My kids and I love to watch the show “Nailed It” on Netflix. If you’re not familiar with the show, average, everyday people go on this baking contest show to try to recreate the items the professional (Jacques Torres) creates. They make everything from decorated sugar cookies to elaborate stacked cakes that look like Napoleon (no joke, it was a mess!).
Needless to say, the show is hilarious because if you’re not a professional, the level of detail required to make the items is just crazy!
My son make a comment one night that he thought I could make the items we saw on the screen. It was French Eclairs.
Now, these eclairs the contestants were to recreate were perfect and had little figurines made out of modeling chocolate on top of them. I don’t know have the molding skills, but I thought I’d give making the eclairs a try.
The kids set the timer, created score cards, and sat there and made commentary about what I was doing the entire time I was cooking. You haven’t truly made something until your kids critique every little thing about it.
In the end, I’m proud to say that I…
“Nailed It”
Classic French Eclairs
Ingredients
Choux Pastry:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
Pastry Cream:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
Chocolate Glaze:
- 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Choux Pastry:
- In a Medium saucepan, combine water, milk, butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat then remove from heat and stir in 1 cup flour all at once with a wooden spoon.
- Once the flour is incorporated, place back over medium heat about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes stirring constantly (to release extra moisture and partially cook flour), or until dough comes together into a smooth ball and a thin film forms on bottom of pan.
- Transfer to a large mixing bowl and beat using an electric hand mixer on medium speed for 1 minute to cool the mixture slightly. Add eggs, 1 at a time, allowing each egg to fully incorporate between additions. Beat until dough is smooth and forms a thick ribbon when pulled up.
- Put the pastry dough into a tipless piping bag (or zip-top bag) and pipe eclairs onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pipe 18-20 (4” long and 3/4” wide) strips, keeping them about 2" apart.
- Bake at 425˚F for 10 minutes. Without opening oven, reduce temp to 325˚F and, bake 30 minutes longer or until golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool while making pastry cream.
Pastry Cream:
- In a medium saucepan bring 2 cups milk to a boil, stirring to prevent film from forming.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup corn starch and pinch of salt. Add 4 egg yolks and whisk until smooth, creamy and lightened in color - it takes a couple of minutes but it will get there.
- While whisking constantly, add hot milk in a steady stream until all of it is incorporated. Pour mixture back into saucepan and bring to a boil while whisking constantly then whisk another 30 seconds until mixture is thick and pudding-like in consistency.
- Transfer pastry cream to a medium bowl and whisk in vanilla extract. Cut butter into pieces and quickly whisk into the custard until fully incorporated Cover with plastic directly over the surface of the cream, let it cool slightly then refrigerate 30 minutes or until cool.
Chocolate Glaze:
- Heat 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream in a saucepan until it is just at a simmer then remove from heat and add in the chocolate chips. Whisk gently until a smoth chocolate ganache sauce appears.
Putting it All Together:
- With a small knife, poke 2-3 holes through the bottom of each cooled pastry. Pipe cream inside, scraping off excess.
- Dip the top half of filled and eclairs into the chocolate sauce, allowing excess to drip off.
Products Used
