled. Optionally pipe from both ends or slice in half horizontally to fill.
- Top with ganache: Dip tops of filled eclairs in the cooled ganache and place on a plate or rack. Ganache will set in about 1 hour at room temperature or 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Storage: Store filled eclairs covered in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Unfilled shells can be stored at room temperature 1 day, refrigerated up to 5 days, or frozen up to 3 months. Thaw frozen shells before filling.
Notes
- Do not use low-fat or nondairy milk for the pastry cream—whole milk gives the best texture.
- Keep the oven door closed during baking to ensure the eclairs puff properly.
- Lightly moistening the parchment paper helps maintain humidity and prevents premature drying.
- Chilling the pastry cream ahead allows it to set properly and makes filling easier.
- Ganache consistency changes as it cools; let it cool enough to coat without running.
- Use a piping tip for filling for neatness and control, or slice eclairs to fill if no tip available.
