How to make eclairs and profiteroles at home. How to make homemade choux pastry for eclairs Simple eclairs at home

Cooking secrets

Master class: preparing eclairs and profiteroles

Eclairs and profiteroles, which came to us from French cuisine, can now be found in every cafe. The choux pastry from which they are made is considered very difficult to prepare, so not all housewives decide to prepare eclairs and profiteroles at home. In fact, preparing these desserts is not so difficult if you know some secrets. Having mastered kneading choux pastry, you will learn how to make cakes with different fillings, surprising your loved ones, friends and guests. It is no coincidence that French confectioners believe that a cook who has learned to make eclairs and profiteroles has received initiation into a master of confectionery art.

What is the difference between profiteroles and eclairs

The similarity between the two types of confectionery is that they are made from choux pastry, which develops voids during baking. In other respects, they differ from each other - for example, they were invented before eclairs. These small round buns can be either a snack or a dessert, depending on whether they are filled with a sweet or savory filling. However, profiteroles are served without filling with soups and broths instead of bread. The word “profiteroles” translated from French means “benefit”, since these buns increase in size several times in the oven. The benefit is obvious - there is little dough, but there is a lot of baked goods. In other words, from a small amount of dough you can get a lot of fluffy, mouth-watering profiteroles.

They have an oblong shape, are always made with a sweet filling, and the top of the cakes is covered with icing or sprinkled with powdered sugar. “Eclair” means “lightning,” probably because the cakes instantly disappear from the table, they are so delicious.

What is choux pastry

If the choux pastry is prepared according to all the rules, the eclairs turn out tender, fluffy and empty inside. This is the main secret, by understanding which you will learn how to make delicious eclairs. The dough contains butter, salt, water, flour and eggs, while instead of water you can use milk to get softer products; sugar is not present in all recipes. The uniqueness of choux pastry lies in the fact that the liquid in it evaporates in the oven, but thanks to the crust, the steam remains inside and presses on the walls of the cakes, causing them to increase in size. The cooking technology is simple - water mixed with salt and butter is brought to a boil, the heat is reduced, and flour is added to the liquid. When the dough is removed from the stove and cooled, eggs are introduced into it one at a time. At the same time, the mass is whipped with a blender, and then the dough is laid out on a baking sheet using an attachment or spoon.

Subtleties of preparing choux pastry

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Content

Ask a hundred people on the street what the most famous French dessert they know is, and the majority of the answers will be eclairs. True, here in Russia this delicacy is often called custard cakes, but the meaning does not change. Tender, melt-in-your-mouth eclairs with airy cream can not only be bought in the store, but also prepared yourself.

How to make eclairs

Making eclairs is a very troublesome and painstaking process, but the final result is worth the effort. During the cooking process, it is very important to pay attention to the consistency of the dough: it should be viscous, moderately liquid and shiny. But when choosing the filling for eclairs, there are no restrictions. You can fill the internal voids with whipped cream, chocolate cream or condensed milk.

Choux pastry

The housewife’s task is to make the correct choux pastry and bake the preparations. However, this may not always work out the first time. The dough for cakes is very capricious, so in your work you need to take into account all the nuances that cookbooks often don’t write about. How to prepare choux pastry:

• Any step-by-step recipe has one basis - dough, which is prepared in warm water, butter and flour, followed by the introduction of eggs. Please note that the eggs should not be straight from the refrigerator, and the flour should be added all at once.
• To prevent the flour from sticking to the pan, constantly stir the mixture with a wooden spatula. Never use a mixer, otherwise the dough will turn out runny.
• Round profiteroles are formed with a spoon, and long ones - with a culinary syringe.
• Place the baking sheet in a well-heated electric oven. This will allow the dough to rise in time. The baking temperature should be 200 degrees in the first 15 minutes. Then you need to lower it to 170°C and continue baking the cakes for another 15 minutes.
• Pierce the hot eclair cake with a toothpick.

How to fill eclairs with cream without a syringe

Cooled cakes should be filled with cream through a pastry bag with a thin nozzle or using a regular medical syringe without a needle. Experienced pastry chefs make small holes on top of the eclair, and then mask them with a layer of glaze. What to do if you don’t have a pastry bag at hand? How to fill eclairs without a syringe? To do this, you need to make a small cut in the middle and fill the cavity inside the cake with the filling.

