Modern eclairs recipe. White chocolate frosting

Eclair is a traditional French dessert. The talented culinary specialist Marie Antonin Carême, who is known to many thanks to the Napoleon and Charlotte cake, is the author of the eclair recipe.

The popular dessert with cream can be found not only on the menu of any restaurant - eclairs are prepared at home all over the world. The closed dessert is convenient to take with you on the road, to work, or to give to your child at school.

The classic eclair recipe is made with custard. However, eclairs with fruit filling, condensed milk, chocolate and caramel are no less popular. Each housewife can choose her favorite recipe and add her own twist to the dish.

Invariably in a dessert recipe there is only dough. It should be custard.

Choux pastry is tricky and not everyone can cope with it. Complex technology, compliance with proportions, sequence of processes and temperature conditions at various stages must be strictly observed, otherwise the dough will not acquire the desired structure.

Ingredients:

• water – 1 glass;
• flour - 1.25 cups;
• butter – 200 g;
• egg – 4 pcs;
• vegetable oil;
• salt – 1 pinch.

Preparation:

1. Take a thick-bottomed stainless steel pan.
2. Pour water into the pan, add salt and oil.
3. Place the pan on the fire and bring to a boil.
4. When the butter has melted, reduce the heat to low and add the flour, actively stirring the contents of the pan with a spoon to prevent lumps from forming.
5. Remove the pan from the stove, cool to a temperature of 65-70 degrees and beat in the egg. Stir the dough with a spoon until it has a homogeneous structure.
6. Continue adding eggs gradually while mixing the dough. Make sure that the dough does not turn out liquid. Do not beat in all the eggs at once.
7. Grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil.
8. Place the dough on a baking sheet using a pastry bag in the shape of oblong sticks at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other.
9. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 35-40 minutes and bake the eclairs at 180 degrees. Do not open the oven door until the eclairs are ready.

Ingredients:

• preparations for eclairs;;
• flour – 4 tbsp. l.;
• egg yolk – 4 pcs;
• sugar – 1 glass;
• butter – 20 g;
• milk – 0.5 l;
• vanillin.

Preparation:

1. Mix vanillin, sugar, yolks and flour in a saucepan.
2. Place the pan on the fire and cook, stirring constantly with a spoon, over low heat.
3. Add butter as soon as the cream begins to thicken.
4. Continue cooking, stirring with a spoon, until the cream thickens.
5. Cool the cream and use a syringe to fill the dough pieces.

Eclairs with condensed milk

Many people like to cook eclairs with condensed milk. The cakes turn out very tasty, and the cooking takes little time. Eclairs with condensed milk can be made for a children's party, prepared for a family tea party, or served on any holiday table.

Preparing the dish takes 1 hour.

Ingredients:

• preparations for eclairs;
• condensed milk;
• butter.

Preparation:

1. Beat the butter with a blender.
2. Mix butter and condensed milk. Adjust the quantity to your taste.
3. Beat the cream again with a mixer or blender.
4. Fill the choux pastry pieces with cream using a syringe.

Eclairs with chocolate cream

Many people love chocolate desserts. This option for making eclairs with chocolate filling will appeal to both adults and children.

For many, the ability to prepare delicious eclairs at home is the pinnacle of culinary skill, which seems elusive and complicated. In fact, the process of creating a delicacy is not tricky or long, and anyone can handle it if they want.

How to make eclairs?

Each recipe for eclairs at home consists of simple and accessible rules, the observance of which presupposes obtaining the desired result:

1. Initially, choux pastry for dessert is prepared.
2. Portions of the flour base are placed on a baking sheet and the pieces are baked for the first 20 minutes at 200 degrees and then until golden brown at 180 degrees.
3. For filling, a cream is prepared, the recipe for which can be chosen from the variations presented below.
4. Fill baked custard eclairs with cream using a pastry syringe or bag.
5. If desired, prepare glaze for eclairs and cover the surface of the products with it.

Dough for eclairs

To cook, you will need a saucepan, stewpan or cauldron with a thick bottom and walls, as well as a convenient spatula for stirring the mass while brewing. The finished dough should be scooped up with a spoon and placed on a parchment sheet lined with a baking sheet, at some distance from each other, taking into account the doubling of the dough during the baking process.

