Eclairs: recipes, dough, creams, glazes

The family of choux pastry products is numerous, as it should be for a family with traditions. However, with all the variety of "representatives", we most often meet with the three main ones - profiteroles, shu and eclairs. All these hollow buns have the same base - the dough, which is prepared by boiling water, butter and flour and then adding eggs to it. This technology makes it possible to provide products with a strong shell, which, inflating due to evaporating moisture (the water content in custard dough is quite high), remains intact thanks to the eggs.

However, with the general technology of preparation, there are differences.

PROFITROLEES
- These are small round buns with a diameter of up to 5 centimeters. Their name comes from the French word "profit", which means "profit, benefit." And this is quite logical: when inflated, the product significantly increases in volume and, thereby, visually deceiving the mind, still brings “income”. Traditionally, profiteroles are filled with fillings - both sweet and not sweet. For greater attractiveness, they are covered with glaze on top or sprinkled with one or another crumb.

SHU
- miniature buns, which are often served with soups, stews, gravies instead of bread. The shape is round, the diameter is up to 2 centimeters. Due to the miniature size, shu is rarely filled with fillings.

Eclairs
Translated from French, the word "eclair" means "lightning" - there is a version that this name was given to these cakes for the ability to quickly increase in size. Eclairs are easy to recognize due to their elongated shape. These are also products made from choux pastry, but baked in the form of sticks with an average length of 10 centimeters. The traditional filling is sweet. Eclairs are necessarily covered with icing on top, sometimes sprinkled with nuts, waffle crumbs and other sweet additives.

Choux pastry for eclairs. Recipe for eclairs

Using this recipe, you can prepare products that can be stored without problems for up to three days in a tightly tied bag and up to three months in an airtight package in the freezer. If you bake preparations for eclairs in advance, you will always have at hand a fairly quick version of a great dessert - homemade, stylish and tasty.

Dough Recipe Ingredients

• 250 ml of water;
• 100 g butter;
• 200 g flour;
• 4 eggs;
• a pinch of salt

How to cook the right choux pastry for eclairs

WHAT THE EGGS SHOULD BE. To prepare the perfect dough for eclairs, eggs should be at room temperature - take them out of the refrigerator 2-3 hours before starting work. MODE "WATER BATH". First of all, we are looking for two pans of a suitable size - the smaller one should be stably located in the larger one and be of sufficient volume to accommodate a portion of the custard dough. So, we fill a large saucepan with water by about 2/3 of the volume, put it on the stove and turn on the gas. Pour 250 ml of water into a smaller saucepan, cut the butter into cubes. Add some salt and put in a large saucepan.

PROCESS. In a water bath, let the butter melt completely, boil the water with butter, bubble up, then immediately pour in all the flour, while not removing the pan from the water. Knead intensively - the flour should be all combined with water and oil, there should be no lumps.

WHAT TO KNEW. It is most convenient to work with a wooden spatula, however, be prepared for the fact that this manipulation will require a certain amount of physical force from you. If you can’t handle some efforts, you can use a mixer - the minus is that its beaters, while stirring the flour, break the mass into small lumps that scatter throughout the kitchen. If this moment does not bother you, feel free to neglect the pleasure that you can get from manual work - use the services of mechanized assistants.

INTRODUCING EGGS. Now you need to introduce eggs into the brewed flour mass. This is done strictly one egg at a time, and the dough is kneaded each time until perfect uniformity. To make your task a little easier, you can beat the eggs into a separate bowl and mix - do not beat, but just mix the protein with the yolk. After that, the egg mass should be added to the dough in portions and - do not forget! – Stir each time until completely homogeneous.

CONSISTENCY OF THE READY DOUGH. The finished dough will turn out not thick and at the same time not liquid. It will reach for the spoon and slightly blur when you try to give it one shape or another.



Preparation of eclairs (shaping and baking stage)

The next step is to work with a pastry bag.. If in the case of profiteroles you can get by with an ordinary tablespoon, laying the dough in small pieces on a baking sheet and giving them a rounded shape, then this option will not work with eclairs. These cakes require an even oblong shape, which is almost impossible to obtain without a pastry bag. However, in the absence of a bag, you can use an ordinary plastic bag. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that it must be very strong - the dough can easily find a loophole for itself and break its walls. Nothing irreparable, of course, will not happen, but there is also nothing pleasant in the process of searching for another package and shifting the test from one “container” to another.



So, put the dough in a pastry bag and place sticks 5-7 centimeters long on a baking sheet, leaving a sufficient distance between them (do not forget that the dough increases significantly in volume during the baking process).