Homemade eclair recipe

In contrast to other dishes, pastries and desserts, the recipe for custard eclairs is always the same. Only the ratio of products, the shape of the eclairs, the filling and decoration of the delicacy can differ. There are many varieties of French cakes: with boiled condensed milk, cream, chocolate fudge, condensed milk and even Italian meringue. The choice of filling depends only on your own preferences: if you like it sweeter, try buttercream; if you prefer a neutral taste, then the curd filling is what you need.

With custard

• Time: 1 hour.
• Number of servings: for 8 people.
• Calorie content of the dish: 157.6 kcal.
• Purpose: dessert.
• Cuisine: French.

This classic recipe will show you how to make homemade eclairs with custard. This is the simplest version of the French dessert, which is popular in our country. If you are starting to bake cakes for the first time, the main thing is to follow the correct proportions. Choux pastry and the same cream are the ideal combination for the most delicious dessert.

Ingredients:

• eggs – 7 pcs.;
• water – 1 tbsp.;
• butter – ½ pack;
• flour – 1 tbsp. for dough and 3 tbsp. l. for cream;
• milk – 300 ml;
• sugar – 150 g;
• vanilla sugar – 1 sachet.

Cooking method:

1. Pour water into the pan, add butter and put the mixture on the stove.
2. After the butter has dissolved, add flour and mix.
3. Cool the dough to 60 degrees and add 4 eggs one at a time. From the resulting mixture we form and bake eclairs.
4. For the custard, heat the milk. Beat the yolks with sugar and vanilla.
5. Add flour to the egg mixture and stir.
6. As soon as the milk begins to boil, add the egg-flour mixture and cook until thickened.
7. Fill the cavities of the buns with the cooled cream.

With curd cream

• Time: 50 minutes.
• Calorie content of the dish: 140 kcal.
• Purpose: dessert.
• Cuisine: French.

Curd cream for eclairs is not a traditional recipe for preparing the filling, but it is very successful. Unsweetened dough harmoniously combines with the rich taste of cottage cheese and cream. If you wish, you can even make dietary cottage cheese from low-fat kefir. To do this, put the package of kefir in the freezer overnight, and then squeeze out the contents through cheesecloth.

Ingredients:

• medium fat cottage cheese – 1 tbsp.;
• cream – ½ tbsp.;
• powdered sugar – 2/3 tbsp.

Cooking method:

1. Using a mixer at high speed, beat the cream into a stable thick foam.
2. Add half the granulated sugar and continue beating for about a minute.
3. Grind the cottage cheese through a sieve 2-3 times, mix with the remaining sugar.
4. At the end, combine the curd and cream mass.

With whipped cream

• Time: 55 minutes.
• Number of servings: for 10 people.
• Calorie content of the dish: 215.1 kcal.
• Purpose: dessert.
• Cuisine: French.

An easy recipe for eclairs with whipped cream involves using only cream and sugar, but this cream turns out bland and will not appeal to everyone. Try to diversify the filling by adding some fresh raspberries, strawberries or any other fruit that is in season. It will turn out very unusual, tasty and healthy. You can skip the icing and decorate the cakes with powdered sugar.

Ingredients:

• heavy cream – 1 tbsp;
• raspberries – 1 handful;
• powdered sugar – 1 tbsp. l.

Cooking method:

1. Whisk the chilled cream until stiff peaks form.
2. If it is difficult to do this by hand, you can use a mixer.
3. Just before the end of whipping, add raspberries and powdered sugar to the cream.
4. Bring the mixture until smooth and place it inside the finished eclairs.

Find out more about how to cook other recipes.

Chocolate eclairs recipe

• Time: 30 minutes.
• Number of servings: 5 persons.
• Calorie content of the dish: 378.6 kcal.
• Purpose: dessert.
• Cuisine: French.
• Difficulty of preparation: easy.

All mothers whose children have an avid sweet tooth know how to make chocolate cream. Try baking delicious eclairs with this filling, and to give your baked goods a finished look, cover the cakes with cocoa glaze or pour melted milk chocolate on them. It will turn out very tasty, although too sweet, so it is recommended to wash down the cakes with unsweetened tea or coffee.

Ingredients:

• butter – 200 g;
• condensed milk – ½ can;
• cocoa – 3 tbsp. l.

Cooking method:

1. We take out the oil from the refrigerator in advance so that it thaws a little.
2. Add condensed milk to the butter and beat the cream.
3. Add a few tablespoons of cocoa to it and mix well.
4. If desired, you can add cherry liqueur or any other alcohol to the filling.
5. Eclairs with chocolate filling can be coated with a layer of chocolate glaze.