Ingredients:

• water – ½ cup;
• margarine or butter – 150 g;
• flour – 1.5 cups;
• eggs – 4 pcs.;
• salt - a pinch.

Preparation

1. Add some salt to the water, add margarine or butter, and let it boil.
2. Add all the sifted flour at once, mix the mixture intensively with a spoon until smooth and remove from the stove.
3. After cooling to a warm state, add one egg at a time to the dough, ensuring homogeneity each time.
4. Spoon the resulting dough onto parchment.
5. Bake eclairs at home for 20 minutes at 200 degrees, until golden brown at 180 degrees and allow to dry and cool a little with the oven turned off.

Recipe for eclairs with custard

An ideal option for filling products would be custard for eclairs, the classic recipe for which is outlined below. If desired, you can reduce or increase the amount of butter, and instead of vanilla, use lemon zest, essence for flavor, or even add a couple of spoons of rum or cognac.

Ingredients:

• milk – 500 ml;
• egg – 1 pc.;
• flour – 2 tbsp. spoons;
• sugar – 150 g;
• vanilla sugar – 1 sachet;
• butter – 150 g.

Preparation

1. Pieces are baked from the dough.
2. Grind the egg with sugar, add flour, mix and pour in milk.
3. Place the container on the stove and heat until thickened and boiling.
4. Remove the bowl from the stove, stir in vanilla sugar and cool the mass under the film.
5. Add soft butter and beat the cream until smooth.

Recipe for eclairs with protein cream

Along with custard, it is no less popular for eclairs. Products with such filling turn out surprisingly tender, light and airy. Even the most demanding eaters will be delighted with such a delicacy. Before filling the eclairs, the cream must be kept in the refrigerator for about half an hour.

Ingredients:

• water – 100 ml;
• sugar – 1 glass;
• proteins – 3 pcs.;
• vanillin and citric acid - a pinch each.

Preparation

1. Breads are baked from the dough.
2. Syrup is made from granulated sugar and water, achieving a temperature of 120 degrees or a positive test in water for a soft ball.
3. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of citric acid and vanilla until stiff peaks form.
4. Pour in the syrup in a thin stream and beat the cream until it cools.
5. Eclairs are filled with protein mass at home.

Eclairs with cottage cheese

In this case, the filling for eclairs is made from cottage cheese. For a more fluffy texture, cream is added, the fat content of which should be at least 30%. Before whipping, the product must be well cooled on the refrigerator shelf. Eclairs are prepared and baked from classic choux pastry.

Ingredients:

• cottage cheese – 250 g;
• cream – 200 ml;
• powdered sugar – 200 g;
• vanillin.

Preparation

1. Initially, eclairs are baked from dough at home.
2. The cottage cheese is broken with a blender until the grains disappear.
3. Whip cold cream until thick, adding powder in portions at the final stage.
4. Combine the cottage cheese and cream mixture and beat again.
5. Fill the blanks with cream and sprinkle powder on top.

Eclairs with condensed milk

The following dessert recipe is for true sweet tooths. with condensed milk it turns out sweet, rich and surprisingly tasty. Often, crushed, pre-roasted peanuts or walnuts are added to this filling variation. The filling will be less fatty if you replace a portion of the butter with whipped cream.

Ingredients:

• boiled condensed milk – 1 can;
• butter – 200 g.

Preparation

1. The dough pieces are initially baked.
2. For the cream, take out the ingredients from the refrigerator in advance.
3. Beat the butter a little, and then add condensed milk in portions.
4. Fill eclairs with cream.

Eclairs with whipped cream

Eclairs with cream are no less easy to prepare at home. Having coped with the dough and baking the pieces, all that remains is a small task - just beat the ingredients for the cream with a mixer. For this purpose, you need to choose cream with a high percentage of fat content and cool it well before processing. Vanilla is often added as a flavoring, but other additives can be used to choose from.

Ingredients:

• cream – 500 ml;
• powdered sugar – 150 g;
• vanillin.

Preparation

1. Brew the dough according to the classic recipe and bake the eclairs in the oven.
2. Beat cold cream with a mixer until it has a thick texture.
3. Sweeten the cream for eclairs with powder, add vanilla and beat again.

