Yield: Yields about 1 dozen éclairs
Most of the components of this pastry-shop classic—the pâte à choux shells, the vanilla pastry cream filling, and the chocolate glaze—can be made well in advance. For the final assembly, all you need to do is lighten the pastry cream with whipped cream, spoon the mixture into the pastry shells, and glaze with chocolate.
Make Ahead Tips
The finished éclairs need to chill for at least 30 minutes, but don’t wait longer than 3 hours to serve them.
I have made these twice now and will make them again and again. Very straightforward and excellent instructions. My biggest star tip is too small, but I just pipe two layers-one on top of the other, which actually makes them easy to slice in half. The zig-zag shape makes them very special. I have watched people roll their eyes back in their heads when eating these. I do find that chilling the chocolate to thicken it makes it lose its gloss, so just use it without chilling and be careful not to let it run too much down the sides and you'll get a beautiful shiny glaze. Be sure to whisk the cold custard well before adding the whipped cream, to get it nice and smooth.
Excellent recipe. I've made it several times now and it always works. However, I wish the author had stated what size star tip to use. If you make the shells too large, you will not have enough filling for a dozen. I use an Ateco #846. Remember to whip the chilled pastry cream a bit before folding in the whipped cream. I never do get the completed filling entirely smooth but it never seems to matter. The ganache recipe does make quite a bit more than you need, but the extra whips up nicely as chocolate frosting for cupcakes. Delicious!
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