Description
Classic French cream puffs and éclairs made from light, airy choux pastry filled with whipped cream or rich pastry cream, topped with chocolate icing for éclairs. This recipe provides step-by-step baking instructions for perfect, golden pastries with smooth, luscious fillings.
Ingredients
Scale
Choux Pastry
- 1 cup (227g) water
- 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter
- 3/8 teaspoon table salt
- 1 1/4 cups (150g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 4 large eggs
Whipped Cream Filling
- 2 cups (454g) heavy cream or whipping cream
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract
Pastry Cream Filling
- About 3 cups of your favorite pastry cream filling (not fully detailed in original, recommended classic pastry cream recipe)
Chocolate Icing for Éclairs
- 1 cup (170g) chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup (113g) heavy cream or whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Sheets: Preheat your oven to 425°F and lightly grease or line two baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Make Dough Base: Combine water, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan, and heat until the butter melts and the mixture boils.
- Add Flour: Remove from heat, stir in all the flour at once vigorously until combined.
- Cook Dough: Return the pan to medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture smooths out and forms a ball that follows the spoon, about less than 1 minute.
- Cool Dough: Remove from heat and let the dough cool for 5–10 minutes until it is warm to the touch (below 125°F).
- Incorporate Eggs: Transfer dough to mixer and beat in eggs one at a time. The mixture looks curdled early but will become smooth after the last egg. Beat for at least 2 minutes.
- Shape Pastries: For cream puffs, drop 3–4 tablespoon mounds spaced 3 inches apart on baking sheets using a cookie scoop. For éclairs, pipe 5” long logs about 1/2” to 3/4” diameter using a pastry bag or prepared sandwich bag.
- Bake Pastries: Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F and bake an additional 25 minutes until medium golden brown. Do not open the oven door during baking.
- Dry Out Pastries: Remove from oven, slit tops of each pastry to release steam, return to oven for 5 minutes. Cool on racks, then split each in half horizontally.
- Prepare Whipped Cream Filling: In a mixing bowl, whip heavy cream with sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form but not over-whipped.
- Fill Cream Puffs: Fill the bottom halves of the cooled cream puffs with the whipped cream and replace the tops. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.
- Fill Éclairs: Fill the éclair shells with about 3 cups of prepared pastry cream using a spoon or piping bag.
- Make Chocolate Icing: Place chocolate chips and cream in a microwave-safe bowl, heat gently until cream is very hot and chocolate melts. Stir to smooth.
- Glaze Éclairs: Spoon the chocolate icing over the éclairs, spreading to the edges. Serve immediately.
Notes
- The choux pastry dough makes about 12 cream puffs or 20-24 éclairs.
- The whipped cream and pastry cream fillings each make enough for 12 pastries.
- Chocolate icing quantity is enough for about two dozen éclairs; reduce quantities if drizzling instead of coating.
- Do not open the oven door during baking to prevent collapse.
- Splitting the pastries and exposing centers to air helps prevent sogginess.
- Watch whipped cream carefully to avoid overwhipping, which will cause it to become grainy.
- Use room temperature eggs for best incorporation into dough.
- For pastry cream, use your favorite classic recipe as it is not detailed here.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Keywords: cream puffs, éclairs, choux pastry, French dessert, pastry cream, whipped cream filling, chocolate icing
