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Eclairs can be filled with chocolate ganache, raspberry mousse, lemon custard and more!
What is Eclair filling made of
Eclairs can be filled with 4 different types of filling. Each of them are composed of either a custard base or a whipped cream base.
Custard and whipped cream fillings are both thick and have a little movement to them. Therefore this makes filling éclairs very easy. You need to use fillings that can be easily piped into the éclairs without too much force.
diplomat cream (pastry cream with added whipped cream)
Chantilly cream (whipped cream base with flavors added to it)
Once the salted caramel sauce has come together, it will form the base of custard.
The custard is made by warming milk and vanilla bean paste to the salted caramel sauce. Once the milk has heated up, just before boiling, it is used to temper eggs.
The warm milk is slowly added to eggs creating a custard.
The custard is thickened by placing it back on the heat and letting the cornstarch work its magic.
After the custard is thickened, butter is added to make it extra creamy. Then the custard is cooled down and refrigerated before using it to fill éclairs.
Vanilla Pastry Cream
Vanilla eclairs are made by using vanilla custard to fill them.
Vanilla pastry cream is made by infusing vanilla beans into warm milk, and then using that to temper eggs.
The custard is heated until the cornstarch thickens the custard.
Once the custard has thickened enough, it is cooled down and then refrigerated before it’s used to fill eclairs.
Espresso Pastry Cream
Espresso eclairs are coffee filled eclairs. You can top espresso eclairs with white chocolate ganache or dark chocolate ganache.
Espresso eclairs are filled with espresso custard.
Espresso pastry cream is made by making vanilla custard, but it has added espresso powder, or I like to use fresh espresso for my pastry cream.
I like to add the espresso when the milk is warming up, then temper the eggs to create the custard.
The real espresso flavor is much stronger and more flavorful than using espresso powder.
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Dome mousse cakes are eye catching since they are full of layers of dessert. When you cut the dome mousse cake, you can see how intricate the dessert looks.
Creating a mousse cake is more about preparing each component individually, and then assembling it at the end.
A dome mousse cake is made by using 1 flavor of mousse, a center filling, and a base for the cake to sit on.
Select flavor of mousse for dome cake
To make a dome mousse cake, you’ll need to pick the main flavor of mousse that your dessert will be based around.
Lemon Mousse
Raspberry Mousse
Blackberry Mousse
Blueberry Mousse
Honey Mousse
Guava Mousse
Vanilla Bean Mousse
Cheesecake Mousse
Durian Mousse
Chocolate Mousse
Prepare your mousse and let it chill for 4 hours prior to assembling your dome mousse cake.
Select your center filling of your dome mousse cake
The center filling of your dome mousse cake should compliment the flavor of mousse you selected.
white chocolate ganache
dark chocolate ganache
maraschino cherries
jam
caramel sauce
chocolate sauce
strawberry purée
raspberry purée
fruit sauce (blackberry, blueberry, strawberry)
Use a melon baller to spoon out a perfect sphere of center filling for your dome mousse cake.
For center fillings like sauce or purée, you can just spoon a little of the filling into your mold. Shape the mousse so that there is a half circle area for you to place your center filling in.
Base for dome mousse cake
Prepare your dome mousse cake base. You can bake the crust in a 9″x13″ pan, and then let it cool down.
Use a cookie cutter or glass to “cut” out a perfect circle that will fit your silicone half sphere mold. You’ll have to measure to make sure it will fit.
Using an empty silicone mold, match it up with a glass that will be a similar size to fit just inside the mold.
Press the chilled mousse of the dome mousse cake into the silicone half sphere mold, making sure to fill all of the crevasses. Press hard to make sure there are no blemishes that will appear when you remove the mold.
Place the center filling of the dome mousse cake using a melon baller. At this point you can put more of the mousse around the center filling on the edges. Another option is to put the mousse completely over the center filling to cover it. The center looks well presented this way. It will look like it is encased.
Use a cookie cutter or glass to “cut” out a perfect circle of cake base that will fit your silicone half sphere mold. You’ll have to measure to make sure it will fit. Using an empty silicone mold, match it up with a glass that will be a similar size to fit just inside the mold.
Place the dome dessert cut out base onto the mousse and center filling. Press it in well so it sticks to the body composition of the dome dessert.