With condensed milk

• Time: 45 minutes.
• Number of servings: 9 persons.
• Calorie content of the dish: 329 kcal.
• Purpose: dessert.
• Cuisine: European.
• Difficulty of preparation: easy.

The recipe for homemade eclairs with condensed milk was not invented by the French, but by our compatriots. This is because such filling is easily accessible, inexpensive and liked by many. To enhance the taste, experienced chefs recommend buying not only boiled milk, but also regular liquid condensed milk. However, you should know that eclairs are very sweet, so it is better to serve them with tea without sugar.

Ingredients:

• boiled condensed milk – 1 can;
• cognac – 2 tbsp. l.;
• liquid condensed milk - 3 tbsp. l.;
• butter – 1 pack.

Cooking method:

1. In order for all the filling ingredients to mix without unnecessary problems, the products must be at room temperature.
2. Using a mixer, mix boiled condensed milk with butter.
3. As soon as the mass becomes homogeneous, add regular condensed milk and alcohol.
4. Fill the finished baked goods with aromatic cream.

Simple recipe

• Time: 1 hour.
• Number of servings: for 10-15 people.
• Calorie content of the dish: 120 kcal.
• Purpose: baking.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty of preparation: difficult.

Looking for a simple recipe for custard eclairs without using butter? Then you have found what you need. Although, according to correct French chefs, vegetable oil cannot be present in a delicate eclair, it is still worth trying to prepare such dough. Cooled baked goods are just as fluffy, but with a blander taste. Therefore, this dough recipe is more suitable for snack cakes filled with pate, salad or cheese.

Ingredients:

• water – 1 tbsp.;
• vegetable oil – 70 ml;
• flour – 180 g;
• eggs – 5 pcs.

Cooking method:

1. In a saucepan, combine water, vegetable oil and salt.
2. Place the container in a water bath and heat it up.
3. As soon as the water warms up well, add the entire volume of flour and start beating the dough with a mixer.
4. If the dough begins to pull away from the walls, remove the pan from the stove.
5. Cool the dough to 60-70 degrees and mix the eggs into it one by one.
6. As soon as the mass becomes homogeneous and lags well behind the walls of the pan, you can begin to form and bake the profiteroles.
7. Ready-made eclairs can be filled with any cream.

With butter cream

• Time: 10-15 minutes.
• Number of servings: for 10 people.
• Calorie content of the dish: 364 kcal.
• Purpose: dessert.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty of preparation: easy.

Each housewife prepares eclairs with butter cream in her own way, and all because there are a lot of recipes for the filling itself. If you're just looking for a new option, try buttercream with soft cheese. The only rule is that the butter must be at room temperature and very fresh, but it is better not to take the curd component out of the refrigerator in advance.

Ingredients:

• butter – 115 g;
• curd cheese – 350 g;
• powdered sugar – ½ tbsp.

Cooking method:

1. Add curd cheese to the softened butter and stir.
2. Add powdered sugar and whisk the mixture vigorously for about 4-5 minutes.
3. If desired, you can add a little vanilla extract to the cream.
4. Place the finished filling in the refrigerator if you do not plan to fill the eclairs immediately.

No eggs

• Time: 1 hour.
• Calorie content of the dish: 362.5 kcal.
• Purpose: baking.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty of preparation: medium.

If you adhere to the basics of vegetarianism or eggs are prohibited from being eaten by doctors due to worsening allergies, you still shouldn’t give up your favorite confectionery product. How to make eclairs is well described in the following recipe with photos step by step. True, it is not suitable for very strict vegetarians, because it contains butter and milk.

Ingredients:

• milk – 2 tbsp.;
• butter – 150 g;
• sugar – 3 tbsp. l.;
• yeast – 10 g;
• flour – 1 kg;
• baking powder – 1 sachet.

Cooking method:

1. Heat the milk on the stove, add butter, sugar and salt to it and cook for 10 minutes.
2. Next, at low mixer speed, add 200 grams of flour into the sweet mixture.
3. On a separate plate, mix the remaining flour with dry yeast and baking powder.
4. Add dry ingredients to the dough.
5. Wrap the finished dough in film and leave it to rest for 20 minutes.
6. Eclairs without eggs should be baked in the oven at 200°C for 25-30 minutes without opening the door.

