master the art of eclairs. And there is nothing like homemade eclairs, filled

with vanilla pastry cream and dipped in chocolate glaze. We start with a classic

choux pastry. It sounds fancy, but it's really simple. In a medium saucepan

combine half a cup of water, half a cup of milk, 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter,

a teaspoon of sugar and a quarter teaspoon of salt. Bring that to a boil,

then take it off the heat and use a wooden spoon to stir in 1 cup of flour.

Once the flour is incorporated, place it back over medium heat and continue

stirring constantly for one-and-a-half to two minutes. You'll see a thin film

form on the bottom of the pan and the dough will be smooth. Transfer the dough

to a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for about a minute to cool

the mixture slightly. Now add 4 large eggs, one at a time, allowing each egg to

fully incorporate between each addition.

Once all of the eggs are in, beat the dough until it's smooth and a thick

ribbon forms when you pull up on the egg beaters. That looks perfect. Now transfer

that to a large pastry bag, fitted with a half inch round piping tip and this is a

great time to pre-heat your oven to 425˚F.

Now pipe about 18 to 24 inch long and 3/4 inch wide strips, keeping them 1 and

1/2 inches apart, to allow room for expansion. Bake those in the center of a

preheated oven at 425˚F for 10 minutes, then without opening the

door reduce the temperature to 325˚F and bake another 30

minutes or until golden brown. Transfer those to a wire rack to cool completely

while making your pastry cream. I'm using the real vanilla bean here and you

really only need half. Split that in half and then scrape out the seeds. Transfer

those to a medium saucepan along with 2 cups of whole milk and bring that just

to a boil, stirring to prevent a film from forming on the top. As soon as that

comes to a boil, remove the vanilla bean and take it off the heat. In a separate

large bowl whisk together 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of corn starch and a pinch

of salt. Add 4 egg yolks and whisk until smooth, creamy and lightened in color.

It starts out looking grainy and impossible and it does take a couple

minutes, but it will get there. See how that's really well combined. That's

exactly where you want it to be. Now, while whisking constantly, gradually add

the hot milk mixture in a steady stream until all of it is incorporated. Transfer

that back to the same saucepan and whisk constantly until it starts to boil then

whisk another 30 seconds until the cream is thick and pudding-like inconsistency.

And boy, does this smell good? Transfer the pastry cream to a

medium bowl and if you're using vanilla extract,

you'll whisk in two teaspoons at this point. Add four tablespoons of unsalted

softened butter and quickly whisk that into your cream cover with a sheet of

plastic wrap directly over the surface of the pastry cream. Let it cool slightly

at room temperature, then refrigerate for 30 minutes or until chill and because

the pastry cream is a make-ahead recipe, I have a batch that I made the other day

that is ready to go. Now that the Eclair shells are at room

temperature, I'm using a small, sharp pastry tip to poke two to three holes in

the bottom of each one. Fit a piping bag with that same tip and any tip that's

small and pointy and sharp will work.

Also to make your chilled pastry cream smooth again, all you need to do is whisk

it together. Transfer that to the piping bag and fill each eclair. Scrape off

any excess cream. If you've overstuffed, then chill those in the refrigerator

while you make your chocolate sauce. This is our very popular, two ingredient

chocolate ganache. Weigh out four ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips into a

small mixing bowl and cover that with half a cup of piping hot, heavy whipping

cream. Let that rest for two minutes, then whisk from the center outwards until a

smooth sauce forms. Dip the top half of your filled and chilled eclairs into the

chocolate sauce, allowing any excess to drip off.

Keep the eclairs refrigerated until you're ready to serve. All right, these

have had time to set and I cannot wait any longer. I'm ready for my Eclair! Okay,

let's take a big one. They're all big. This one looks promising.

Mm-hmm... and I'm gonna cut this in half because I want you to see what's inside.

Look at that perfectly Hollow, just like they should be and totally loaded. I

can't wait, I feel like I need an espresso on the other hand. These feel

fancy. Okay, here we go. These are so good! If you've never made eclairs at home, or

tried freshly baked eclairs, you just haven't lived! Oh man! I love that

combination of that semi-sweet chocolate and the crust is just barely sweet and

that filling... my goodness! You guys, this is quite possibly the best custard that

I have ever tried. I love the real vanilla flecks in there. It makes it feel

fancy, but it really tastes super good. Yeah, I'm gonna inhale this. If you guys

liked this recipe, give us a great big thumbs up below. Make sure to subscribe

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