Place the dome mousse cake in the freezer overnight with it upside down. The mold should be on the bottom, and the base of the cake on top. Place the molds on a plate or in an airtight container.
Remove the silicone mold from the dome dessert. Use your fingers to gently pry the mold from the body of the dome mousse cake. Press down on the top of the silicone mold to remove the frozen dome dessert.
Place the dome mousse cake on a wire rack with a plate underneath to catch any drippings.
Pour your glaze coating over your dome dessert. (optional)
Add your garnish to the dome mousse cake and serve immediately. If it’s too hard to serve, let it thaw for about 10-15 minutes before serving.
Inner Layer under the coating of the Dome Shaped Dessert
The inner layer under the coating of the frozen dome dessert is going to be a primary flavor for your dessert.
The primary flavor of dessert sets the tone and texture for your dessert. Ice cream or mousse work very well as a primary flavor.
Select your mousse or ice cream and press it into the half sphere silicone mold. Make sure you put this layer right to the edges of the silicone mold. Press this layer very hard into the mold. This will ensure there are no blemishes in your final dessert when you remove it from the mold. You’ll want this layer to be about an inch thick. Try to make it fairy even all around the mold. Use the back of a spoon to guide the primary layer into place.
If you’re working with layers of ice cream, you’ll have to pop it in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Then add your next layer of ice cream in the same way. Make sure to leave room for your center filling. Place it in the freezer again for 30 minutes prior to adding the center filling.
For mousse layers, there is no need to freeze the dessert when creating your dome dessert. Just fill with your primary layer and center filling, and add your base. Then place it in the freezer for 4 hours to let it set.
Center of Frozen Dome Shaped Dessert
The center of the frozen dessert is filled with a sweet filling.
white chocolate ganache
dark chocolate ganache
maraschino cherries
jam
caramel sauce
chocolate sauce
strawberry purée
raspberry purée
fruit sauce (blackberry, blueberry, strawberry)
Use a melon baller to spoon out a perfect circle of center filling for your dessert. Gently place the perfect circle of filling into the center of the half sphere mold.
Base of Frozen Dome Shaped Dessert
The base of the frozen dome dessert is the bottom of what your dessert will sit on. You could also use a different cake base if you wanted. A cookie crumble cake base would also work well with raspberry mousse.
Create the base of your dome dessert using a 9″x13″ pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, then put your base into it and bake it.
Since you have a large amount of base, you can use a glass or something similar to “cookie cut” the bases of your dome cake.
If you’re creating a mousse dome dessert, layer your primary flavor, center filling, and base. Press the base firmly so it adheres together. Freeze for 4 hours, then remove it from the freezer and
Press the body of the frozen dome dessert into the silicone half sphere mold, making sure to fill all of the crevasses.
Place the center filling of the dome dessert using a melon baller. At this point you can put more of the body around the center filling on the edges. Another option is to put the body component completely over the center filling to cover it. The center looks well presented this way.
Prepare your cake base for your dome dessert. You can bake the crust in a 9″x13″ pan, and then let it cool down. Use a cookie cutter or glass to “cut” out a perfect circle that will fit your silicone half sphere mold. You’ll have to measure to make sure it will fit. Using an empty silicone mold, match it up with a glass that will be a similar size to fit just inside the mold.
Place the dome dessert cut out base onto the silicone half sphere mold. Press it in well so it sticks to the body composition of the dome dessert.
Place the dome dessert in the freezer overnight.
Remove the silicone mold from the dome dessert. Use your fingers to gently pry the mold from the body of the dome dessert. Press down on the top of the silicone mold to remove the frozen dome dessert.
Place the dome dessert on a wire rack with a plate underneath to catch any drippings.
Pour your glaze coating over your dome dessert.
Add your garnish to the frozen dome shaped dessert and serve immediately. If it’s too hard to serve, let it thaw for about 10-15 minutes before serving.
Vanilla buttercream wedding cake is the most classic and traditional wedding cake flavor you can choose. Since vanilla is a neutral flavor, most people that attend your wedding will enjoy it.
Sometimes picking a wedding cake that has chocolate cake, will not go over well with everyone. It’s best to select a cake that most of your guests will enjoy, without being too shocking of a flavor.
Vanilla buttercream cake is made with a buttermilk vanilla cake base.
In between the layers are vanilla buttercream icing.
Alternatively, you could ice the cake with vanilla buttercream, and in between the layers you could make vanilla custard.