Chocolate eclairs

The following recipe for making filling for eclairs will especially please fans of chocolate baking. The cream is prepared with the addition of melted chocolate, which can be replaced with a portion of cocoa powder if desired. A pinch of vanilla or a bag of vanilla sugar will not be superfluous, which will give the dessert a subtle aroma and make its taste even brighter.

Ingredients:

• milk – 250 ml;
• sugar – 80 g;
• starch - 4 tbsp. spoons;
• yolks – 2 pcs.
• chocolate – 100 g;
• vanillin.

Preparation

1. Breads are baked from the dough.
2. Heat the milk until it boils.
3. The yolks are ground with sugar and starch and added to the pan with continuous stirring.
4. Melt the chocolate and add it to the milk base, stirring.
5. Heat for the eclairs for another minute and let cool.

Eclairs with craquelure

The classic eclair cake can be made more refined and original by preparing it with a delicious craquelure crust. The simple but troublesome technology of creating delicacies will require a lot of time and patience, but the result is worth the effort. The contrast between the soft cream, delicate dough and crispy top coating creates the most vivid impression on tasters.

Elongated tubes with cream are a dessert that is gaining popularity with terrible force! And maybe partly because not everyone can bake it...

To reveal all the secrets of making capricious eclairs, this week I invited a pastry chef Ilya Sudzilovsky, which launched the most expensive eclairs in Moscow! And again I ended up with two articles - one with theory and error analysis, and the other with . Enjoy)

Choux pastry is prepared either with water alone or with a mixture of water and milk. Adding milk makes the finished eclair a little softer, more tender, and also helps to obtain a crust and a ruddy color more quickly. First, as you know, water or milk is heated with butter and salt, sometimes sugar is added. And then - add the entire amount of flour. This is exactly what happens at this time flour brewing process. And it happens so that the flour starch gelatinizes (flour + water + heat) and the dough becomes viscous. Next, cool the mass a little and add eggs one at a time while stirring, in order to increase the moisture content of the dough.

The better the flour mixture is cooked, the more eggs you will need. Indeed, it is not always necessary to put the number of eggs indicated in the recipe. The main guideline is the consistency of the dough - the dough should lazily flow off the spoon in a triangle.

What happens inside the eclair during baking. Moisture, heating up, begins to evaporate. The moisture in eclairs comes from eggs and milk or water. The moisture evaporates, the dough stretches, and the eclair inflates. The steam encounters resistance on its way due to the high viscosity of the dough (since we boiled it) and the quickly forming crust.

A large amount of gluten in flour means that when moisture evaporates, the walls of the eclair will stretch rather than tear. When using weak flour, the eclair may not have an empty cavity inside at all. The quality of flour (the quantity and quality of gluten) significantly affects the formation of a void inside the eclair.

Your flour may contain from 9 to 13 grams of protein (look on the package, this is the proportion of gluten). But the proportion of gluten can also vary. Russian regular flour contains an average of 25-30% gluten (this is easy to check - you need to knead the dough from 25 g of wheat flour and 13 g of water, give 90 minutes for the gluten to develop, and then rinse this dough in cold water until the water will not become clear. Some of the substances (starch, soluble proteins, etc.) will be washed out from the dough, and some will remain in the form of an elastic sticky mass. This is gluten. A piece of gluten must be weighed, and the resulting figure multiplied by 4 - this is the percentage gluten content in flour).

In addition, one of the keys to successful baking of eclairs is a well-heated oven! Personally, I preheat mine for at least 40 minutes at 190 degrees before baking.

High baking temperature at the very beginning allows the eclairs to puff up. After the eclairs have finished growing in the oven and light browning has begun, the drying process has begun. And here the high temperature can already cause harm - it will greatly brown the crust, but not dry out the inner cavity. Therefore, in different sources you can find different temperature conditions, even with opening the oven door. Remember the main thing - you can’t open the oven in the first 10 minutes! At this time, the steam is heated and your eclairs are inflated. And yet, no matter how scary and strange it may sound to you, the baking mode depends on the oven, so you still have to test and check. But I’m sure that now, understanding the processes, it will be a little easier for you to do this 😉

Well, now let’s move on to Ilya’s answers to your questions.

