Good chocolate is a must.
I swear these look just like donuts.
Chocolate Eclair Donuts
These look just like donuts but they're delicious chocolate eclairs! Light as air puffs of choux filled with a vanilla pastry cream and then smothered in dark and white chocolate.
Ingredients
Filling:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 1 TBS vanilla paste and i TBS vanilla extract)
- 6 egg yolks
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 TBS cold unsalted butter
Pastry:
- 1 cup water
- 8 TBS unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsps sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 egg, plus 1 extra if needed (I used four)
Egg Wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp water
Chocolate Glaze:
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate coarsely chopped
White Chocolate Glaze:
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup white chocolate coarsely chopped
Instructions
For the Filling:
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat.
Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 15 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain.
Whisk in 1/3 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated.
Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the saucepan.
Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan.
Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly.
Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. The custard can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Refrigerate until 1 hour before using.
For the Ganache:
Combine the chocolate and cream in a bowl and microwave for a few 30 second bursts.
Cover and let stand for 5 minutes then whisk until smooth.
For the Pastry:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt and sugar 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 about 30 seconds.
Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer).
With the mixer running at medium speed, add 3 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.
If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add the remaining 1 egg and mix until incorporated.
Pipe the choux into circles and then brush with the egg wash.
Bake at 425F for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 375F for 20-25 min or until golden brown.
Fill the cooled donuts with pastry cream, you might want to cut small holes in the bottom for easy piping.
Dip in chocolate ganache and decorate.
Oh my….love your blog. They are an incredible inspiration.
Very cute way of making eclairs! I bet you could fool a lot of people by making them this way! 🙂
Brilliant! I would love that creamy surprise! And so pretty!
This is a brilliant idea! My husband loves eclairs, I will have to make these for him.
I love eclairs regardless to their shape, but these look really fun! I have tried making round eclairs before, but not with much success. I think that I’ll have to try again! Yours are very pretty though
These eclairs look like they belong in a pastry shop! Love the toppings, I would not be stopping at one of these!
Yummy 🙂
YESSSSSS SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!
Saved as a favorite, I really enjoy your blog!