Adding Vanilla Beans and Custardto your Wedding Cake
Sometimes vanilla buttercream cake is made with real vanilla beans. If you choose to go with a vanilla bean buttercream cake, this can be a bit more expensive, but it’s worth it.
The vanilla bean is opened, and the vanilla beans are extracted from the pod. The pod infuses its vanilla flavor into vanilla custard. The remaining tiny vanilla beans will fill the custard with luscious vanilla flavor.
The outside of the cake will be covered in vanilla bean buttercream icing. The vanilla beans extracted are added to vanilla buttercream icing, adding a ton of vanilla flavor. Vanilla bean buttercream icing is much more flavorful than just regular vanilla buttercream icing.
Usually, vanilla buttercream cake is flavored only with vanilla extract, which can be just a hint of vanilla. Adding vanilla beans will be sure to overwhelm your taste buds and will be a huge hit at your wedding.
Vanilla bean custard adds a ton of flavor to your wedding cake. Vanilla custard is a sweet and rich addition to your wedding cake.
Vanilla custard is made by tempering eggs. Tempering eggs is fairly time consuming and laboring for a baker. Vanilla custard is warmed until it has thickened enough, and then it needs time to chill in the refrigerator until it’s ready to use.
I would highly recommend adding vanilla custard to your wedding cake. It will take your wedding cake from tasty to mouthwatering.
Fortune Hill Photography
Lemon Custard Wedding Cake
Lemon custard wedding cake is a light, and tangy cake for your wedding.
Lemon custard wedding cake is made by adding fresh lemon juice and lemon zest to a vanilla cake base. Lemon cake will have strands of lemon zest throughout the cake base, making it quite eye catching when it is served.
In between the layers of lemon cake is lemon custard.
Lemon custard has a bit of a tart and sharp taste to it, since it has lemon juice added to it for the flavoring.
Lemon custard wedding cake can be frosted with either a lemon cream cheese frosting, or a lemon buttercream icing.
Lemon cream cheese frosting will be a bit more creamy and full than lemon buttercream icing.
Lemon custard wedding cake has a strong pungent flavor. I would recommend adding lemon cream cheese frosting, as this will make the cake have complimenting flavors, and won’t be too overwhelming with lemon flavor for your wedding cake.
Champagne cake one of the newest trends in wedding cakes. Champagne has hints of lemon, peach, almond, or white cherry notes depending on the bottle of champagne.
By adding these hints of flavor to a wedding cake, it gives just a touch of citrus and toasted almond flavors that come together well for a light and flavorful wedding cake.
Champagne cake is made by adding champagne to a vanilla cake base.
Adding Strawberry flavoring to champagne wedding cake
For a little more succulent flavor, strawberry extract, and chopped strawberries are added to the champagne vanilla cake base.
Strawberries are a little bit sweet and acidic, making them a burst of flavor inside a wedding cake.
For the champagne cake layers, they have an added thin layer of champagne infused syrup. The cake has small holes poked in it to have the champagne syrup seep into the cake, making it a little sweeter with more champagne flavor.
Champagne strawberry wedding cake is filled with layers of cream cheese icing, made with whipped cream, strawberry extract and strawberry purée.
Champagne strawberry wedding cake is covered top to bottom in champagne buttercream frosting, with added strawberry extract and strawberry purée.
Champagne cake with strawberry buttercream is one of the most memorable cakes you can choose for your wedding. It has a light pink color to the frosting from the strawberries. When the cake is cut, it has the chopped strawberries popping with color throughout the layered pink cake.
Choosing a champagne cake for your wedding will thoroughly impress your guests by its unique special flavor. Most people will never have tried a champagne cake before, so it will be an remarkable choice for a wedding cake.
How are wedding cakes decorated
You can choose to have your wedding cake decorated with
detailed icing
painted icing
a cake topper
fresh flowers
sprigs of greenery
If you’re going with a more modern wedding, you can opt for detailed or painted icing on the sides of your wedding cake as added decoration.
For a rustic wedding you could choose to go with the fresh flowers or sprigs of greenery for your wedding cake decorations.
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Choosing a cake flavor can be difficult depending on the occasion you need it for.
Here’s a few of our favorite cake flavor ideas for you to try out for your next get together.
We’ve complied a list of cakes flavor ideas that have everything from ombre cakes to champagne cakes to help with your selection of which cake flavor to choose.
