Chocolate Eclairs Recipe

Ingredients

• Pate a Choux for Eclairs, chilled in the pastry bag
• Chocolate Pastry Cream
• Chocolate Glaze

1. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F (standard).
To make a template
2. The guidelines for the eclairs should be visible through the lighter portion of a Silpat. Using a fine-tip marker, draw six 6-inch lines 2 inches apart on a large piece of parchment paper. Place the parchment on a sheet pan and position the Silpat over it. Fill a small bowl and the spray bottle with water.
To pipe and bake the eclairs
3. Starting at the side of the Silpat farthest from you, hold the tip of the pastry bag ¾ inch above the Silpat and apply gentle, steady pressure as you pipe the first eclair. When the eclair is about 6 inches long, begin to lessen the pressure, and then stop it as you bring the dough back over itself, leaving a ½-inch curl at the end of the eclair. Pipe 5 more eclairs on the Silpat. Carefully slide out the template and repeat with a second sheet pan and Silpat. Wet your finger and press down the tip of each eclair, then spray them lightly with water. Place the sheet pans in the oven and immediately lower the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the eclairs are beginningto brown; rotate the pans halfway through. Lower the temperature to 325°F and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Lower the temperature A to 300°F and bake for 10 minutes longer, or until the puffs are light and feel hollow. If you break one open, the center should be completely cooked. Set on a cooling rack and cool completely before filling or freezing
To fill the eclairs
4. With the ¼-inch plain tip, poke 2 holes, 1½ inches in from each end, into the bottom of each eclair. Fill the pastry bag with the chocolate pastry cream. Place the tip of the pastry bag into one hole and apply gentle pressure to begin filling the eclair with pastry cream. (You may begin to see pastiy cream through the second hole; this is okay.) Pipe cream as needed into the second hole until the eclair feels heavy; use 60 grams/about ¼ cup cream for each eclair. Repeat with the remaining eclairs and pastry cream.
To glaze the eclairs
5. Pour the glaze into a deep bowl that is about 7 inches wide (just slightly larger than an eclair).
6. Hold an eclair parallel to the surface of the glaze and dip it into the glaze to coat the top; pull it out of the glaze, still parallel to it, and turn the eclair upward, letting the excess run off, then rotate slightly to one side to stop the glaze from dripping. Set on a serving platter and repeat with the remaining eclairs.
7. The eclairs are best eaten as soon as they are completed, but they can be refrigerated for up to 1 hour.