You will probably agree that eclairs conquer the hearts of all who have tried them at least once. Indeed, these wonderful cakes are so tender and airy. Cookbooks are full of a variety of fillings for them: these are curd, and protein creams, and condensed milk, and berry fillings.
We have selected for you extremely simple recipes for making eclairs at home, step by step, with very mouth-watering examples. In this article, you will learn about the history of the origin of your favorite cake, about how to make custard dough, and get acquainted with a couple of options for the filling.
Eclair story
A cake that has won the hearts of the whole planet, eclair, from French has an ambiguous translation. Indeed, eclair is a “flash” of tastes, tenderness, softness. Who gave the cake such a name, the story is silent, perhaps because of the taste of the cakes that fly away from the plate in a flash, and there was no treat on the tray, or maybe because of their shape.
Marie-Antoine Karem is considered the creator of this mouth-watering delicacy, he was nicknamed the king of chefs and was famous for his culinary skills. His life story is long and interesting, because he managed to learn the art of baking on his own, open more than one candy store, and become a great teacher in cooking. Marie Antoine personally prepared for Napoleon, and after the fall of the empire he moved to St. Petersburg. Life in Russia gave him the pseudonym Antonin, and he gave Russia an eclair created in Leon in 1850. There is no doubt, because he was a master of choux pastry, and cooking it is not a simple matter.
It is worth noting that it was not Marie Antoine that gave the cake this mysterious name, it acquired it 20 years after the death of the creator. The question of why eclair remains a mystery, maybe it got that name for the instant disappearance from the dish, or maybe for the glitter of the glaze on it.
In addition to eclairs, Karem is credited with many other culinary masterpieces.
Cooking Choux Dough
First, learn how to cook dough for eclairs at home and bake them. At first, it might seem that making such cakes is easy, but this is not so, because one egg can ruin the big picture. Therefore, try to keep the proportions in the preparation. Too liquid dough will lead to the fact that instead of hollow bases for the cake, we get blurry pancakes, but too thick will not rise.
Do not be afraid to blunder, the first time it may not work, fill your hand. Focus on the proportions in the recipe for eclairs at home, in the photo, and add the eggs gradually, shaking them separately.
And also remember: if you want your eclairs to not fall off, rise well and be quite hollow, do not open the oven until the very end of cooking, wait until they start to cool there.
So, to prepare the custard dough, we need:
- 150 g butter;
- 1 cup flour;
- 200 ml of water;
- 3 chicken eggs.
Melt the oil in a water bath, pour water into the same container. When it boils, and the butter melts, mix them well and sift flour to them. Rub with a spoon and mix the dough without removing from the bath. Stir until the mass begins to thicken and no lumps remain in it.
Beat eggs, as already mentioned, in a separate bowl. When the dough has cooled slightly, mix it with eggs, mix thoroughly and transfer to a pastry bag.
Cover the baking sheet with baking paper. Form future cakes on it. If you don’t have a pastry bag, use a bag or file, and also use a spoon, two spoons is enough for one cake.
Spread the cakes at a distance of about 4-6 cm from each other, since during the baking process they will rise and expand.
Billets are baked for 15 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees. If necessary, lower the temperature to 150 degrees and bake another 15 minutes. Do not forget that the oven must be preheated in advance.
Ready basics for cakes let cool and cream. The choice of creams is wide and varied, you are sure to pick the filling to taste.
Filling
The filling for eclairs at home is the most diverse. The most common option for home cooking is a filling of condensed milk, which we will talk about now.
Condensed milk
You can start eclairs with just boiled condensed milk and cream. For cream you will need:
- 1 can of boiled condensed milk;
- 200 g of butter.
Remove the butter before cooking in advance. It should be soft, room temperature, so it will be easier to beat. Place it in a container, add a can of condensed milk to it.
Beat the cream with a mixer until smooth. Make a hole in the bottom of the eclair and fill with cream. Variety of condensed milk filling can be with the help of hazelnuts or walnuts or pieces of chocolate.
Do not forget about the icing.
Protein Cream
Cream from sugar syrup and whipped proteins is no less popular than from condensed milk, it can often be found in cafes and coffee houses. The cream is incredibly airy, melting in your mouth, ideal for making eclairs at home.
For cream are necessary
- egg whites - 4 pcs.;
- sugar - 1 cup;
- water - half a glass;
- lemon - 1 pc.
Separate the whites from the yolks. Squeeze lemon juice in advance, focus on two tablespoons.
Beat the whites until stable peaks are as for meringues. Remember that dishes in which the protein is whipped must be clean (not greasy) and dry.
The next step in the recipe for eclairs at home is cooking the syrup.
You can check the syrup with a kitchen thermometer (the finished syrup has a temperature of 110 degrees) or with a drop. Put it on a saucer, touch your finger. If a drop stretches out like a thread behind a finger, he is ready.
Pour the syrup into a bowl of squirrels and beat together at low speeds. Add lemon juice. Beat well, spend 10 minutes on it. The cream will become more magnificent, thicker.
If desired, you can add aromatic syrup to the cream, for example, berry, nuts, chocolate chips or coconut. As well as vanilla and vanilla extract.
Curd filling with strawberries
The following method will not leave you indifferent, it is so fresh, summer and fragrant. Rather, get acquainted with the curd cream for eclairs at home with strawberries.
Ingredients:
- Cottage cheese - 400 g.
- Fat cream - 150 ml.
- Butter - 50 g.
- Sugar - 100 g.
- Egg yolk - 2 pcs.
- Vanillin.
- Strawberry.
The cream is prepared very quickly, and so tender and sweet, you lick your fingers. Beat all the ingredients together first, except butter and cream and fresh strawberries. Beat everything until smooth.
Put it on a fire and add oil, stir the future cream and heat until bubbles appear. Stir vigorously after to thicken.
Whip cream until peaks and mix with cottage cheese. Cut the bottom of the finished buns, cut them out to the end so that they can close the cream with it.
Using a pastry bag, add into the silent cream. Insert the strawberries and fill in the cream. Close.
Decorate and serve, a cake - an overeating, summer, fresh, tender.
Here are our eclair recipes at home. The photos are very delicious. Do not forget to decorate your eclairs, sprinkle with powdered sugar, chopped nuts, chocolate or coconut, caramel topping and fruit syrups. And glaze, of course, is a very different glaze.
Enjoy your meal!