Vanilla buttercream cake is made by baking a vanilla cake with buttermilk.
In between the layers are vanilla buttercream icing. Or, you could ice the cake with vanilla buttercream, and in between the layers you could make vanilla custard.
Cookie dough cake is made by baking a cake using vanilla and Greek yogurt at its base.
The cookie dough is made using a recipe that does not have eggs in it.
The cookie dough is made with mini chocolate chips, as to not be too overwhelming in the cake.
The cookies are shaped, chilled, and gently placed into the cake, and then the cake is baked. The rest of the cookie dough is shaped again so it’s flat and chilled.
This will act as the top of the cake and will be crumbled to look like mini bits of cookie dough.
In between the layers of cookie dough cake, is cookie dough frosting.
Cookie dough frosting is made by adding a little bit of flour, brown sugar and mini chocolate chips.
The brown sugar gives the look of cookie dough by turning it a golden brown color. Covering the cake on the top is chocolate ganache with the bits of cookie dough crumbled on top.
Chantilly cake is made by first baking a vanilla cake base.
A Chantilly cake has a unique frosting that is made by combining whipped cream, mascarpone cheese and cream cheese together to a buttercream frosting base.
The layers of cake are made by creating a berry syrup, such as raspberry syrup, and then placing the unique cream frosting on top of the syrup.
Fresh berries are place into the cream frosting, making this beautiful and colorful layered cake.
Some of the berries that are too large, like strawberries, are cut in half to have an even layered cake.
When the Chantilly cake is sliced, you can see the colorful red and blue berries throughout the layered cake.
The Chantilly cake is covered in the cream frosting all over the sides and top of the cake.
Chantilly cake is usually topped with a few fresh berries, giving it an eye catching look to it.
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You can create a chocolate dome cake with silicone molds and have it shaped as a half sphere.
Chocolate mousse is stable when making it with gelatin. Use a chocolate mousse recipe that has been stabilized with gelatin to create your chocolate dome cake.
Begin by making your chocolate mousse and letting it chill for a couple of hours.
Select the inside of your chocolate dome cake. Dark chocolate ganache or raspberry jam would go well as the center of your cake.
You can make a cake bottom to go with your chocolate dome cake. Your cake bottom could be an cookie crumble mixed with butter to stabilize it. Another option is almond dacquoise. It’s a little bit harder than a cookie crumble and has more thickness to it.
Once you’ve baked the crust for your chocolate dome cake, let it cool to room temperature. Use a metal cookie cutter or a glass to gently cut the cookie into pieces that will fit perfectly for your silicone mold. Try to get it as exact as possible or a little smaller.
Assemble the chocolate dome by spooning the mousse into the silicone mold. You could use a half sphere silicone mold to give it a dome cake look.
Leave about 1/4″ thickness from the top of your mold to add the cookie to the mold at the very end.
Guide the mousse up the sides of the silicone mold leaving about 1/4″ thickness from the top. Make sure there’s a thick layer on the edges, and leave enough room for the center of your chocolate dome cake.
Spoon the center into the silicone mold until it’s about level with the mousse.
Add the cookie and press it into the center and mousse a little. It’s ok to have the mousse come around the edges.
Freeze the mousse cake for about 4 hours to let it set.
Remove the chocolate dome cake from the freezer and gently peel back the silicone mold.
You can add a mirror glaze to the top of your dome cake, or a simple syrup to make it shine. You can dust the top with powdered sugar, cocoa powder, coconut flakes, or add a small amount of whip cream to the top to finish it off.
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There are many different types of mousse you can make by using a custard base or whipping cream base.
By infusing different flavors into your mousse, you’re able to make a few different types of desserts. You can make layered mousse and make it into an entremet, or dome cake.
Try experimenting with a couple different types of mousse and topping it with a mirror glaze to be a bit more fancy.
Blueberries are heated together with sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat.
After the blueberry mixture has thickened, it is blended together and strained through a mesh sieve.
In a stainless steel mixing bowl, egg whites, sugar, and cream of tarter is mixed together. Heat the mixture over a pot of water simmering with a few inches of water in the bottom.
Once the mixture has thicken, it is removed from the heat source, and beat until the egg whites become stiff peaks.
In a stand mixer, heavy cream is a placed in a metal bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, and whipped until soft peaks are formed.
