Source: Ana Maria Kruger
Makes 20 servings.
Preparation time: 1 hour
Tips: See Puffs & Cream for filling variations.
Eclairs
Choux Dough
Ingredients
Preparation
CHOUX DOUGH:
4 ounces butter (1 stick)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup flour
1 pinch salt
3 to 4 eggs
Grease and flour cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees (see note 2).
1. In small saucepan bring butter, water, sugar and salt to boil over low heat. Remove from heat. All at once, add flour. Stir immediately with wooden spoon. Mixture will thicken and form a ball in pan. Transfer to a medium bowl and cool.
2. Gradually add 1 egg and beat with wooden spoon until well incorporated. Add egg again until mixture is glossy and thick. Make take up to 4 eggs.
3. Place mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a nozzle 1/2-inch in diameter. Pipe about 4-inch lengths about 1-inch apart into prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes. When puffs are firm to the touch and golden brown, remove from oven. Quickly pierce each puff in the side with a sharp knife to let steam escape. Turn oven off ; open door. Place puffs in oven 10 minutes to dry completely; cool.
5. Puffs can be freeze wrapped up to 1 month. Crisp by baking at 350 F degrees for 5 minutes.
6. Prepare vanilla pudding as per package directions decreasing milk by 1/3 cup. Refrigerate until firm.
7. Slice each puff in half. Using pastry bag, pipe pudding to fill each puff, cover.
8. Glaze with icing and refrigerate.
9. ICING: In a microwave proof bowl place all icing ingredients. With a fork break butter and cream into sugar. Heat in microwave oven for about 1 minute. Remove and mix with fork again. Keep warming up icing until it starts to bubble. Mix well, allow icing to cool until desire spreading thickness. Icing will harden as it cools. If to hard before finishing icing puffs, reheat. Adjust consistency by adding few drops of cream or powder/cocoa mixture.
NOTE: 1) For Puffs, bake in round shape of desire size. Puffs about double in size during baking. Adjust baking time to size of pastry.
2) Depending on you oven and size of pastries, you may want to start with a hotter oven (400 F degrees) and decrease temperature after initial 15 minutes of baking to 350 F degrees. Puffs will rise fast with a hot oven and then dry slowly at lower temperature. This method works best with large pastries.
FILLING:
1 large package of vanilla pudding
ICING:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder or 2 oz. bitter chocolate
2 tablespoons whipping cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
