Mocha EclairsPrint Recipe

It became glaringly obvious to me today that I should not attempt pastries such as these unless I am in the right frame of mind. And as you can see by my photo’s – I was not.  I am not too sure what happened but my usual patience and finesse went out the window of my hot-as-a-hothouse kitchen.

It began with the misshapen pastries, then the Mocha Creme Patisserie that seemed to be going everywhere aside from inside the éclairs, and finally the chocolate glaze that was proving to be a total pain in the bottom (because of the heat). Still, I persevered with a steely determination – I had been planning to make these for a long time and I was not going to let a few kitchen mishaps stop me from delivering the results of my carefully researched recipe.

Despite their physical flaws, these little (not so beautiful) beauties are gorgeous, the mocha creme patisserie is dense and velvety and works wonderfully in the pastry, finished with the chocolate glaze.

So I will go to bed tonight, tormented by the éclair – at least it’s a pastry that is worth my anguish. But I am wondering, aside from my family who have a whole plateful to get through, why the popularity of the éclair seems to have declined?

Mocha Creme Patisserie
50 mls espresso coffee
2 cups (500 grams/1 pound) whole milk
4 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons (75 grams/2.6 ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
200 grams/7 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2½ tablespoons (1¼ ounces/40 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Pâte à Choux
1/2 cup (125 grams/4.4 ounces) whole milk
½ cup (125 grams/4.4 ounces) water
115 grams/4 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
¼ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (140 grams/4.9 ounces) all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, at room temperature

Chocolate Glaze
226 grams/8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
170 grams/6 ounces unsalted butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
5 teaspoons water

Mocha Creme Patisserie
Prepare an ice bath. Combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl and whisk together – set aside.

Heat the milk and espresso to boiling point. Once the milk has reached a boil, whisk a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the yolk mixture.

Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously and continuously until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat). Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

Scrape this mixture into a small bowl and set it in the ice-water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so it remains smooth.

Once the cream has cooled slightly, remove from the ice-water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice-water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge. In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

The pastry cream can be made 2-3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

Eclairs
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats and set aside.

Place an oven rack in the lower part of the oven. Preheat your oven to 200c/400f. Place a pan with hot tap water onto the bottom of your oven (Pyrex pie pan works well).

In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil.

Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the dough on medium speed for a minute to cool the dough slightly. Break the eggs into a liquid measuring cup or a bowl, lightly whisk with a fork. Add the eggs gradually, in 4-5 additions beating well after each portion has been added to incorporate it into the dough. You will notice that after you have added the first portion, the dough will separate, once again- do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon. The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used. Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 1 ½ cm plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in 10 cm (4 inches) long fingers. Leave a 5 cm (2 inch) space in between each dough strip to let them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

Put one baking sheet into another to isolate the pastry bottoms from strong heat and slide the baking sheet into the oven; place another baking sheet with piped éclairs immediately into the freezer (if your oven is not big enough to accommodate both baking sheets at once). Bake for about 18 to 20 minutes, until the éclairs are well puffed and golden brown. Reduce the oven temperature to 190c/375f. Open the oven door and take the water-filled pan out of the oven. Rotate the sheet from front to back. Poke every pastry with a wooden skewer or a knife tip to allow the moisture to escape and leave the baking sheet in the oven for another 5 minutes, until the éclairs are well browned, firm and crisp to the touch. Turn the oven off, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep it ajar. Let the éclairs stay in the oven for 5 more minutes.

Cool completely on a rack. The unfilled éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembly
To fill the éclairs, slice them down the middle lengthways, keeping them intact at one side. Place the Mocha Creme Patisserie in a piping bag with a small tip and squeeze out enough to fill the éclair. Repeat with the rest of the éclairs.

Chocolate Glaze
Place all the ingredients in a small heatproof bowl set in a wide skillet of barely simmering water and stir frequently until the chocolate is almost completely melted; do not overheat. Remove the glaze from the water bath and set aside to finish melting, stirring once or twice until perfectly smooth. Place a sheet of parchment paper or foil under the rack. Dip the top of each éclair into the glaze and place the glazed éclair onto the rack for the glaze to set.

The éclairs are best served soon after they have been filled.

Source: adapted from Pierre Hermes

© 2011, Michelle. All rights reserved.