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Pastries and Cookies, Sweet Pastries

Choux Pastry for Éclairs or Cream Puffs

by Lisa

Trained pastry chef

Choux pastry éclairs filled with whipped cream and glazed with dark chocolate

4.9 (12)out of 5, 12 ratings

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Prep
5 min
Bake
25 min
Total
30 min
Makes
12

I already used this choux pastry recipe for my final exam back in my training days :)

Notes:

Read more
  • If you would rather not use milk, you can replace it with water. Milk gives a better flavor, though, and helps with browning.
  • Keep the oven door closed the whole time while baking. Opening it in between can make the pastries collapse.
  • Spraying or misting them generously with water before baking gives a better crust and helps them rise.
  • Pouring a splash of water onto the oven floor also delays the crust from setting and helps with volume and browning.
  • They freeze beautifully (unfilled!).

Ingredients

Makes 12

  • 3 ½ tbsp50 gunsalted butterGerman butter is unsalted and has about 82 percent fat. In the US use unsalted butter; European-style unsalted butter is closest. In the UK use unsalted butter.
  • 7 tbsp100 mlmilk
  • 7 tbsp100 mlwater
  • 1 pinchsalt
  • 1 pinchground cinnamon
  • ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp100 gall-purpose flourthoroughly sifted. In German recipes plain flour means soft wheat flour Type 405 unless stated otherwise. In the US use all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour.
  • 3160 glarge eggsGerman size M, which is US large. Weigh them without the shell: 160 g is about 3 large eggs.

Glaze and filling

  • 2 cups350 gdark chocolate or chocolate cake coatingchopped. Chocolate cake coating is a ready-made compound chocolate coating that sets glossy without tempering. In the US use chocolate candy melts or compound coating, or chocolate melted with a little coconut oil; in the UK, chocolate cake covering, or chocolate melted with a little coconut oil.
  • 1 ¼ cups300 mlheavy creamice-cold. German cream for whipping has about 30 to 32 percent fat. In the US use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream; in the UK, whipping cream (double cream also works but whips faster, so watch it).
  • 1 tbsppowdered sugarVery finely ground sugar for icings and dusting. In the US use powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar); in the UK, icing sugar.
  • 1 packetwhipped cream stabilizerA packet of modified starch and sugar that keeps whipped cream firm; one packet is used for about 1 cup (250 ml) of cream. In the US use whipped cream stabilizer powder (sold online and in some baking aisles), or about 1 tbsp nonfat dry milk powder per cup of cream; in the UK, cream stabiliser powder (sold online), or a spoonful of mascarpone whipped in with the cream.
  • 1 handfulberriesoptional

Method

  1. Quickly bring the water, milk, butter, salt and cinnamon to a boil.

  2. As soon as the liquid boils, add the flour all at once and stir until a white film forms on the bottom of the pan. Then keep stirring for another 1 minute. This step is called drying out the dough.

  3. Transfer the choux pastry to a separate mixing bowl and let it cool for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is only lukewarm.

  4. Work in the eggs one at a time. This step takes patience: if the dough is still too hot, the egg can set and you end up with scrambled egg in your dough! The dough also looks really awful after each egg and simply needs patience to come together. Just keep stirring. The important thing is to stir, not to beat it at full speed! You don't want to work any air into the dough, because air changes how it bakes.

  5. Preheat the oven: convection (fan) 425°F (220°C) or conventional (top and bottom heat) 400°F (200°C).

  6. Spoon the dough into a sturdy piping bag and pipe it out. On average, éclairs are about 4 inches (10 cm) long. At that length, the recipe makes up to 12.

  7. Before the baking sheet goes into the oven, spray the piped dough generously (!!!) with water. Also pour a big splash of water onto the oven floor before you close the oven door, then bake everything for about 18 to 20 minutes. Important: bake them until deep golden brown. Better too dark than too pale, because otherwise the éclairs can collapse as they cool!

  8. Let everything cool completely, then fill them however you like.

Glaze and filling

  1. Either slice the éclairs open lengthwise, or poke 2 to 3 holes into the underside so you can insert the piping tip.

  2. Melt the chocolate or coating and brush or dip the tops with it.

  3. Whip the cream with the powdered sugar until stiff, and beat in the whipped cream stabilizer shortly before the end.

  4. Spoon it into a piping bag and fill the pastries. Put the tops back on, yum.