Question	Recommendations
How to achieve maximum surface smoothness? I heard somewhere that they spray with oil, is this really true and if so, how to do it?	To achieve a smooth surface without tears, you need to place the eclair on a sheet, freeze at -18C, sprinkle with Mycryo cocoa butter and powdered sugar through a fine sieve and bake.
I remember when I was a child, eclairs were always puffed up and large, but now thin, even ones are everywhere, so what is the correct shape? Or does it matter?	Regular and classic shape, elongated tube 12 cm in diameter 3 cm.
Eclairs should cool in the oven, right? And then many times I take them out and they fall off	After baking, it is better to remove the eclairs from the oven, remove from the sheet and leave to cool on a perforated baking sheet. To prevent the eclair from falling off when removed from the oven, adjust the baking time and mode to suit your dough using trial and error.
Eclairs are torn, I tried drying, freezing, strong flour, strong and weak together, baking with and without convection, with a baking sheet on top of the eclairs (this was the best way), at 170 and 150 degrees	To prevent the eclairs from tearing, the dough must be prepared as smooth as possible, without air bubbles (punch the finished dough in the cutter at minimum speed (very slowly)). Freeze the eclairs after depositing them on sheet -18, and before baking, sprinkle with cocoa butter and powdered sugar through a fine sieve. You need to use the strongest possible flour with a high protein (gluten) content in the dough. You need to bake without convection or reduce the fan to a minimum.
Why are eclairs cut into long strips, and then frozen and cut? Only for perfectly smooth edges or does this also help to bake even eclairs without cracks or tears?	This is just so that the eclairs are all the same size.
It’s not entirely clear what else to try to do with the oven. When baking, eclairs first puff up evenly and beautifully, but then they still tear/burst on the side.	The dough breaks even with the slightest air fluctuation in the oven chamber. Place a fireclay stone in the oven, block the fan with a perforated sheet, heat the oven to 250, turn off, put eclairs in the oven, when the temperature reaches 150, turn on the oven with minimal fan blowing.
If I want my baked eclair to be 12cm long, how long should I pipe the dough onto the mat?	Place no more than 13 cm on the mat
How to pipe eclairs so that there are no air bubbles in them? I knead for a long time, air appears when transferring the dough into the bag.	Place the pastry bag with the dough on the table and carefully level the dough to fit the volume of the bag.
At what temperature and modes is baked in a deck oven?	Bake in a hearth at 175 C for 20 minutes and 160 C for 35 minutes. But a lot depends on the specific brand of stove.
IN I bake eclairs as follows: heat the oven to 260 degrees, put the eclairs in, turn off the oven and after 10-15 minutes turn on 160.. problem: when the oven is turned on at 160, some of the eclairs fall off.. how can this be avoided? Second question: does the void in eclairs depend on the quality of the deposit? Are they not hollow inside? How to achieve voids in eclair? Shu from the same batch - perfectly empty...	Place two fireclay baking stones in the oven, this will stabilize the temperature. Heat to 250, turn off. Place the eclairs, and as soon as the temperature reaches 150, turn on the oven again and finish baking the eclairs. The void does not depend on the quality of the jigging. The formation of a good cavity depends on the specific type of flour, dough preparation technology and the number of eggs introduced.
Why is there a concave bottom?	Bake the eclairs on a perforated eclair mat and the bottom will be fine.
Why do profiteroles most often tear, it’s not possible to make them into a beautiful, regular shape, they crack somewhere, maybe it’s due to the baking mode or the time of brewing the dough?	Place profiteroles with a toothed nozzle (open star) onto the sheet. It is better to bake profiteroles in a deck oven.
There is an opinion that the fatter the oil in the dough, the less the eclairs crack when baking. Is it so?	Butter with a fat content of 82.5% is quite suitable for eclair dough.
What do you use to squeeze eclairs out of?	Eclairs must be piped from a pastry bag with a toothed nozzle (open star diameter 16 or 18 cm)
Question about gluten. How much can and should be added to flour (10-11 protein) to increase gluten?	Immediately take good flour with a high protein content. Even 12g of protein will do.
Fillings and creams for eclairs, maybe even the top 5 - which just need to be made	Basically, standard custard is used for eclairs. To obtain a nutty taste, confectioners add praline or nut paste. For fruit and berry flavors, when preparing the cream, replace part of the milk or cream with fruit or berry puree according to the recipe. In mass production, dessert pastes from Sosa or MEC3 are sometimes added to standard custard to obtain a particular taste. Top 5 fillings: Vanilla Chocolate Praline mix (pecans, hazelnuts, almonds) Pistachio with raspberries Mango, passion fruit, pineapple
What unusual fillings can there be?	– Cilantro-passion fruit vanilla. – White truffle mushroom with raspberries and dark chocolate. – Brie cheese with almond praline – Smoked tea with blackcurrant and milk chocolate – Coconut milk caramel with sea salt and peanut butter.
Shelf life of eclairs	Eclair is a dessert of one day. Time frame: 12 hours, open eclair. 24 hours Closed eclair.