French

• Time: 45 minutes.
• Number of servings: for 5-8 persons.
• Calorie content of the dish: 230.6 kcal.
• Purpose: dessert.
• Cuisine: French.
• Difficulty of preparation: medium.

Real French eclairs hold their shape perfectly. Filled with cream, they will not fall apart even after several days of storage in the refrigerator. The whole secret lies in the cream. The pedantic French even came up with a special name for it - patissière. As for the fudge for the eclair, the original recipe uses fondant. However, cooking it at home is problematic; it is better to buy ready-made chocolate glaze.

Ingredients:

• yolks – 6 pcs.;
• starch – 40 g;
• milk – 2 tbsp.;
• sugar – ½ tbsp.;
• vanilla extract – 1 tsp.

Cooking method:

1. Mix the yolks and starch with a whisk, adding ¼ of the milk.
2. Bring the remaining milk, sugar and vanilla extract to a boil.
3. Pour half of the boiling milk into the egg mixture, constantly stirring vigorously.
4. Mix the egg mixture with hot milk and cook for 1 minute.
5. Pour the hot cream onto a plate and press the cling film tightly on top. Cool to room temperature.

With protein cream

• Time: 20 minutes.
• Number of servings: for 10-12 people.
• Calorie content of the dish: 319.4 kcal.
• Purpose: dessert.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty of preparation: easy.

Protein cream for eclairs can be made in several variations: using cream, curd cream or honey. In this recipe, in addition to proteins, sour cream is used as the basis. This filling turns out to be very tender and literally melts in your mouth. You can choose any recipe for the dough you like: make custard with eggs, without them, or based on sunflower oil.

Ingredients:

• squirrels – 4 pcs.;
• sugar – 1 tbsp;
• vanilla extract – ½ tsp;
• fat sour cream - 1 tbsp.

Cooking method:

1. Mix sour cream with three tablespoons of sugar.
2. Add vanilla and beat until doubled in volume.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the whites, gradually adding the remaining sugar to them.
4. Mix stable peaks with cream using a silicone spatula.
5. Immediately fill the cooled profiteroles with the protein filling.

You can eat the filled eclairs right away, or you can work a little more and give the baked goods a finished look by covering the top of the cake with caramel, powdered sugar, or making icing for the eclairs, but keep in mind a few tricks:

• To make a colored glaze, add food coloring to the rest of the ingredients;
• if the fudge is very thick and lies unevenly, slightly dilute the mixture with warm milk or water;
• A quick version of ganache is to melt a bar of dark chocolate in a water bath;
• If the icing remains sticky, you can correct the situation by rolling the cake in nuts, Easter sprinkles, or scattering wafer crumbs on top.

Video

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The most delicious eclairs, these captivating tubes of choux pastry with your favorite sweet fillings, become even better if you cover them with glaze.

In general, glaze for eclairs is not particularly different from glaze for other baked goods; many recipes are equally suitable for sophisticated French cakes and muffins with buns.

But it also has its own characteristics.

For example, it should spread minimally.

All glazes for eclairs contain sugar, preferably in powdered form - for better dissolution, and unless otherwise stated, it should not be replaced with granulated sugar.

Custard protein glaze

Ingredients

A glass of sugar;

4 egg whites;

Lemon juice to taste.

Preparation

Place the saucepan with the whites in a water bath;

Add sugar, stirring continuously with a whisk, and start whisking;

After five minutes, remove the dishes from the stove and, pouring in a little lemon juice, continue whisking the glaze for a few more minutes;

Cover the eclairs with glaze, which, after hardening, will become shiny and brittle, very reminiscent of gingerbread glaze.

Coffee glaze

Ingredients

A glass of powdered sugar;

3−4 tablespoons of strong natural coffee;

A tablespoon of butter.

Preparation

Pour the coffee into a saucepan and place on the stove over low heat;

Gradually add powdered sugar, stirring until dissolved, and immediately after that, bring to a boil and immediately set aside;

After cooling the sweetened coffee to room temperature, mix it thoroughly with soft butter and, if desired, immediately apply the glaze to the eclairs.

Chocolate glaze with sour cream

Ingredients

A glass of sour cream;

4 tablespoons butter;

7−9 tablespoons sugar;

6 tablespoons cocoa powder.