We put the baking sheet in the oven, heated to 200 degrees and bake for 10 minutes, after which we reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes. Do not open the oven door at the same time - the cakes may settle.

After the specified time, we check the eclairs for readiness - the dough should be evenly golden, dry on all sides and make a dull sound when tapped.



Before filling the eclairs with the filling, you need to wait until the dough has completely cooled down. If you are going to store the blanks in the freezer, they should also be completely cooled before packing.

How to fill with stuffing? You can do it in two ways. The first is to cut the eclair in half, fill the hollow part with stuffing and connect the halves. The second is to fill with cream, without destroying the integrity of the eclairs, like profiteroles. To do this, make a neat hole and press the cream there with a pastry bag.



But that's not all. The final touch is decorating the eclair with icing. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. How to prepare the cream and what kind of icing can be, we'll talk when we finish with the dough for eclairs. This question is still intriguing.

How to cook eclairs with whole grain flour

The general principle of making dough for eclairs with whole grain flour is the same as in the classic version. Finished products are more dense, "strict" and restrained in taste. The presence of whole grain flour in this recipe is also interesting from the point of view of the concept of healthy eating.

INGREDIENTS:

• 100 g whole wheat flour;
• 200 ml of water;
• a pinch of salt;
• 2 eggs;
• 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.

We turn on the oven so that it flares up to 200 degrees.

We prepare the dough easier - without a water bath: pour water and oil into a saucepan, add salt, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and pour out all the flour. Mix well until smooth - without removing the pan from the heat.

Turn off the heat, let the brewed mass cool slightly and introduce the eggs one at a time, after each knead the dough until completely smooth. The dough will be sticky, not thick.

We shift it into a pastry bag or a syringe and put strips 5-7 cm long on a baking sheet. We bake for about 30 minutes, the finished eclairs should be evenly brownish and make a dull sound when tapped on the bottom.

Eclairs - rye flour recipe

Choux pastry with the addition of rye flour is used mainly for the preparation of profiteroles, which are planned to be filled with unsweetened cream. However, for eclairs in the dessert version, it can also be very interesting - the products turn out to be sour in taste and even a little rough. Such eclairs will “sound” well in the company of creams based on mascarpone, curd mass with prunes and any other “cheese” options.

INGREDIENTS:

• 100 g whole grain rye flour;
• 200 ml of water;
• a pinch of salt;
• 2 eggs;
• 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.

We prepare the dough for eclairs on rye flour in the same way as the above-described version with whole grain flour - preheat the oven, brew the flour with butter, water and salt in a saucepan, remove from heat, let it cool for a couple of minutes, then stir in the eggs, transfer the dough to the confectionery bag and place on a baking sheet. Bake until cooked, fill with cream after complete cooling. We decorate with glaze.

Eclairs with crispy "hat" of shortcrust pastry

This is perhaps the richest, most festive and elegant version of eclairs - before baking, the choux pastry is carefully covered with a strip of shortcrust pastry, after which it is put into the oven. The result is a hollow soft product with a stunning crisp on top. The option is somewhat laborious, however, the end result is definitely worth the effort.

Ingredients for shortcrust pastry:

• 100 g butter;
• 125 g of sugar;
• 125 g flour;
• a pinch of salt.

Ingredients for custard dough:

• 100 g of milk;
• 120 g flour;
• a pinch of salt;
• 80 g butter;
• 4 eggs.

We prepare shortbread dough - chop the chilled butter with sugar, salt and flour, collect the resulting crumb into a ball, put it on a sheet of cling film, cover with a second sheet and roll it into a layer about 10-12 cm wide. Put it in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, after then remove the top layer of the film and cut the dough into rectangles about 12x2 cm in size. Again, hide in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Recipe for eclairs at home from shortcrust pastry

Turn on the oven to heat up to 180 degrees.

We take two pans that will conveniently become one in the other. We fill the large one with water by 2/3, put it on fire. Put milk, salt and butter in a smaller one, put in a large saucepan. After boiling, add flour, vigorously knead until smooth. Remove from heat, wait a few minutes for a slight cooling, then introduce the eggs one at a time. The dough will turn out thinner than the usual custard dough, as it should be.

We spread the dough in a pastry bag and put sticks up to 10 cm long on a baking sheet. Gently cover each strip of choux pastry with a strip of shortcrust pastry. We place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes without touching, then open the oven door 2-3 mm, releasing steam, and cook in this way for about 30 minutes - the cakes should turn out golden, dry and very pretty. Transfer them to a wire rack and let cool completely before filling with cream.

Fillings for eclairs

Depending on your taste preferences, eclairs can be filled with almost any cream. To understand which option seems to be the best for you, you just need to cook and try.