Gelatin is bloomed with a bit of water, and then whisked into the blueberry puree.
Egg white meringue is folded into blueberry puree to add a ton of light airiness to the mousse.
Finally, fold soft peak whipped cream into the blueberry mixture and chill for a few hours prior to serving.
Honey Mousse
Honey mousse can be easily made by mixing butter, egg yolks, honey, and white chocolate over medium heat in a saucepan. After the chocolate has completely melted, it is placed in a heat proof bowl.
Bloomed gelatin is warmed, and then slowly whisked into the honey mixture, and then it is let to cool to room temperature.
Heavy cream is beat until soft peaks form, and then it’s folded into the honey chocolate mixture.
Egg whites are beaten until soft peaks form, and then folded into the honey cream mixture to make honey mousse.
Honey mousse needs to chill for a few hours prior to serving.
Once combined and thickened, the rest of the whipping cream and be beaten until stiff peaks form and folded into the honey mixture to create honey mousse.
Guava Mousse
Guava mousse can be made by warming the guavas over medium heat until their juices start streaming out.
The guava juice needs to be strained and combined with 1 cup of water and reheated together. Add bloomed gelatin and combine with condensed milk.
Condensed milk gives the guava mousse a rich flavoring. Mix together with stiff egg whites and chill until ready to serve.
Vanilla Bean Mousse
Vanilla bean mousse can be prepared by whipping heavy cream with vanilla bean seeds and granulated sugar until soft peaks form.
Egg whites are beaten until foamy, and then granulated sugar is added to them. Egg whites are beaten until stiff peaks form.
Egg whites are folded into the cream mixture, and then chilled for a few hours prior to serving.
Cheesecake Mousse
Cheesecake mousse can be made by creaming together cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla and lemon zest.
The cream cheese mixture is combined with stiff peaks whipping cream and folded together.
Graham cracker crust can be made and crumbled on the top of the cheesecake mousse for more of a traditional cheesecake flavor.
Durian Mousse
Durian mousse can be prepared by removing the insides of the Durian seeds.
Puree the insides of the durian.
Mix whipping cream and icing sugar until stiff peaks form, then fold the pureed durian into the durian mousse.
Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate mousse can be made a few different ways.
One way to make chocolate mousse is by mixing egg yolks and sugar together until light and fluffy. Warm heavy cream in a saucepan until simmering, not boiling.
Temper the eggs by slowly adding warm cream until fully combined.
Whisk the mixture vigorously as it’s slowly coming together, as to not cook the eggs.
Warm the cream and egg mixture over medium heat until it thickens.
Remove the mixture from the heat source and whisk in chocolate and vanilla extract.
Strain the mixture and chill.
Remove the mixture once chilled and fold in whipped cream that has formed stiff peaks.
Chill and serve chocolate mousse with some chocolate scrolls on top.
Cut the vanilla bean down the center to expose the vanilla beans inside. Remove all of the vanilla beans in the pod and place in your milk in a saucepan. Put the entire vanilla bean into the saucepan as well.
Heat the milk until simmering. Do not boil the milk. A simmer will look like very tiny air bubbles in the milk. As soon as the milk comes to a simmer, remove the saucepan from the heat source.
Let the vanilla bean infuse flavor into the milk for 15 minutes.
While your vanilla bean is steeping, prepare your egg yolks. Separate your eggs by cracking the egg in half, over a bowl to catch the egg whites. Holding the 2 halves in each hand, then transfer the egg yolk to each half egg shell until all of the egg white is removed. Place the egg yolks into a heat proof bowl.
Add cornstarch and sugar to the egg yolks. Whisk the mixture until the dry ingredients are fully dissolved.
Once the warm milk is done steeping, remove the vanilla bean. Gently and gradually add a couple of tablespoons of warm milk to the egg mixture. Whisk the mixture vigorously as you add the milk. The goal is to not cook the eggs.
Once you’re finished adding the warm milk, strain the mixture and place back into the saucepan. You can put a sifter or strainer over top of the saucepan and then pour the egg/milk mixture through the strainer to remove any cooked eggs.
Place the saucepan back onto the heat source and warm on medium heat.
Whisk the mixture continuously. Heat the mixture until you feel the resistance of the custard. The cornstarch will activate and create a very thick mixture.
When you feel the custard thicken, cook for 1 more minute.
