This is one of my favourite desserts from my old recipe notebook. I’ve been making éclairs using this recipe for years and they are always a huge hit. Trust me, there is nothing more yummy than a homemade éclair!

Time: 85 min, Prep: 50 min.  Cook: 35 min.
Servings: ~40 éclairs

Ingredients:

For pastry:

• 300 g white flour          
• 200 g unsalted butter (or sunflower oil)
• 500 ml water
• 6 eggs
• 1 tsp salt

For filling:

• 1 l milk
• 300 g sugar
• 3 pouches vanilla sugar (27 g)
• 220 g white flour
• 6 eggs

For topping:

• 200 g milk chocolate
• 70  g unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp hot water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100 g white chocolate + 1 tsp butter, to drizzle (optional)

Preparation:

Combine the water, butter, and salt in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the flour. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture leaves the sides of the pan.  Set aside to cool.

Then add eggs, one at a time, stirring continuously to incorporate completely after each addition.

Preheat the oven to 205°C (400°F).  Prepare a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Place the dough into a pastry bag and pipe dough in 2 x 6 cm strips. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce heat to 165°C (325°F) and bake 20 minutes more, until golden brown. Cool completely before filling.

For the filling, beat the eggs with an electric mixer. Add sugar and vanilla sugar and mix for 1-2 minutes. Gradually add milk and flour and continue mixing until all ingredients are well combined. Place the mixture in a saucepan over medium heat and stir continuously with a whisk to prevent lumping and scorching on the bottom. When the vanilla cream becomes thick and smooth remove from heat and let it cool.  It might take a little while to thicken (~20 minutes), so be patient.

To assemble the éclairs and fill them with cream, I have used and a pastry syringe. Fill it with vanilla pastry cream, insert the tip into the end of an éclair and pipe cream into it. Another alternative is to slice the éclairs lengthwise, fill them with cream and place the tops back.

For the topping, place all ingredients in a small saucepan on medium-low heat. Keep stirring until chocolate is melted and all ingredients are combined. Then dip each éclair in the chocolate just to cover the top.

As a final touch, you may wish to drizzle melted white chocolate on top of the éclairs.

Tip:

-When making the pastry, if your mixture is still sticky and doesn’t leave the sides of the pan just add more flour. This used to happen to me once in a while if I added more water or butter than specified in the recipe.

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