Well, now we’ve figured out the main mistakes? Share this article with your friends!

Appetizing eclairs with a delicate filling, generously covered with shiny glaze, or plump profiteroles filled with delicious custard... Surely you won’t refuse these wonderful homemade cakes, right? And it is prepared on the basis of choux pastry, the recipe of which I am happy to share with you today, friends!

In general, choux pastry for eclairs and profiteroles is not at all difficult to prepare. It is important to follow a number of rules and then everything will definitely turn out 5+. First of all, you need to understand what exactly the consistency of the choux pastry should be so that the finished products do not disappoint in either appearance or taste. I will tell you about all the intricacies of preparing this type of dough below and will certainly share the result.

Ingredients:

Cooking the dish step by step with photos:

Take a small saucepan (preferably with a thick bottom) or a saucepan, pour milk and water into it. Add butter (preferably soft so that it melts faster, but this is not important), a pinch of salt, half a teaspoon of sugar and put everything on the fire.

Let the liquid warm up and the butter completely melt. Bring everything to a boil, remembering to stir so that the milk does not stick to the bottom.

Now, stirring the mass in a circular motion, pour ALL THE FLOUR into the pan AT ONCE. This is important - this way there will be no lumps in the choux pastry.

Constantly kneading and not removing the pan from the heat (below medium), we should get an absolutely homogeneous and smooth dough. I would say that during the brewing process a thick and dense lump of dough is formed.

Now we need to dry the dough (another 2 minutes on low heat), for which we constantly knead it with a spatula and wait until a thin crust of dried dough forms at the bottom of the dish. At the same time, the lump itself will begin to lag behind the walls and bottom of the pan. This is also important when preparing choux pastry for eclairs and profiteroles.

That's it - the dough brewing process is complete, it needs to be cooled a little. To do this, it is most convenient to transfer the lump to another container, which it is advisable to cool in advance.

Use a spatula to break up the lump of dough so that it cools faster to a very warm state (not hot!). If you start introducing chicken eggs into hot dough, they may curl and nothing will work.

Now, one by one (!), add raw chicken eggs into the choux pastry. After each, knead the dough very thoroughly with a spoon or spatula to achieve homogeneity. In this recipe I use 4 chicken eggs, larger than average (75 grams each). You may need from 4 to 6 eggs - it all depends on their size. That is why, after adding the third or fourth egg to the dough, be guided by the consistency of the resulting mass. If you realize that the dough is still too thick and difficult to mix, add another egg. But not all at once, but break it into a bowl in advance and add a little at a time. You may need the whole egg, or perhaps a third or half. It is important to stop in time, otherwise the dough will be too liquid.

Since the consistency of choux pastry depends on many factors (for example, the quality and moisture content of wheat flour, the size of chicken eggs), you need to understand what to expect as a result. The finished choux pastry (approximately 700 grams) should be completely smooth, shiny and without lumps. It is neither thick nor liquid - it slides off the shoulder blade like a heavy, wide ribbon.

The family of choux pastry products is numerous, as befits a family with traditions. However, with all the variety of “representatives”, we most often encounter three main ones - profiteroles, shu and eclairs. All of these hollow buns have the same base - a dough that is made by boiling water, butter and flour and then adding eggs to it. This technology makes it possible to provide the products with a durable shell, which, inflating due to evaporating moisture (the water content in choux pastry is quite high), remains intact thanks to the eggs.

However, there are differences in the general cooking technology.

PROFITROLES
- These are small round buns with a diameter of up to 5 centimeters. Their name comes from the French word “profit”, which means “profit, benefit”. And this is quite logical: when inflated, the product significantly increases in volume and, thereby, visually deceiving the mind, still brings in “income”. Traditionally, profiteroles are filled with fillings - both sweet and non-sweet. To make them more attractive, they are covered with glaze or sprinkled with some kind of crumb.

