The Chocolate Eclairs is one of the most famous dishes that is served in dessert in most countries in the world. It is basically a choux pastry filled with cream and topped with chocolate sauce. Choux is a kind of dough that only uses butter, water, flour, sugar, salt and eggs. The Eclair is assumed to be originated in France in the 19th century and is named after the French word for lightning, although why the naming is such is not clear. Antonin Careme, the famous French chef of the 19th century is also sometimes associated as the person who first made eclairs.
Name of the dish: Chocolate Eclairs
Complexity level: The recipe is fairly simple to make and takes up about a couple of hours. The only catch is that any changes in the proportions should be dealt with carefully.
Time taken: Preparation time for chocolate eclairs is about half an hour to an hour. Cooking time is also about one to two hours. This is for making about six to eight chocolate eclairs.
Ingredients
For the pastry, you would need the following ingredients:
- 1 cup (150 ml) water
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 3 to 4 eggs
- 3 cups whipped cream
For the chocolate sauce, you would need the below mentioned ingredients:
- 1 (150 ml) cup water
- 2 cup sugar
- 1 cup of dark chocolate small pieces
- 1/2 butter
Process
1. Place butter and water into a cooking pan and boil. Let the butter melt, and take the pan off the heat and put in the flour. Beat well with a wooden ladle or spoon till the mixture becomes soft and non-sticky. Add salt, sugar, and break and beat in the eggs in this batter one by one till it is a very consistent batter. Pour this mixture in a pastry bag and cool for a few minutes. Preheat the oven to about 200 C or about 380 F.
2. Make about 6-8 oblong pieces of pastry and put into a floured baking vessel. Keep enough space between eclairs to allow for expansion during heating in oven. Put this vessel in the oven and bake until golden-brown and firm. Usually, this takes about 35-40 minutes.
3. Once cooked, remove vessel from oven and allow to cool completely. Slice the eclairs in half lengthways and fill with whipped cream. Keep this aside and work on the next part, that is, the chocolate sauce.
This is how you would make the chocolate sauce:
1. Put sugar in water and heat gently till the solution becomes a bit thick and all the sugar is dissolved. In this, put in the butter and heat for about a minute and then put in the chocolate pieces. Stir till the complete solution is consistent and cool for a few minutes to let it thicken a bit.
2. Once both, the eclair and the sauce, are ready, pour the chocolate sauce over the eclairs, and serve as dessert.
Bon appetit!