Classic custard for eclairs

The classic version of custard involves mixing milk and egg mass, thickened with flour or starch, with butter. However, if you need a more dietary option, you can simply omit the butter from the recipe.

The main difficulty in making custard is to get a smooth mass without a single lump. However, don’t let this moment scare you - even if you don’t succeed in preparing the perfect cream the first time, you can always correct the situation with an immersion blender or a regular sieve.

INGREDIENTS:

• 500 ml of milk;
• 200 g butter;
• 1 cup of sugar:
• 2 tbsp. l. flour;
• 1 egg;
• any flavoring to taste.

Bring milk to a boil, set aside. In a separate saucepan with a thick bottom, mix sugar, flour, add the egg, rub it properly. In the resulting mass, filter the milk in small portions, stir until smooth. We put it on the stove, the fire is minimal. With constant stirring, we bring the cream to a state of puffing - if everything is done correctly, it will not boil, it will just “puff”. Remove from heat, if desired, add a little flavor - vanilla, lemon essence, a couple of tablespoons of rum or cognac. After complete cooling, beat the cream with softened butter. Ready.

Light cottage cheese cream for eclairs

This is far from a classic cream for eclairs, however, it is very successful - the fresh-tasting choux pastry goes well with the rich taste of cottage cheese.

INGREDIENTS:

• 200 g of fatty cottage cheese;
• 100 ml whipping cream (fat content not less than 33%);
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar.

Whip the cream until firm peaks form, and finally add half of the powdered sugar. Grind the cottage cheese twice through a fine sieve, mix with the remaining powdered sugar. If desired, use a blender instead of a sieve. Mix cream with curd. You can fill eclairs.

Classic cream - no surprises. The taste is moderately chocolatey, lovers will surely appreciate it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 200 g butter;
• 1/2 can of condensed milk;
• 3 full art. l. cocoa.

Put softened butter in a bowl, pour condensed milk. Beat the cream until it becomes smooth and shiny, add cocoa, mix again. If desired, you can add a tablespoon of cognac or other aromatic alcohol to the cream. Can be used.

pistachio cream

Nuts are always a winning solution when it comes to desserts. If you have a handful of pistachios, the solution immediately becomes brilliant - the cream turns out to be unrealistically interesting, original, unusual.

INGREDIENTS:

• 350 ml of milk;
• 2 tbsp. l. corn starch;
• 100 g of sugar;
• 100 g of peeled chopped pistachios;
• 100 g butter;
• 150 g heavy cream for whipping.

Take a couple of tablespoons of milk and mix with starch. Stir the rest of the milk with sugar, bring to a boil. Introduce the starch mass in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Bring the cream to the state of "puffing", turn off the fire. After complete cooling, beat the mass with softened butter, then mix with nuts. Separately, whip the cream, mix with the milk-starch mass. The cream is ready.

Italian meringue cream

Light, delicate, weightless - this cream is ideal if your task is to prepare the most exquisite eclairs of all that you have cooked.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 proteins;
• 130 g of sugar;
• 40 ml of water.

Mix sugar with water, bring the syrup to a boil, reduce the heat and cook until caramel threads appear (the temperature of the syrup is 121 degrees). In parallel, beat the whites - when the mass becomes airy, but not stable, not elastic, start gradually pouring syrup in a thin stream, while the mixer works in the same mode, it should be turned off only after the cream becomes shiny, dense, elastic. If desired, it can be mixed with flavorings or cocoa. Start.

Glaze for eclairs

Ready-made eclairs can be served just stuffed with the cream of your choice, however, the cakes will take on a finished look if you cover them with icing on top. In addition, ground nuts, poppy seeds, sunflower, flax, sesame seeds can be sprinkled on top of the glaze. The waffle crumb looks interesting too.

lemon glaze

INGREDIENTS:

• 100 g of powdered sugar;
• 2 tbsp. l. lemon juice.

Mix powdered sugar with lemon juice, use the finished glaze immediately.

chocolate ganache

INGREDIENTS:

• 50 ml cream;
• 100 g chocolate.

Mix the cream and chocolate and bring the mass to a smooth consistency over low heat. Cover immediately.

White chocolate icing

INGREDIENTS:

• 200 g of white chocolate;
• 20 g butter;
• 2 tbsp. l. milk.

We mix all the ingredients, put on fire, with constant stirring, bring to uniformity. Eclairs cover immediately.

That's all, there is nothing complicated in the secret art of making eclairs, in fact. A little effort, a little experience, just a drop of effort - and you will have wonderful cakes on your table, made with your own hands.

By the way, do you know that June 23rd is Chocolate Eclair Day? May June 23 often happen in your life!