SHU
- miniature buns that are often served with soups, stews, and gravies instead of bread. The shape is round, diameter is up to 2 centimeters. Due to its miniature size, shu is rarely filled with fillings.

ECLAIRS
Translated from French, the word “eclair” means “lightning” - there is a version that this name was given to these cakes for their ability to quickly increase in size. Eclairs are easy to recognize due to their elongated shape. These are also products made from choux pastry, but baked in the form of sticks with an average length of 10 centimeters. The traditional filling is sweet. Eclairs are always covered with glaze on top, sometimes sprinkled with nuts, waffle crumbs and other sweet additives.

Choux pastry for eclairs. Eclair recipe

Using this recipe, you can prepare products that can be easily stored for up to three days in a tightly tied bag and up to three months in an airtight package in the freezer. If you bake the eclair preparations in advance, you will always have at hand a fairly quick version of a great dessert - homemade, stylish and tasty.

Ingredients for the dough recipe

• 250 ml water;
• 100 g butter;
• 200 g flour;
• 4 eggs;
• a pinch of salt

How to prepare the correct choux pastry for eclairs

WHAT EGGS SHOULD BE. To prepare the perfect dough for eclairs, the eggs must be at room temperature - remove them from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before starting work. WATER BATH MODE. First of all, we look for two pans of a suitable size - the smaller one should be firmly located in the larger one and be of sufficient volume to accommodate a portion of choux pastry. So, fill a large saucepan with water to about 2/3 of its volume, place it on the stove and turn on the gas. Pour 250 ml of water into a smaller saucepan and cut the butter into cubes. Add a little salt and place in a large saucepan.

PROCESS. In a water bath, let the butter melt completely, the water and butter boil, bubble, then immediately add all the flour, without removing the pan from the water. Knead vigorously - the flour should be all combined with water and oil, there should be no lumps.

WHAT TO KNEAD. It is most convenient to work with a wooden spatula, however, be prepared for the fact that this manipulation will require a certain application of physical strength from you. If you can't handle some effort, you can use a mixer - the downside is that its whisks, when stirring the flour, break the mixture into small lumps that scatter throughout the kitchen. If this moment does not bother you, feel free to neglect the pleasure that you can get from manual work - use the services of mechanized assistants.

INTRODUCING EGGS. Now you need to add eggs to the brewed flour mixture. This is done strictly with one egg at a time, and the dough is kneaded each time until perfectly homogeneous. To make your task a little easier, you can beat the eggs into a separate bowl and mix - do not beat, but just mix the whites with the yolk. After this, the egg mass should be added to the dough in portions and - don’t forget! – Stir each time until completely homogeneous.

CONSISTENCY OF READY DOUGH. The finished dough will not be thick and at the same time not liquid. It will stretch behind the spoon and blur slightly when you try to give it one shape or another.



Preparing eclairs (forming and baking stage)

The next stage is working with a pastry bag. If in the case of profiteroles you can get by with an ordinary tablespoon, placing the dough in small pieces on a baking sheet and giving them a round shape, then this option will not work with eclairs. These cakes require an even oblong shape, which is almost impossible to achieve without a pastry bag. However, in the absence of a bag, you can use a regular plastic bag. It is worth keeping in mind that it must be very strong - the dough can easily find a loophole and tear its walls. Nothing irreparable, of course, will happen, but there is also nothing pleasant in the process of searching for another package and transferring dough from one “container” to another.



So, put the dough in a pastry bag and place sticks 5-7 centimeters long on a baking sheet, leaving sufficient distance between them (do not forget that the dough increases significantly in volume during the baking process).



Place the baking sheet in the oven, preheated to 200 degrees and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes. Do not open the oven door - the cakes may settle.

After the specified time, we check the eclairs for readiness - the dough should be evenly golden, dry on all sides and make a dull sound when tapped.



Before filling the eclairs with filling, you need to wait until the dough has cooled completely. If you are going to store the products in the freezer, they should also be completely cooled before packing.

How to fill with filling? You can do it in two ways. The first is to cut the eclair in half, fill the hollow part with filling and connect the halves. The second is to fill with cream without destroying the integrity of the eclairs, like profiteroles. To do this, make a neat hole and press the cream into it using a pastry bag.



