Chocolate eclair recipe is made with vanilla custard filling, and is topped with chocolate glaze. A classic eclair recipe for you to fall in love with!
To make your ecliars stand out of the norm, try topping them with something extra special. This will make your eclairs memorable and remarkable to your guests.
What can you top eclairs with
After you dip your eclairs in chocolate glaze for their topping, you can also add a few other foods to make them stand out.
- finely chopping nuts (peanuts, pistachios)
- sprinkles
- gold dust
- white chocolate drizzle
- finely chopped candy (candy canes)
Why do you dip eclairs in chocolate glaze instead of spooning it on
Dipping eclairs into their chocolate glaze gives the chocolate a seamless and even look to the glaze. If you were to spoon the glaze on the eclair, it would drip all the way down the edges of the eclair, which will not look as nice as a perfect edge.
Make sure to submerge only the top half of the eclair, so you get only half of the eclair with glaze, and the other half showing the golden baked eclair pastry.
How to fill eclairs without cutting them
- Use a large metal piping tip and press it into the bottom of your eclair making 3 holes. Make one in the middle, and 2 on the ends.
- Fit the piping bag with the piping tip and fill the bag with custard for your eclairs.
- Pipe the custard into the 3 holes until you feel the resistance that there is no more custard that will fit into the eclair.
- Wipe the excess off the bottom of the eclair using a paper towel.
- Repeat for the next eclair to be filled.
How to fill eclairs without piping bag
To fill eclairs without a piping bag, cut the eclairs in half.
If you want the piped look for your eclairs, you can fill a sandwich plastic bag with your custard and cut the corner off of the pipe. Pipe the eclairs. Do not overfill the plastic bag with custard or you’ll get a big mess of custard coming out the top as you pipe!
Another option is to use a large spoon to gently place the custard in the bottom half of the cut eclair. Spoon enough on the half cut eclair so it’s at least 1/2″ thick. Place the top half of the eclair pastry on top of the custard and serve!
Chocolate Eclair Recipe with Custard Filling
How to make a chocolate topped eclair with vanilla custard filling
Yield: 30 eclairs
Materials
Vanilla Custard Filling for Eclairs
- 1 vanilla bean
- 6 egg yolks
- 2/3 cup sugar granulated
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 1 tbsp butter unsalted
- 2 cups milk
Chocolate Glaze for Eclairs
- 100 g whipping cream
- 120 g dark chocolate
- 20 g butter unsalted
Éclair Pastry Dough
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp sugar granulated
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup bread flour sifted
- 3-4 eggs
Instructions
Vanilla Custard Filling for Eclairs
- Place milk in a medium saucepan on low-medium heat.
- Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise with a sharp knife. Remove the vanilla beans and place them in the milk. Place the whole vanilla bean in the milk.
- Let the milk just come to a simmer, not boiling. Turn off the heat source and remove the milk from the heat. Let the vanilla bean infuse flavor for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, separate your eggs. Place the egg yolks in a large heat proof bowl.
- Add sugar and cornstarch to the egg yolks and mix together with a whisk.
- Remove the vanilla bean from the saucepan. Slowly temper the eggs by adding a couple of tablespoons of the milk to the eggs at a time and vigorously whisking it until fully emulsified.
- Continue adding the milk very slowly until fully combined. You do not want to cook the eggs.
- Strain the mixture back into the saucepan and heat on medium heat.
- Whisk the mixture frequently. Heat the mixture until the cornstarch has activated. It should be a few minutes. You will feel the mixture becoming thickened with your whisk.
- Cook for 1 more minute after it has started to thicken.
- Remove the vanilla éclair custard from the heat and add the butter. Whisk the butter has fully melted into the custard.
- Let the custard cool until the pot can go in the fridge. Place a plastic wrap on top of the custard to prevent a film from forming.
- Chill the éclair custard for 2 hours before using.
Chocolate Glaze for Eclairs
- Place heavy cream in a small saucepan on medium heat. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer, just before it starts to boil remove it from the heat source.
- Measure your dark chocolate into a heat proof bowl.
- Pour the boiled cream over the dark chocolate wafers.
- Add butter to the mixture and gently stir with a spatula until all of the chocolate is melted and becomes a smooth mixture.
- Place the mixture into the fridge until it's fully cooled (~1 hour).
Eclair Pastry Dough
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat add butter, milk, water, sugar and salt to the saucepan.
- When the butter is full melted, let it come to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and add the bread flour.
- Mix the bread flour well to let it combine into a ball using a wooden spoon. Keep mixing it for the next 3-4 minutes. The ball should come away from the sides of the saucepan with ease.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the éclair pastry dough to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Mix the dough in the stand mixer on low speed for 3 minutes.
- Add an egg and mix until fully combined. Add the other 2 eggs the same way until it's fully combined.
- If the dough is wet, soft, and has an even consistent surface, you don't need to add another egg, your dough is finished. If the dough is a bit on the drier side, add another egg.
- Fit a piping bag with a 1/2" round or star tip. Add eclair pastry dough to the piping bag.
- Pipe eclairs onto a silicone baking mat. They should be about 4" long and 3/4" in thickness. Space the eclairs 1.5-2" apart from one another so they have enough room to puff up in the oven.
- Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes. The eclairs should be a medium brown color.
- As soon as the eclairs come out of the oven, poke them 2 times each with a toothpick. This lets the steam out of the eclairs so they will maintain their shape and not deflate from the trapped steam inside.
- Cool the eclairs on a wire rack.
How to assemble the chocolate eclairs with custard filling
- Decide how you will fill the eclairs.One way is to cut the eclairs in half, and pipe the custard in the center. Sandwich the eclairs together for the finished look. Another option is to pipe them by using a large circle metal piping tip and poking 3 holes on the bottom of the eclair. Then press the piping tip into each of the circles and pipe the vanilla eclair custard them. Wipe the excess with a paper towel.
- Dip the top of the eclairs into the chocolate eclair glaze.
- Serve your Chocolate Eclairs with custard filling immediately. Store any leftovers in the fridge and serve the same day or the following day.
Notes
*Vanilla custard eclair filling can be made 1 day in advance. Vanilla custard eclair filling stores in the fridge for up to 3 days.
*Chocolate eclair glaze can be made 1 day in advance to assembling the eclairs. Chocolate eclair glaze can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week.
*It is recommended to make the vanilla custard éclair filling and chocolate éclair glaze the day before you want to assemble the eclairs.*
*The day you would like to serve the eclairs, make the pastry, bake them, and fill the eclairs. They will stay fresh for the day or store in the fridge overnight.*
