Ingredients:
Pastry Puffs (Choux Pastry)
• 200 gram flour
• 100 gram butter (7 TB spoons)
• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup water
• pinch of salt
Custard Filling (recipe link)
Chocolate Frosting (recipe link)
Directions:
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.
• When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat.
• Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds.
• Return to the heat and cook, stirring, 30 seconds.
• Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer).
• Mix at medium speed.
• With the mixer running, add 5 eggs, 1 egg at a time.
• Stop mixing after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated.
• The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl.
• Using a pastry bag fitted with a large French star tip, pipe fat lengths of dough (about 2 cm in diameter and 12 cm in length) onto the lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between them.
• Use your fingers to smooth out any bumps of points of dough that remain on the surface.
• Bake 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, about 25 minutes more.
• Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking.
• Let cool on the baking sheet.
• Fit a medium-size plain pastry tip over your index finger and use it to make a hole in the end of each eclair (or just use your fingertip).
• Using a pastry bag fitted with a piping tip, gently pipe the custard into the eclairs, using only just enough to fill the inside (don’t stuff them full).
• Dip the tops of the eclairs in the warm chocolate glaze and set on a sheet pan.
• Chill, uncovered, at least 1 hour to set the glaze.
• Serve chilled.