But that's not all. The final touch is decorating the eclair with glaze. But we got ahead of ourselves. We’ll talk about how to prepare the cream and what kind of glaze it might be when we’re done with the dough for the eclairs. But this question still holds intrigue.

How to make eclairs with whole grain flour

The general principle of preparing dough for eclairs with whole grain flour is the same as in the classic version. The finished products are denser, “stricter” and more restrained in taste. The presence of whole grain flour in this recipe is also interesting from the point of view of the concept of healthy eating.

INGREDIENTS:

• 100 g whole grain wheat flour;
• 200 ml water;
• a pinch of salt;
• 2 eggs;
• 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.

Turn on the oven so that it heats up to 200 degrees.

We prepare the dough more simply - without a water bath: pour water and oil into a saucepan, add salt, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and pour out all the flour. Stir well until smooth – without removing the pan from the heat.

Turn off the heat, let the brewed mixture cool slightly and add the eggs one at a time, after each one knead the dough until completely smooth. The dough will be viscous, not thick.

We transfer it into a pastry bag or syringe and place strips 5-7 cm long on a baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, the finished eclairs should be evenly brownish and make a dull sound when tapped on the bottom.

Eclairs - recipe made from rye flour

Choux pastry with the addition of rye flour is used primarily for making profiteroles, which are planned to be filled with unsweetened cream. However, it can also be very interesting for eclairs in the dessert version - the products turn out to be sour in taste and even a little rough. Such eclairs will sound good in the company of mascarpone-based creams, curd mass with prunes and any other “cheese” options.

INGREDIENTS:

• 100 g whole grain rye flour;
• 200 ml water;
• a pinch of salt;
• 2 eggs;
• 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.

We prepare the dough for eclairs with rye flour in the same way as the version described above with whole grain flour - preheat the oven, brew the flour with butter, water and salt in a saucepan, remove from heat, let cool for a couple of minutes, then stir in the eggs, transfer the dough to the pastry case bag and place on a baking sheet. Bake until done, fill with cream after it has cooled completely. Decorate with glaze.

Eclairs with a crispy shortcrust pastry cap

This is perhaps the richest, most festive and elegant version of eclairs - the choux pastry is carefully covered with a strip of shortcrust pastry before baking, and then put into the oven. The result is a hollow, soft product with an amazing crispy crust on top. The option is somewhat labor-intensive, however, the end result is definitely worth the effort.

Ingredients for shortcrust pastry:

• 100 g butter;
• 125 g sugar;
• 125 g flour;
• a pinch of salt.

Ingredients for choux pastry:

• 100 g milk;
• 120 g flour;
• a pinch of salt;
• 80 g butter;
• 4 eggs.

Prepare shortbread dough - chop chilled butter with sugar, salt and flour, collect the resulting crumbs into a ball, place on a sheet of cling film, cover with a second sheet and roll out into a layer about 10-12 cm wide. Place in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, then then remove the top layer of film and cut the dough into rectangles measuring approximately 12x2 cm. Put it in the refrigerator again for 1 hour.

Recipe for homemade eclairs made from shortcrust pastry

Turn on the oven to warm up to 180 degrees.

We take two pans that will fit comfortably into one another. Fill the larger one 2/3 with water and put it on the fire. Place milk, salt and butter in the smaller one and place in a larger saucepan. After boiling, add flour and stir vigorously until smooth. Remove from heat, wait a few minutes for it to cool slightly, then add the eggs one at a time. The dough will turn out thinner than regular choux pastry, and that’s how it should be.

Place the dough in a pastry bag and place sticks up to 10 cm long on a baking sheet. Carefully cover each strip of choux pastry with a strip of shortcrust pastry. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes without touching, then open the oven door 2-3 mm, releasing steam, and cook in this way for about 30 minutes - the cakes should turn out golden, dry and very pretty. Transfer them to a wire rack and wait until they are completely cool before filling with cream.

Fillings for eclairs

Depending on your taste preferences, eclairs can be filled with almost any cream. To understand which option seems best to you, you just need to cook and try.

Classic custard for eclairs

The classic version of custard involves mixing a milk-egg mass, thickened with flour or starch, with butter. However, if you need a more dietary option, you can simply omit the butter from the recipe.

The main difficulty in making custard is to get a smooth mass without a single lump. However, don’t let this moment scare you - even if you don’t succeed in preparing the perfect cream the first time, you can always correct the situation using an immersion blender or a regular sieve.

