Chocolate Eclair : Free And Easy Bake Along #37

Our last Bake-Along bake for this year! And the theme for this week is Chocolate Eclairs, chosen by Zoe, from Bake For Happy Kids. Chocolate Eclairs has been on my long list of to-do and that's one more off the list now! Thank you, Zoe!

Choux pastry is one of the easiest pastries to make (according to the book). It is made on the stovetop where the butter is melted with water, brought to a boil and add in the flour. This mixture is then cooked over low heat and lightly beaten eggs are then added in a little at a time to make a thick glossy paste. You don't have to use all of the eggs, just until the pastry is very thick and can hold its shape when piped. Pipe the pastry to about 4" long, and bake the piped pastry till golden brown, then make a neat slit along the side and bake again for another 5 minutes. Transfer to  a wire rack to cool.

The whipped cream filling is sweetened with a tiny amount of icing sugar and flavoured with a little vanilla extract. This filling is piped into the cooled pastry and the top of the pastry is dipped into melted chocolate. Leave to set and enjoy. I have four eager kids hovering over me as I made this and the chocolate is barely set when they are enjoying it. I have "overstuffed" the eclairs with whipped cream as I find that I have more than the recipe calls for, and since I do not want it to go to waste, I have piped another layer over it, oops...it does not look pretty! 

This recipes makes only ten instead of twelve as the recipes states. All ten pieces of chocolate eclairs are gone in minutes!

I would like to thank all you lovely ladies who has baked along with us in 2012! A year has passed and we have baked all kinds of bakes that has been on our list of to try and never got round to it, well, at least until Bake-Along! I hope that Bake-Along has made that list of yours shorter! It certainly has to mine, but there's more addition to it as well! Looking forward to our bakes together in 2013! 

Please visit my baking buddies, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, and all our friends who has baked along with us in the linky below :

For the next bake, it is Cold Oven Cream Cheese Pound Cake, from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman or here. The linky will start on 14th January right up to 23rd January. Do join us, everyone's welcome.

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Chocolate Eclairs
(adapted from "Pastry Cook" by Catherine Atkinson)
Makes twelve
300ml/1-1/4 cups double (heavy cream)
10ml/2 tsp icing sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
115gm/4oz plain semi-sweet chocolate
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp butter

For the pastry
65gm/9 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
pinch of salt
50gm/1/4 cup butter, diced
150ml/2/3 cup water
2 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Grease a large baking sheet and line with baking parchment. To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt on to a small sheet of baking parchment. Heat the butter and water in a pan very gently until the butter melts.
2. Increase the heat and bring to a rolling boil. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately tip in all the flour. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the flour is mixed into the liquid.
3. Return the pan to a low heat, then beat the mixture until it leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Set the pan aside and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition, until you have a smooth, shiny paste, which is thick enough to hold its shape.
5. Spoon the choux pastry into a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a 2.5cm/1in plain nozzle. Pipe 10cm/4in lengths on to the prepared baking sheet. Use a wet knife to cut off the pastry at the nozzle.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastries are well risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and make a neat slit along the side of each to release the steam. Lower the oven temperature to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and bake for a further 5 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
7. To make the filling, whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla essence until it just holds its shape. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm/1/2in plain nozzle and use to fill the eclairs.
8. Place the chocolate and water in a small bowl set over a pan of hot water. Melt, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the butter.
9. Carefully dip the top of each eclair in the melted chocolate, then place on a wire rack. Leave in a cool place until the chocolate is set. The eclairs are best served within 2 hours of being made, but they can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

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