Remove the saucepan from the heat, let it cool a little.
Add 1 tbsp of butter to the saucepan and whisk together.
Place a plastic film on the custard to prevent a skin from forming.
Once the saucepan has cooled enough to go in the fridge, chill for 2 hours before using.
How long is custard good for
Custard is good for 3 days in the fridge, or up to 1 month in the freezer.
How do you thicken custard
Custard is thickened by adding cornstarch to the egg yolks. Cornstarch is activated by heat and makes the custard have a gelatin texture to it. The custard is thickened and creates a creamy, luscious mixture.
Why your custard isn’t thickening
If you don’t heat the milk/egg mixture enough, your custard won’t thicken. You will feel the resistance of the custard when it thickens. Keep heating your mixture and whisk until you feel the custard coming together.
How to make custard without custard powder
Custard powder has cornstarch and vanilla flavoring in it’s contents and is used for creating custard or pudding.
To make custard without custard powder, you’ll want to use corn starch, vanilla extract or vanilla beans, and egg yolks to thicken your custard.
Roll the dough out until it’s about 1/5″ thickness. You don’t want to squish the layers of the laminated dough. These layers are important for your pastry in order for it to turn out. Go slow, and be patient when rolling out your Danish pastry dough.
Cut the dough into sections. You can make pastries about 5″ wide.
Fill the pastry will custard. You can use any type of custard you like. We recommend our Danish Pastry Filling. It’s a vanilla bean custard that goes perfectly with custard Danishes.
Proof the Danishes at room temperature for 2 hours. The Danishes will start to expand.
Bake the Danishes for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.
Serve the Danishes right away, or you can let them cool to room temperature. Feel free to add a small touch of icing overtop of the pastry by creating lines with your icing.
Store the Danishes in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. Danishes are best eaten fresh, the same day they are baked.
How to make vanilla bean custard for Danish pastry filling
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Active Time25 minutesmins
Chilling Time2 hourshrs
Total Time2 hourshrs40 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Keyword: dessert
Yield: 3cups
Materials
1vanilla bean
6egg yolks
2/3cupsugargranulated
1/4cupcornstarch
1tbspbutterunsalted
2cupsmilk
Instructions
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 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 custard from the heat and add butter. Whisk butter into the custard until it's fully melted. If you want to add any more vanilla flavor, you can add 1-2 tsp of vanilla extract.
Let the custard cool to room temperature. Then place plastic cling wrap on top of the custard to prevent a film from forming.
In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the dough ingredients. Once the dough comes together, knead for another 3 minutes. Remove the dough from the stand mixer, shape into a sphere, and cover it in plastic wrap. Place in the Danish dough the fridge overnight.
Day 2
Cut the butter layer into cubes. Arrange the cubes on a silicone pastry mat that will be 15 cm x 15 cm. Fold the pastry mat over the butter and pound with a rolling pin. The butter layer needs to be an exact 17 cm x 17 cm. Place the butter in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out the dough until 26 cm x 26 cm.
Remove the butter layer from the fridge and arrange the butter at a 45 degree angle from the dough. The dough will be able to be stretched over the butter layer to create an envelope. Seal the dough together by gently pressing the dough together.
Roll out the dough with the butter fully enclosed to create a long rectangle of 20 cm x 60 cm. Roll the dough lengthwise so it only grows lengthwise.
Fold the dough to create a letter.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place on a plate. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
Repeat rolling the dough out to 20 cm x 60 cm and folding the dough like a letter. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Repeat rolling the dough out to 20 cm x 60 cm and folding the dough like a letter. Cover and refrigerate for overnight.
Make your Danish filling and chill it overnight so it's ready for the morning.
Day 3
Roll the dough out gently, not compressing the folded layers too much. Roll the dough out to 20 cm x 110 cm.
Shape and Fill the Danishes.
Let the Danishes sit at room temperature for 2 hours to proof.
Cover the Danish Pastry dough in egg wash.
Bake the Danishes for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.
14 Types of Danish pastries
Strawberry Danish
Blueberry Danish
Blackberry Danish
Raspberry Danish
Rhubarb Danish
Cream cheese Danish
Ham and Cheese Danish
Almond Danish
Vanilla Danish
Espresso Danish
Marzipan Danish
Chocolate Danish
Cinnamon Danish
Apple Danish
Danish pastry making
Danish pastry making involves making a yeast dough and laminating butter in between the layers of dough. The dough must rest periodically, and cannot be rushed. The dough is chilled in between creating the layers of butter, as to not make the dough too warm. If the pastry is too warm, the butter will come through the dough. Since this is a delicate process, the time it takes to create Danish pastries can be up to 3 days. The filling must also be made ahead of time and chilled before using.