Preparation

Mix sugar and cocoa;

Place the sour cream in a small saucepan and place on a medium-heated stove;

Add sugar to sour cream, add cocoa and, stirring, wait until the mass comes to a boil, but have time to remove from heat;

While it is still hot, add all the spoons of butter and mix everything well;

Brush the glaze over the eclairs.

Berry-fruit glaze

Ingredients

A glass of berry or fruit puree;

A glass of sugar;

4 teaspoons of invert syrup;

Three-quarters cup water for glaze;

One quarter glass of water for gelatin;

8 g citrus pectin;

8 g powdered gelatin.

Preparation

Start by preparing a puree, for which bright fruits or berries are suitable - raspberries, cranberries, lingonberries, strawberries, currants, blueberries, blackberries, apricots, cherries;

Wash fresh berries or fruits, remove branches, stalks/leaves; thaw frozen ones;

Rub the main ingredient through a sieve several times until you obtain a thick juice and puree;

Place the saucepan with the juice on the stove and, turning up the heat (but not to a boil), pour in water and syrup;

Mix pectin with sugar and add little by little, stirring continuously, to the juice;

Now, turn up the heat on the stove, bring the contents of the saucepan to a boil and literally after a minute, reduce the heat to medium;

Add gelatin there and stir thoroughly until it is completely dissolved;

Cool the glaze and use a brush to apply it to the eclairs, which you immediately send to cool in the refrigerator.

Chocolate glaze

Ingredients

A bar of natural milk or dark chocolate;

A third of a glass of cream;

2 tablespoons butter;

Preparation

Break the chocolate and place it in a water bath to melt;

In a separate saucepan, heat the cream almost to a boil and dissolve the powdered sugar in it;

Pour the cream into the melted chocolate, stir and remove from heat;

Add butter, warmed until soft, and mix into a homogeneous mass, which can be used to decorate eclairs and serve them, preferably chilled.

Citrus glaze

Ingredients

A glass of powdered sugar;

2-4 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange, lemon, lime or grapefruit juice.

Preparation

Using a whisk, slowly stir the gradually added powdered sugar into the fruit juice until you are happy with its consistency.

This glaze for eclairs is not particularly bright, but very tasty, slightly moistly permeating the choux pastry crust with a fruity flavor and aroma. You can also add a little finely grated zest to it to taste.

Creamy glaze

Ingredients

2 cups powdered sugar;

Half a teaspoon of vanilla;

A pinch of salt;

A glass of thicker cream;

3 tablespoons butter.

Preparation

Place the saucepan with the cream on the stove over medium heat;

Add sugar, stirring every now and then;

Add vanilla and salt;

Place pieces of butter and, most importantly, do not overheat! It should not melt into a liquid, but should be mixed into the uniform texture of the glaze;

Pumpkin frosting

Ingredients

A glass of powdered sugar;

3 tablespoons butter;

5−8 tablespoons cream;

A teaspoon of honey;

A teaspoon of vanilla extract;

Half a teaspoon of cinnamon;

3−4 tablespoons pumpkin puree;

4 g powdered gelatin;

20 ml water for gelatin.

Preparation

Bake pieces of ripe and sweet pumpkin (the flesh will probably be bright orange) in the oven and puree using a blender or rubbing through a sieve;

Soak gelatin in cold water;

Pour the cream into a saucepan on a hot stove, add butter, pumpkin puree and mix everything into a homogeneous mass;

Add cinnamon, honey and vanilla extract and stir again;

Continuing to stir, gradually add powdered sugar;

On another stove, dissolve gelatin until liquid, while heating;

Increase the heat under the saucepan with the pumpkin and pour in the gelatin, stir everything one last time and remove from the heat;

Cover the eclairs thickly with the slightly cooled glaze.

Yolk glaze

Ingredients

Half a glass of sugar;

Half a cup of powdered sugar;

2 egg yolks;

15−20 ml of water.

Preparation

Grind the yolks with powdered sugar, beat until fluffy white mass;

Place a saucepan with water on the stove, add sugar and, without allowing it to burn, cook a thick syrup stretching with sweet threads;

Remove the saucepan from the heat, cool the syrup so that it is warm, and carefully add the yolks into it, mix thoroughly and immediately cover the eclairs with a quickly hardening glaze.

Rum glaze

Ingredients

A glass of powdered sugar;

3−4 tablespoons of rum;

20 ml water.

Preparation

Add hot (just boiled) water to the rum and immediately begin adding powdered sugar, thoroughly rubbing the ingredients into a homogeneous, dense glaze.

