Eclair Pastry, Choux pastry, or pâte à choux. This is an easy pastry dough used for several pastries. This recipe uses 4 essential ingredients, butter, milk, bread flour and eggs.  The pastry rises due to the steam created from the high moisture dough leading to a delicate pastry, crispy on the outside, soft and almost hollow on the inside.

Each bite of these homemade chocolate eclairs includes a crunch from the set chocolate, a beautiful texture from the pastry and a lovely vanilla cream inside. No sogginess in sight.

The Choux pastry mixture below is forgiving and over mixing it will not lead to tough eclairs.  This base is great for making choux buns. Look at this show stopping recipe for Craquelin Choux Buns with two colour white chocolate filling.

How to make Chocolate Eclairs

The base of a chocolate éclair is made using a choux pastry. This one is a family recipe we have used for years and is only four ingredients.

Start by melting your butter and milk in a pan.  I like to use a heavy base stainless steel pan. Here are some you can buy (affiliate link). To ensure the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom and burnt stir at regular intervals.

Once boiled, take it off the heat and add in your bread flour. Using a wooden spoon mix vigorously until it forms a ball.

Let this cool for a couple of minutes then add in beaten eggs. It will seem like the mixture is not coming together but it will. I use small eggs. Large eggs can add too much liquid to the mix.

Stir the mixture until it forms your choux pastry which should be smooth, have not lumps, look shiny and should not be runny. It should also not be too stiff.

Pipe these onto a lined baking tray and bake for 35 minutes. Start with a high heat oven and as soon as you put the eclairs in reduce the heat.

Once golden brown and cooked let them cool on a rack.eclairs.

How to fill and coat eclairs

Once cool, using a pairing knife make a couple of little lines to make a cross at the bottom of each eclair. This is to allow the piping nozzle to go into the eclair.

I filled these with vanilla cream. All you need to do is whip some double cream with vanilla extract or essence and if you want some icing sugar for sweetness. Whisk just until it creates peaks on the whisk. If you over whip your cream it will start to split. Pipe each of the eclairs then chill.

Melt some chocolate. TIP: Melt the 70 grams of the chocolate until runny then take off the heat and add in the remaining. You do not want really runny chocolate or else it will glide off the eclair. You want it to sit on the eclair.

Dip the top of each eclair into some melted chocolate. This is less messy and gives the eclair more even coverage than trying to pour over chocolate on top of each one of them.

Place the eclairs on the cooking rack and chill until the chocolate is set.

How to fix runny Choux Pastry

You know when your dough is runny because when you pipe it, it will start to expand and spread. Piped eclairs should maintain shape.

To fix this, make have a batch of the recipe below and do not add in the eggs. Then take a bit of this and incorporate it into your runny dough. Use a bit at a time because you may not need it all. Beat / Mix again with your wooden spoon until silky. There should be no lumps.

How to fix stiff Choux Pastry

If your dough is really stiff, just add in some egg. Always beat your egg and add in a bit at a time.

What nozzle should be used to pipe eclairs

Using a star nozzle with a wide opening is the best. This allows the eclairs to cook well. It needs to be about ½ and inch in diameter which is around 13mm.

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Chocolate Éclair Recipe

A classic dessert and sweet treat for Afternoon Teas. Vanilla Cream Chocolate Eclairs topped with a good layer of chocolate.

This recipe for choux pastry uses 4 essential ingredients, butter, milk, bread flour and eggs.  The pastry rises due to the steam created from the high moisture dough leading to a delicate pastry, crispy on the outside, soft and almost hollow on the inside.

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Mixing15 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: afternoon tea, Dessert

Cuisine: American, British, French

Keyword: chocolate eclairs, choux patry eclairs, easy choux pastry, easy choux pastry recipe, eclairs, how to make eclairs, recipe of chocolate eclairs

Servings: 14 eclairs

Equipment

• 1 heavy base saucepan
• 2 piping bags
• 1 large star nozzle 13mm
• 2 silicone mat or baking paper
• 2 baking trays
• 1 Cooling Rack
• 1 wooden spoon

Ingredients

Ingredients for choux pastry

• 50 g salted butter
• 150 ml room temperature milk
• 65 g white bread flour
• 2 medium beaten egg

Vanilla Cream Filling for Eclairs

• 300 ml double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

Chocolate topping

• 80 grams chocolate I use a mixture of milk and dark to get about 50% cocoa content

Instructions

How to make the choux pastry for the eclairs

• Preheat oven at 200 degrees Celsius
• Melt butter and milk in a pan and bring to boil
• Remove the pan from heat once the mixture starts to boil
• Quickly add flour and beat /mix to form smooth dough with a wooden spoon. The dough should form a ball. You need some strength to do it and ensure it is well combined.
• Leave for 1-2 mins to cool
• Add in beaten eggs a bit at a time and beat vigorously until you get a smooth glossy mix (about 6-8 mins). If you put it in all the eggs at once it may be too wet. Small – Medium eggs tend to be the right amount.
• At first the dough will be loose and will not look like it will combine but as you mix it will come together. The dough should form a ‘v’ shape on the spoon that will hold when lifted. It should not be runny, flow like thick lava nor should it be really thick. When you lift the wooden spoon it should leave a V shape on the spoon and it should not be dripping off.
• Get a silicone baking sheet ready and place on your baking tray.
• Place the éclair dough in a piping bag which has a star nozzle. Use a star nozzle ( around 1/2 inch diameter)
• Pipe the eclairs 3.5 cm long. Leave about 1 cm gap in between to allow them to rise and not stick together.
• Place the tray in the preheated oven. As soon as you close the oven door reduce heat to 180 degrees and bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown.
• Once they are baked, carefully poke a hole on each end so the air is released . Let them totally cool on a rack

How to make the filling and topping for the eclairs

• Add vanilla essence and icing sugar to your cream and whip. Place this in a piping bag with a long round nozzle.
• Melt your chocolate in a shallow bowl. I always prefer the Bain Marie method and like to use 54% cocoa content in the chocolate.
• Make 2 small holes using a sharp pairing knife at the bottom of each eclair and then pipe the cream in here so it equally spreads inside
• Dip each eclair, front side down into the chocolate and place back on the rack.
• Chill the eclairs for at least an hour/ until the chocolate on top has hardened

Neha