Friday, June 14, 2013

Chocolate eclairs with custard filling


Baking Chocolate eclairs has been in my to do list for a long time.  I have seen bakers baking this on TV and I have been wanting to try my hands on it ever since but like many other things it never happened  and luckily Baking partners came with a lovely challenge of baking chocolate eclairs this month and I was delighted to give this a try. I halved the recipe which yielded me 10 small medium eclairs and I took them to a friends place for a tea party and the they all loved it .

Before going to the recipe let me tell you a little about custard filling too, I have been making homemade custard and custard cream  since a long time eventhough I  never got to blog about it and I have to tell you you should try to make  home made custard atleast once and I am sure you will never go and make custard out of a packet ever again as it tastes soo soo delicious !


INGREDIENTS

For custard filling
Eggs yolks - 3
Milk - 3/4 cup
Double cream - 3/4 cup ( or use  milk )
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp or  Vanilla pod -1 
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cornflour - 3 tbs
Salt - a tiny pinch

For pastry
All purpose flour/ maida  - 1 cup
Unsalted butter - 4 tbs
Sugar- 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Eggs - 2 
Water - 1/2 cup

For chocolate glacing
Chocolate - 100gm
Double cream - 100ml
Butter - 1 tsp
Honey - 1 tsp

METHOD

Making of Custard cream 
  • In a pan take 3/4 th cup of milk  and  3/4 th cup of double cream .Split vanilla bean by running a knife and put the bean in the milk- cream mixture. Place them on a low flame and bring it to boil.Turn of the flame and set aside for 10-15 minutes for the vanilla flavour to infuse.
  • Meanwhile in a bowl whisk  custard powder, sugar, salt and three egg yolks until sugar is dissolved and looks like the picture shown below.
                                   
  • Very slowly add warm milk mixture to this and stir continously taking care not  to cook the  eggs.
  • Pour everything back into a saucepan and cook on a very low flame( must be on low flame )whisking continously until the custrad thickens.Takes about 10- 15 minutes on a very low flame.
  • Transfer the custard into a bowl and cover it with a cling film touching the custard to prevent skin forming.
  • Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Making of pastry
  • In a saucepan bring water, butter, salt and sugar to rolling boil. Turn off the flame and add  flour and stir continiously with a wooden spoon for 30-60 seconds until its mixed properly.
  • Return the saucepan to fire and cook for 30 seconds stiring continously and you will get a smooth dough.
  • Transfer it into a standing mixer with paddle attachment or to a mixing bowl with hand beater aside.
  • Break 2 eggs in a bowl and lightly beat them. With mixer running add the beaten eggs to the dough slowly until the dough  is smooth and glossy. Dough should be thick and should fall like a ribbon from the beater. Add more beaten eggs if dough is too tight  to get the smooth dough.
  • Fill a  pastry bag / icing bag with a round tip of 2 cm and pipe a line of about 5-6 cm. Leave few inches between them as they puff up when baked.
  • Finally give an egg wash  with a brush or finger and smoothen  any bumps.
  • Bake them in a preheated oven at 210 degree c for 15 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 190 degree c and bake for another 25- 30 mins.
  • Once baked let them cool .
Making the chocolate Glacing
  • In a saucepan bring double cream to almost boiling point.
  • Turn off the flame and add chocolate, butter and honey. Mix well and set aside.


Assembling


  • Once they are cool make a hole on each eclairs. Fill the prepared custard cream in an icing bag and pipe them into eclairs. You can also cut the eclairs into halves and fille the custard inside.
  • Dip the eclairs into chocolate glacing and set aside until chocolate sets. Decorate the eclairs if you like and  serve them immediately.



25 comments:

Manju @ Manjus Eating Delights said...

Oooh....so good! I think I've eaten similar eclairs once from some posh bakery in kerala ...but never after coming to US...Lol!
Loved it and tempted to try sometime soon.

Divya Shivaraman said...

Woo...gosh i was near you to grab some...they look super yummy vinnetha

Swathi said...

Beautiful you did very well, Love everything.

Priya Suresh said...

Eclairs are my all time favourite, even i have planned to bake some soon for a special occasions, just love custard sis, you have done beautifully..Droolworth eclairs.

Shema George said...

Looks very good Vineetha...I have never tried to make these at home..

Hari Chandana said...

Woww.. sounds too good.. thanks for the wonderful recipe.. Yummy !!

Shama Nagarajan said...

yummy and tempting

Rafeeda AR said...

Superayitundu vinee... vaayil motham vellam... dear, 1 little suggestion - pls do look into ur blog's mobile version, it's the same as on the PC, difficult 2 read... :(

Suja Manoj said...

Great job dear,your looks so perfect and love the presentation..beautiful.

Unknown said...

Wow Vinee they look soo delicious. I am going to give this a try :) thank you for sharing the recipe!

Chitz said...

Yummy looking pics !! Am drooling every time I see them ;) I wud definitely make them one day :P and ur pics are the inspiration !!

Unknown said...

Your eclairs have turned out really well. I have been eyeing them since you posted the pictures on the group :-)

great-secret-of-life said...

perfectly done.. Who can say no to this yummy dessert

Unknown said...

Looks delicious. so beautifully presented.

beingFab said...

They look superb!!! Really mouth watering!

Shannon R said...

They look so good! Yours browned way more than mine did, they look way better with a bit of colour!

Merry Tummy said...

They look so tempting and beautiful -i can look them forever :) Beautifully done

jehanne@thecookingdoctor said...

wow, these look fabulous! I did a choux class last Sunday and would hve instead directed them to you, as your eclairs are really gorgeous:-)

Trishnanta said...

Oh how I love the photos in your blog. Amazing recipe :)

Anonymous said...

hey vini these were so very tasty! am lucky I got to have some !

Nilu A said...

Your Chocolate eclairs look great.. Amazing clicks.. Wish I could have some right now ;-)

Akila said...

Wow... What can I say... These looks so tempting n superb delicious

Shree said...

super good eclairs ! those plates/saucers are gorgeous as well !

Hema said...

They look superb, very very tempting..

Tanusree said...

wow !! these eclairs look gorgeous and you have plated them so well.