Chocolate Eclairs Recipe

How to make it

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• Heat the oven to 200C.
• Place the butter, water and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan over a low heat. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon as the butter melts.
• Meanwhile, sift the flour into a small bowl.
• When the butter has melted, turn up the heat and bring the mixture to the boil. Switch off the heat and quickly tip the flour into the saucepan.
• Immediately beat the flour into the liquid with the wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients together. Stop beating when the mixture swells into a smooth dough that comes away from the sides of the saucepan. This should take only a few seconds.
• Let the mixture cool for 3-4 minutes.
• Pour in a little of the beaten egg into the flour mixture and beat it in well. Keep adding and beating in the egg, a little at a time, until the dough looks thick, smooth and shiny and still holds its shape well.
• Spoon the mixture into a freezer bag (you'll need to scrape it out of the pan with a plastic spatula).
• Fold down the top of the bag to squeeze the dough to the bottom. Snip off one of the bottom corners of the bag to give you a hole about 1cm long.
• Line two flat baking sheets with baking parchment. Squeeze the mixture into sausage or round shapes on to the parchment, allowing about 4cm between each one (they will at least double in size in the oven).
• Pllace the baking sheets in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes.
• Take the éclairs out when they are puffed up, golden brown all over, and feel hard when you poke one with a knife.
• Immediately take each éclair off the baking sheet and, with the point of a knife, gently slit the side to let out the steam. (Otherwise, the steam sits trapped in the éclair and turns back to water, leaving you with a soggy bun.)
• Leave them to cool and dry out on a wire rack.
• Whip the cream in a small bowl until it is just thick enough to hold its shape.
• For the icing, place the sugar and water in a small saucepan over a low heat gently, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar.
• Bring to the boil and boil fast for three minutes.
• Switch off and wait for a few minutes for the syrup to cool down
• Meanwhile, break up the chocolate and cut the butter into chunks.
• When the syrup is very warm, rather than very hot, add the chocolate and butter. Stir until both have melted and blended to a smooth, glossy sauce.
• Leave to cool, stirring occasionally. When the sauce starts to thicken, it's ready to ice your éclairs.
• When the buns are cool, use a teaspoon to fill the inside of each éclair with whipped cream
• Then take a different teaspoon and smear the chocolate icing generously over each éclair.
• Leave the éclairs on the wire rack until the icing has set.