Like custard, this glaze for eclairs should be used without delay, ahead of its hardening.

Cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

400 g Philadelphia cream cheese (or similar);

Half a stick of butter;

2 cups powdered sugar;

A teaspoon of vanillin or vanilla extract.

Preparation

An hour or two before making the frosting, remove the cheese and butter from the refrigerator to warm to room temperature;

Beat butter and cheese with a mixer for several minutes at low speed;

Add vanilla;

Add powdered sugar in small portions, continuing to beat;

When the mass becomes fluffy and homogeneous, put it in the refrigerator for an hour, and then start decorating the eclairs.

This creamy glaze for eclairs perfectly combines sweetness and cheesy creamy sourness, and we recommend choosing it for custard cakes with berry and/or curd fillings.

Caramel glaze

Ingredients

Half a glass of cane sugar;

A glass of powdered sugar;

A teaspoon of vanilla;

3−4 tablespoons of heavy cream;

2−3 tablespoons butter.

For this candy glaze, it is preferable to choose muscovado (Barbados) cane sugar, which, due to its high molasses content, has a rich taste and aroma.

Preparation

Place the butter in a saucepan or sauté pan and melt over medium heat;

Pour the cream into the completely melted butter, add cane sugar and after dissolving it, stirring, cook everything over low heat for a couple of minutes;

Remove the dishes from the stove, add half a glass of powdered sugar and immediately begin to beat the mixture until it cools;

Add vanilla and the remaining powdered sugar to the barely warm mass and beat everything well again, after which you can cover the eclairs with candy-flavored glaze.

Glaze for eclairs: secrets and tricks

1. Some cold-made glazes (such as citrus glazes) set quickly, so they need to be applied quickly. But this does not apply to cream cheese frosting, for example.

2. Glazes for eclairs prepared hot must be cooled before covering the eclairs; they, in comparison with the first ones, are not as hard, closer to thick cream or fondant.

3. Mirror-shiny, translucent glaze made from berries or fruits, most often used to cover the surface of cakes and pastries, but it is also very good on eclairs, the main thing is not to make it too liquid, otherwise, before it hardens, almost all of it will drain from the eclair.

Also, to prevent it from “running away,” you shouldn’t be greedy and apply it on the cake in a thick layer.

4. It is interesting that if the recipe for glaze for eclairs contains pectin, then choose a product of the NH (citrus) variety, which, unlike the pectin used for marmalade, is known for its heat reversibility property, when when heated it becomes liquid and when cooled it hardens. And pectin is always added to other hot products in a mixture with sugar, the crystals of which prevent the pectin from sticking together into lumps, with the loss of gelling properties.

5. Glazes with dyes, flavorings and aromas are common, but for fans of natural things there are worthy alternatives. For example, you can tint the glaze for eclairs using juice from beets, spinach or red cabbage, and turmeric seasoning.

This article from the News Portal “site” is dedicated to all those with a sweet tooth and lovers of delicious desserts! And in our article we will talk about amazingly delicious French cakes - eclairs and profiteroles.

These cakes, magical in their beauty and taste, are loved by everyone, both adults and children.

In our article we want to offer an unusual option for decorating traditional eclairs and profiteroles. If you want to pleasantly surprise and delight your guests, then decorate homemade eclairs in the form of delicious hot dogs, and profiteroles in the form of hearty hamburgers. You ask how to do this?! And it's very simple!

First of all, you need to prepare the eclairs and profiteroles themselves. You can learn how to do this from the video recipe.

Now that you have prepared the dough for eclairs and profiteroles, and also made the traditional cream for the filling, you can begin culinary creativity.

To create sweet hot dogs and hamburgers you will need: cream, food coloring in red, yellow, green, pink and brown.

Using food colors of the listed colors, prepare cream for eclairs and profiteroles in the desired colors.

Now cut the eclairs and profiteroles in half and fill with colorful cream.

Place the finished cakes on a large festive platter and serve.

The family of choux pastry products is numerous, as befits a family with traditions. However, with all the variety of “representatives”, we most often encounter three main ones - profiteroles, shu and eclairs. All of these hollow buns have the same base - a dough that is made by boiling water, butter and flour and then adding eggs to it. This technology makes it possible to provide the products with a durable shell, which, inflating due to evaporating moisture (the water content in choux pastry is quite high), remains intact thanks to the eggs.
However, there are differences in the general cooking technology.

ECLAIRS, PROFITROLES, SHU - WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
PROFITROLES.

