Eclairs at home: recipe with photo

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

You will probably agree that eclairs win the hearts of everyone who has ever tried them. And it's true, because these wonderful cakes are so delicate, airy. Cookbooks are full of a variety of fillings for them: these are cottage cheese, 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 appetizing examples. In this article, you will learn about the history of the origin of your favorite cake, how to make choux pastry, and get acquainted with a couple of filling options.

History of eclairs

The cake that won the hearts of the entire planet, eclair, has an ambiguous translation from French. Indeed, eclair is a "flash" of tastes, tenderness, softness. Who gave this name to the cake, history is silent, maybe because of the taste of cakes that fly off the plate in an instant, like a flash, and there was no treat on the tray, or maybe because of their shape.

The creator of this appetizing delicacy is Marie-Antoine Karem, he was nicknamed the king of chefs and was famous forhis culinary skills. The history of his life is long and interesting, because he managed to independently learn the art of baking, open more than one pastry shop, and become a great teacher in cooking. Marie-Antoine cooked personally 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 making it is not an easy task.

It is worth noting that Marie-Antoine did not give this mysterious name to the cake, it acquired it 20 years after the creator's death. The question of why the eclair remains a mystery, maybe it got such a name for the instant disappearance from the dish, or maybe for the shine of the glaze on it.

In addition to eclairs, Karem is credited with many other culinary masterpieces.

Preparation of custard dough

First, let's learn how to make dough for eclairs at home and bake them. At first, it may seem that preparing such cakes is as easy as shelling pears, but this is not so, because one egg can spoil the overall picture. Therefore, try to stick to the proportions in cooking. A dough that is too thin will result in flat pancakes instead of hollow cake bases, while a dough that is too thick will not rise.

Don't be afraid to make a mistake, it may not work the first time, 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 choux pastry we need:

• 150g butter;
• 1 cup flour;
• 200ml water;
• 3 chicken eggs.

Melt the butter in a water bath, pour water into the same container. When it boils and the butter has melted, mix them well together and sift the flour over them. Rub with a spoon and mix the dough without removing it from the bath. Stir until the mass begins to thicken and there are no lumps left in it.

Eggs, as already mentioned, beat 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 piping bag, use a bag or file and use a spoon, two spoons are enough for one cake.

Spread the cakes at a distance of about 4-6 cm from each other, as they will rise and expand during baking.

The blanks are baked for 15 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees. If necessary, reduce the temperature to 150 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes. Do not forget that the oven must be preheated in advance.

Let the cake bases cool andtake cream. The choice of creams is wide and varied, you will definitely pick up the filling to your taste.

Filling

Stuffing for eclairs at home is the most diverse. The most common option for home cooking is condensed milk filling, which we will talk about now.

Condensed milk

You can start eclairs either with boiled condensed milk or with cream. For the cream you will need:

• 1 can of boiled condensed milk;
• 200g butter.

Remove the butter before cooking. It should be soft, at room temperature, so it will be easier to whip it. Place it in a container, add a jar 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. You can diversify the filling of condensed milk with the help of hazelnuts or walnuts or pieces of chocolate.

Don't forget the icing.

Protein cream

Cream made from sugar syrup and whipped proteins is no less popular than from condensed milk, it can be found more often in cafeterias and coffee houses. The cream is incredibly airy, melting in your mouth, ideal for making eclairs at home.

For cream needed

• egg whites - 4 pcs;
• sugar - 1 cup;
• water - half a glass;
• lemon - 1 piece

Separate the whites from the yolks. Squeeze the lemon juice in advance, two tablespoons as a guide.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks like meringue. Remember that the bowl in which the protein is whipped must be clean (not greasy) and dry.

The next step in the recipe for eclairs at home is boiling the syrup.

You can check the syrup with a kitchen thermometer (ready syrup has a temperature of 110 degrees) or with a drop. Drop it on a saucer, touch it with your finger. If the droplet stretches behind the finger like a thread, it is ready.

Pour the syrup into the bowl with the egg whites and beat together at low speed. Add lemon juice. Beat thoroughly, spend 10 minutes on this. The cream will become more magnificent, thicker.

If desired, aromatic syrup can be added to the cream, for example, berry, nuts, chocolate chips or coconut. Also vanilla and vanilla extract.

Curd filling with strawberries

The next method will not leave you indifferent, it is so fresh, summery and fragrant. Rather, let's get acquainted with cottage cheese cream for eclairs at home with strawberries.

Ingredients:

• Cottage cheese - 400g
• Heavy cream - 150 ml.
• Butter - 50g
• Sugar - 100g
• Egg yolk - 2 pcs
• Vanillin.
• Strawberry.

Cream is prepared very quickly, and so tender and sweet, you will lick your fingers. First, whisk all ingredients together except butter and cream and fresh strawberries. Beat everything until smooth.

Put it on fire andadd oil, stir the future cream and heat until bubbles appear. Stir vigorously after until thickened.

Whip cream to peaks and mix with cottage cheese. At ready-made buns, cut the bottom, cut it not to the end so that they can cover the cream with it.

Using a piping bag, add the mute cream inside. Insert a strawberry and fill with cream. Close.

Decorate and serve, the cake is delicious, summery, fresh, tender.

Here are our eclair recipes at home. The photos are very appetizing. Do not forget to decorate your eclairs, sprinkle with powdered sugar, chopped nuts, chocolate or coconut flakes, caramel topping and fruit syrups. And icing, of course, all kinds of icing.

Bon appetit!