Choux pastry is made of dough that is cooked over medium heat in a saucepan. Once all of the flour is incorporated and cooked for a few minutes, the dough is transferred to a stand mixer.
While the dough is mixing with the dough hook, the eggs are added one at a time until the dough becomes shiny and silky. Then the éclair dough is ready to be piped and baked.
What is Éclair filling made of
Éclair filling is made of pastry cream.
Pastry cream is made by tempering eggs and adding hot cream. Pastry cream is very delicate, and needs to be made slowly.
Otherwise, the eggs will cook and ruin your pastry cream. Just in case some of the eggs do cook a little, it’s best to strain your pastry cream before letting it chill in the fridge.
What is Éclair sauce
Éclair sauce is the topping that goes on the highest choux pastry. Éclairs can be topped with many different foods including salted caramel sauce, chocolate ganache, or other types of icing.
What is chocolate éclair sauce
Chocolate éclair sauce is made of chocolate ganache. Chocolate ganache for éclairs is a topping that hardens onto the choux pasty.
Chocolate éclair sauce is made by adding warm heavy cream to small pieces of the chocolate. The mixture is combined until it’s smooth and then it can be used once it’s cooled down to room temperature.
You don’t want to use the chocolate éclair sauce when it’s too warm, otherwise it will be too hot to adhere to the choux pastry.
How do you prevent eclairs from deflating
You can prevent eclairs from deflating by poking a toothpick into the dough as it is baking.
Poke the dough near the end of the baking cycle. Poke the eclairs again as they are cooling out of the oven.
Poking the dough will release the steam, which means that the steam will not be retained by the pastry.
If the steam is retained within the dough, it will make the dough collapse onto itself with the trapped moisture seeping into the pastry.
Can I make choux pastry the day before
You can make choux pastry dough up to 3 days in advance.
The choux pastry dough will last in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Pipe and bake your choux pastry and use the baked choux pastry within 1-2 days. Choux pastry is better served the same day it is baked. The fresher the better.
How to make Eclairs
Prepare choux pastry. Pipe onto a baking mat and bake the pastries. Prick with a toothpick to let the air escape either as it’s cooking or as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Let the pastry fully cool. Prepare pastry cream. You can choose any type of pastry cream – salted caramel pastry cream, raspberry mousse, vanilla pastry cream, coffee pastry cream, etc.
Pipe chilled pastry cream on top of the choux pastry or inside of it. You can also cut the choux pastry in half and then pipe the pastry cream so it sits in the middle.
Prepare the topping – this could be chocolate ganache, salted caramel sauce, etc.
Pipe the topping onto the pastry.
The pastry is complete, or continue piping other toppings – buttercream and a chocolate decoration.
Serve within 1 day of preparing.
What is the difference between an éclair and a Long John?
The difference between an éclair and a Long John is that a Long John is made with dough prepared with yeast, and then the dough is deep fried, whereas an éclair is made with choux pastry and then is baked in the oven.
Both a Long John and an éclair are filled with pastry cream and chocolate icing on the top of them.
What is the difference between a cream puff and an éclair
The difference between a cream puff and an éclair is that they are piped in different shapes. Both an éclair and a cream puff use choux pastry.
They are light, fluffy, and an airy pastry. Éclairs have both a filling and a topping, whereas a cream puff may only have a filling.
Do unfilled cream puffs need to be refrigerated
Unfilled cream puffs do not need to be refrigerated.
However, if you do refrigerate unfilled cream puffs, this will prevent the cream puffs from again as quickly. You can use your refrigerated unfilled cream puffs for 2-3 days after baking.
When should you fill cream puffs
You should fill cream puffs right before serving.
The longer the pastry cream sits on the choux pastry, the more soggy it will become. By only filling the cream puffs right before serving, the pastry will be light and airy.
Can you freeze cream puffs that are filled
You can freeze cream puffs that are filled for up to one month in the freezer.
Thaw the cream puffs in the fridge overnight when you’re ready to eat them.
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