PROFITROLES 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 in “income”. Traditionally, profiteroles are filled with fillings - both sweet and non-sweet. To make them more attractive, they are covered with glaze or sprinkled with one or another crumb.

SHU- miniature buns that are often served with soups, stews, and gravies instead of bread. Shape – round, diameter – up to 2 centimeters. Due to its 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 their 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 always covered with glaze on top, sometimes sprinkled with nuts, waffle crumbs and other sweet additives.

Choux pastry for eclairs. Recipe for making eclairs.

Using this recipe, you can prepare products that can be easily stored 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 the eclair preparations in advance, you will always have at hand a fairly quick version of a great dessert - homemade, stylish and tasty.

Ingredients for the dough recipe
250 ml water;
100 g butter;
200 g flour;
4 eggs;
a pinch of salt

How to prepare the correct choux pastry for eclairs.

WHAT EGGS SHOULD BE. To prepare the perfect dough for eclairs, the eggs must be at room temperature - remove them from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before starting work.
WATER BATH MODE. First of all, we look for two pans of a suitable size - the smaller one should be firmly located in the larger one and be of sufficient volume to accommodate a portion of choux pastry. So, fill a large saucepan with water to about 2/3 of its volume, place it on the stove and turn on the gas. Pour 250 ml of water into a smaller saucepan and cut the butter into cubes. Add a little salt and place in a large saucepan.

PROCESS. In a water bath, let the butter melt completely, then immediately add all the flour, without removing the pan from the water. Knead vigorously - the flour should be all combined with water and oil, there should be no lumps.
WHAT TO KNEAD. It is most convenient to work with a wooden spatula, however, be prepared for the fact that this manipulation will require a certain application of physical strength from you. If you can't handle some effort, you can use a mixer - the downside is that its whisks, when stirring the flour, break the mixture 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.
STIRED. WHAT'S NEXT? Remove the smaller pan from the stove and continue the same steps for another 3-5 minutes - during this time the mass will become more elastic and just reach the desired temperature for the next stage.

INTRODUCING EGGS. Now you need to add eggs to the brewed flour mixture. This is done strictly with one egg at a time, and the dough is kneaded each time until perfectly homogeneous. 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 whites with the yolk. After this, the egg mass should be added to the dough in portions and - don’t forget! – Stir each time until completely homogeneous.
CONSISTENCY OF READY DOUGH. The finished dough will not be thick and at the same time not liquid. It will stretch behind the spoon and blur slightly when you try to give it one shape or another.

Preparing eclairs (forming and baking stage).

The next stage is working with a pastry bag. If in the case of profiteroles you can get by with an ordinary tablespoon, placing the dough in small pieces on a baking sheet and giving them a round shape, then this option will not work with eclairs. These cakes require an even oblong shape, which is almost impossible to achieve without a pastry bag. However, in the absence of a bag, you can use a regular plastic bag. It is worth keeping in mind that it must be very strong - the dough can easily find a loophole and tear its walls. Nothing irreparable, of course, will happen, but there is also nothing pleasant in the process of searching for another package and transferring dough 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 sufficient distance between them (do not forget that the dough increases significantly in volume during the baking process).

Place the baking sheet in the oven, preheated to 200 degrees and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes. Do not open the oven door - 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 filling, you need to wait until the dough has cooled completely. If you are going to store the products in the freezer, they should also be completely cooled before packing.

How to fill with filling? You can do it in two ways. The first is to cut the eclair in half, fill the hollow part with filling 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 into it using a pastry bag.

But that's not all. The final touch is decorating the eclair with glaze. But we got ahead of ourselves. We’ll talk about how to prepare the cream and what kind of glaze it might be when we’re done with the dough for the eclairs. But this question still holds intrigue.

How to make eclairs with whole grain flour

The general principle of preparing dough for eclairs with whole grain flour is the same as in the classic version. The finished products are denser, “stricter” and more 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 grain wheat flour;
200 ml water;
a pinch of salt;
2 eggs;
2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.

Turn on the oven so that it heats up to 200 degrees.
We prepare the dough more simply - 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. Stir well until smooth – without removing the pan from the heat.
Turn off the heat, let the brewed mixture cool slightly and add the eggs one at a time, after each one knead the dough until completely smooth. The dough will be viscous, not thick.
We transfer it into a pastry bag or syringe and place strips 5-7 cm long on a baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, the finished eclairs should be evenly brownish and make a dull sound when tapped on the bottom.

