Chocolate Eclairs

Makes 12

Fluffy, long, thin pastries filled with fresh cream and topped with a soft delicious chocolate frosting. Eclairs are made from choux pastry, which is also used to make profiteroles and crullers.
Éclairs as well as all other cream cakes are perfect with a cup of tea in your garden in the afternoon. Eclairs are very easy to make and once you know how to make the Choux pastry you can always make profiteroles for your next dinner party.

Ingredients

Choux pastry

• 120g plain/all purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 60g butter
• 2 large eggs
• pint cold water

Filling

• Double cream, whipped

The topping

• 50g chocolate, over 60% cocoa solids
• 1 tsp butter
• 1tbsp water
• 85g icing sugar

Method

Eclairs

1. Sift the flour into a small, dry bowl.
2. Place the butter, salt and water into a saucepan.
3. Bring mixture to the boil.
4. When it begins to boil remove the saucepan from the heat.
5. Now add all the flour in one go.
6. Beat thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
7. Continue beating until the mixture begins to form a ball.
8. Allow to cool.
9. Beat the eggs into the pastry mixture thoroughly and gradually.
10. Put the pastry into a piping bag. If you do not have a piping bag you can use a plastic freezer bag and cut off one corner with about a 1 cm hole.
11. On a lined baking tray pipe out 7cm lines of choux pastry. Allow for room around each line it will at least double in size.
12. In a preheated oven at 220C bake for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 200C and cook for a further 15-20 minutes until the éclairs are golden and puffed up.
13. Leave to cool.

Filling

1. Cut éclairs in half length ways and pipe in cream.

Topping

1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heat proof dish over a saucepan of barely simmering water, add in the water and gradually sift in the icing sugar and mix.
2. Spread the icing on top of the eclairs.