The Best Eclairs
Prep
45m
Cook
35m
Total
80m
Bigly says
Listen. Eclairs. ECLAIRS. The greatest eclairs in the history of eclairs, and there have been plenty of eclairs — the French claim them, fine, take the credit, I'm not arguing today — but I've eaten more eclairs than anyone alive, probably more than anyone in recorded history, and the eclairs we're making right here, in this kitchen, with this recipe, demolish every eclair I've ever put in my mouth. Not even close. Hands down.
Most eclairs you buy at a bakery are a CRIME against pastry. The shell is rubbery. The filling is some sad whipped topping that came out of a can. The chocolate on top tastes like a brown wax candle somebody scraped off a Christmas centerpiece — embarrassing, a disgrace to choux. And do you know what these places charge? Six dollars. SIX. For one eclair. One soggy, rubbery eclair that wouldn't survive a brisk walk to your car. Then they put a little jar on the counter asking for tips. Tips. For THAT. People come up to me — tough men, men who never cry — weeping at the eclair situation, and I say, calm down, I'm here, we're fixing this together.
The secret to a tremendous eclair is choux pastry. Pâte à choux. The French call it that, technically, but I'm reclaiming it — it's a Bigly pastry now, end of discussion. You cook the dough on the stove FIRST and THEN you bake it. Two cooks. TWO. Most people don't know this. Most so-called pastry chefs skip the first cook because they're in a hurry, they're cutting corners, they think nobody will notice — I notice. I always notice. That first cook on the stove dries out the dough, sets up the gluten, and gives you a shell that puffs into a crispy hollow vault you can pump full of pastry cream without the whole thing going soft on you. Two cooks. Tremendous.
Ingredients
- 2 cupswhole milk(for the pastry cream)
- 1 bean or 2 tsp pastevanilla bean or paste
- 5large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup, plus 1 tbsp for chouxgranulated sugar
- 1/4 cupcornstarch
- 2 tbspunsalted butter (for pastry cream)
- 1/2 cupwater
- 1/2 cupwhole milk (for choux)
- 8 tbsp (1 stick)unsalted butter (for choux)
- 1/2 tspkosher salt
- 1 cupall-purpose flour
- 4, plus 1 for egg washlarge eggs
- 6 ozsemisweet chocolate, chopped(real chocolate, not chips)
- 1/2 cupheavy cream
- 1 tbsplight corn syrup(for the shine on the glaze)
Steps
- 1
Make the pastry cream first: warm the 2 cups milk and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming. In a bowl, whisk yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, and cornstarch until pale.
- 2
Slowly pour the hot milk into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return everything to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking nonstop, until thick and just bubbling, about 2-3 minutes.
- 3
Remove from heat, whisk in 2 tbsp butter, and press plastic wrap onto the surface. Refrigerate at least 2 hours until cold.
- 4
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line two sheet pans with parchment.
- 5
Make the choux: in a saucepan, combine water, 1/2 cup milk, 8 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
- 6
Remove from heat, add the flour all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until a smooth ball forms. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes to dry the dough.
- 7
Transfer the dough to a stand mixer (or large bowl). Let cool 5 minutes, then beat in eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each. The finished dough should be glossy and fall in a thick ribbon.
- 8
Transfer dough to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round or star tip. Pipe 4-inch logs onto the parchment, spaced 2 inches apart. Smooth any peaks with a wet fingertip. Brush lightly with beaten egg.
- 9
Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce to 350°F (without opening the oven) and bake another 18-22 minutes until deep golden and hollow-sounding when tapped. Turn off oven, crack the door, and let dry 10 minutes.
- 10
Cool eclairs completely on a rack. Meanwhile, whisk the chilled pastry cream until smooth and transfer to a piping bag with a small round tip.
- 11
Poke 2-3 small holes in the bottom of each eclair and pipe in pastry cream until it feels heavy.
- 12
Make the glaze: heat the heavy cream and corn syrup until just steaming. Pour over chopped chocolate, let sit 1 minute, then whisk smooth.
- 13
Dip the top of each filled eclair into the warm glaze, letting excess drip off. Set on a rack and let glaze set 15 minutes before serving.
One more thing
You make these eclairs once and you'll never pay six dollars at a bakery again. Not once. You'll walk past the bakery window with your head held high, you'll feel sorry for the people inside, you'll think, those poor people, they don't know about Bigly's eclairs, they're paying SIX DOLLARS for sad pastry — and you'll be tempted to walk in and tell them. Don't. Let them find me on their own. The word always gets out. Tremendous.
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