INGREDIENTS:

• 500 ml milk;
• 200 g butter;
• 1 cup of sugar:
• 2 tbsp. l. flour;
• 1 egg;
• any flavoring to taste.

Bring the milk to a boil, set aside. In a separate saucepan with a thick bottom, mix sugar, flour, add the egg, and grind thoroughly. Strain the milk into the resulting mass in small portions and stir until smooth. Place on the stove, low heat. With constant stirring, we bring the cream to a puffing state - if everything is done correctly, it will not boil, it will just “puff”. Remove from heat, add a little flavoring if desired - vanilla, lemon essence, a couple of spoons of rum or cognac. After cooling completely, beat the cream with softened butter. Ready.

Light curd cream for eclairs

This is far from a classic cream for eclairs, however, it is very successful - the fresh-tasting choux pastry goes well with the rich taste of cottage cheese.

INGREDIENTS:

• 200 g fat cottage cheese;
• 100 ml whipping cream (fat content not less than 33%);
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar.

Whip the cream into a stiff, stable foam, and finally add half the powdered sugar. Grind the cottage cheese through a fine sieve twice and mix with the remaining powdered sugar. If desired, use a blender instead of a sieve. Mix cream with cottage cheese. You can fill eclairs.

Classic cream - no surprises. The taste is moderately chocolatey; lovers will certainly appreciate it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 200 g butter;
• 1/2 can of condensed milk;
• 3 full tbsp. l. cocoa.

Place softened butter in a bowl and pour in condensed milk. Beat the cream until it becomes smooth and shiny, add cocoa, mix again. If desired, you can add a tablespoon of cognac or other aromatic alcohol to the cream. Can be used.

Pistachio cream

Nuts are always a winner when it comes to desserts. If you have a handful of pistachios, the solution immediately becomes ingenious - the cream turns out to be incredibly interesting, original, and unusual.

INGREDIENTS:

• 350 ml milk;
• 2 tbsp. l. corn starch;
• 100 g sugar;
• 100 g peeled chopped pistachios;
• 100 g butter;
• 150 g heavy cream for whipping.

Take a couple of spoons of milk and mix with starch. Stir the rest of the milk with sugar and bring to a boil. Add the starch mixture in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Bring the cream to a “puffing” state, turn off the heat. After cooling completely, beat the mixture with softened butter, then mix with nuts. Separately, whip the cream and mix with the milk-starch mixture. The cream is ready.

Cream based on Italian meringue

Light, delicate, weightless - this cream is ideal if your task is to prepare the most exquisite eclairs you have ever prepared.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 squirrels;
• 130 g sugar;
• 40 ml water.

Mix sugar with water, bring the syrup to a boil, reduce heat and cook until caramel threads appear (syrup temperature - 121 degrees). At the same time, beat the whites - when the mass becomes airy, but not stable or elastic, begin to gradually pour in the syrup in a thin stream, while the mixer operates as before, it should be turned off only after the cream becomes shiny, dense, and elastic. If desired, it can be mixed with flavorings or cocoa. Get started.

Glazes for eclairs

Ready-made eclairs can be served simply by filling them with cream of your choice, however, the cakes will take on a finished look if you cover them with icing on top. In addition, you can sprinkle ground nuts, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and sesame seeds on top of the glaze. The waffle crumbs also look interesting.

Lemon glaze

INGREDIENTS:

• 100 g powdered sugar;
• 2 tbsp. l. lemon juice.

Mix powdered sugar with lemon juice and use the finished glaze immediately.

Chocolate ganache

INGREDIENTS:

• 50 ml cream;
• 100 g chocolate.

Mix cream and chocolate and bring mixture over low heat until smooth. Cover immediately.

White chocolate frosting

INGREDIENTS:

• 200 g white chocolate;
• 20 g butter;
• 2 tbsp. l. milk.

Mix all the ingredients, put on the fire, stirring constantly until smooth. Cover the eclairs immediately.

That's all, there is essentially nothing complicated in the secret art of making eclairs. A little effort, a little experience, just a little diligence - and you will have wonderful cakes on your table, prepared with your own hands.

By the way, did you know that June 23rd is Chocolate Eclair Day? Let June 23rd happen often in your life!