Eclairs - a recipe made from rye flour.

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

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

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

Eclairs with a crispy shortcrust pastry cap.

This is the richest, most festive and elegant version of eclairs - the choux pastry is carefully covered with a strip of shortcrust pastry before baking, and then put into the oven. The result is a hollow, soft product with an amazing crispy crust on top. The option is labor-intensive, but the end result is definitely worth the effort.

Ingredients for shortcrust pastry:
100 g butter;
125 g sugar;
125 g flour;
a pinch of salt.

Ingredients for choux pastry:
100 g milk;
120 g flour;
a pinch of salt;
80 g butter;
4 eggs.

Prepare the shortbread dough - chop the chilled butter with sugar, salt and flour, collect the resulting crumbs into a ball, place on a sheet of cling film, cover with a second sheet and roll out into a layer about 10-12 cm wide.
Place in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, after which we remove the top layer of film and cut the dough into rectangles measuring approximately 12x2 cm. Put it in the refrigerator again for 1 hour.

Recipe for homemade eclairs made from shortcrust pastry
Turn on the oven to warm up to 180 degrees.
We take two pans that will fit comfortably into one another. Fill the larger one 2/3 with water and put it on the fire. Place milk, salt and butter in the smaller one and place in a larger saucepan.
After boiling, add flour and stir until smooth. Remove from heat, wait a few minutes for it to cool slightly, then add the eggs one at a time. The dough will turn out thinner than regular choux pastry, and that’s how it should be.
Place the dough in a pastry bag and place sticks up to 10 cm long on a baking sheet. Carefully cover each strip of choux pastry with a strip of shortcrust pastry.
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 wait until they are completely cool 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 best to you, you just need to cook and try.

Classic custard for eclairs.
The classic version of custard involves mixing a milk-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 using an immersion blender or a regular sieve.

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

Bring the milk to a boil, set aside. In a separate saucepan with a thick bottom, mix sugar, flour, add the egg, and grind thoroughly. Strain the milk into the resulting mass in small portions and stir until smooth. Place on the stove, low heat. With constant stirring, we bring the cream to a puffing state - if everything is done correctly, it will not boil, it will just “puff”. Remove from heat, add a little flavoring if desired - vanilla, lemon essence, a couple of spoons of rum or cognac. After cooling completely, beat the cream with softened butter. Ready.

Light curd 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 fat cottage cheese;
100 ml whipping cream (fat content not less than 33%);
2/3 cup powdered sugar.

Whip the cream into a stiff, stable foam, and finally add half the powdered sugar. Grind the cottage cheese through a fine sieve twice and mix with the remaining powdered sugar. If desired, use a blender instead of a sieve. Mix cream with cottage cheese. You can fill eclairs.

Chocolate cream.

Classic cream - no surprises. The taste is moderately chocolatey; lovers will certainly appreciate it.
INGREDIENTS:
200 g butter;
1/2 can of condensed milk;
3 full tbsp. l. cocoa.
Place softened butter in a bowl and pour in 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 winner when it comes to desserts. If you have a handful of pistachios, the solution immediately becomes ingenious - the cream turns out to be incredibly interesting, original, and unusual.

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

Take a couple of spoons of milk and mix with starch. Stir the rest of the milk with sugar and bring to a boil. Add the starch mixture in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Bring the cream to a “puffing” state, turn off the heat. After cooling completely, beat the mixture with softened butter, then mix with nuts. Separately, whip the cream and mix with the milk-starch mixture. The cream is ready.

Glazes for eclairs.

Ready-made eclairs can be served simply by filling them with cream of your choice, however, the cakes will take on a finished look if you cover them with icing on top. In addition, you can sprinkle ground nuts, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and sesame seeds on top of the glaze. The waffle crumbs also look interesting.

Lemon glaze
INGREDIENTS:
100 g powdered sugar;
2 tbsp. l. lemon juice.
Mix powdered sugar with lemon juice and use the finished glaze immediately.

Chocolate ganache
INGREDIENTS:
50 ml cream;
100 g chocolate.
Mix cream and chocolate and bring mixture over low heat until smooth. Cover immediately.

White chocolate frosting
INGREDIENTS:
200 g white chocolate;
20 g butter;
2 tbsp. l. milk.
Mix all the ingredients, put on the fire, stirring constantly until smooth. Cover the eclairs immediately.

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

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