Father's Day Treat

Chocolate Eclairs

One of the recipes in the cookbook that was made for me is from a close family friend who also loves to cook. This recipe was actually passed to her by her mother; I love that there are so many family recipes out there. It's like an heirloom that keeps getting passed on; is passed with love and in a way keeps that person alive in our hearts forever. It seems to make the food taste that much better. I wonder how many family recipes are out there. I think it would be fun with Coffee And... if customers could contribute some of their own family recipes for us to make every now and then. We could have a Family Recipe of the Week treat. 

I made these Chocolate Eclairs specifically for Father's Day. These are one of my dad's favorite treats and thought I would test out my baking abilities on a little more difficult of a recipe (it also gave me another reason to use my new mixer). They turned out great and I cannot wait to give them to him. 

For the pastry:
1 cup water
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
3-4 eggs

For the wash
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. water

Fresh whipped cream:
1 pint of heavy cream
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

For chocolate glaze:
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 oz. semisweet chocolate

To make the pastry, preheat the oven to 400. 

Bring the water, butter, salt and sugar to a rolling boil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat. Add the flour all at once and stir hard with a wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated. Return to the heat and cook, stirring about 30 seconds to dry out the mixture slightly. 

Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or hand mixer. With the mixer running add 3 of the eggs one at a time and mix until it is glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them. You can add the remaining egg and mix if the dough is clinging to the beaters (I had to use 4 eggs). Using a pastry bag, pipe fat lengths of the dough onto a lined baking sheet leaving 2" between them. 

Whip the egg wash and brush the surface of each éclair. Smooth out any bumps. Bake 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 374 and bake until puffed and light golden brown about 20 minutes longer but it will depend on their size. Let them cool. 

Whip the whipping cream and slice off the top of each éclair and fill with lots of whipped cream. 

Glaze:
Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat. Put the chocolate in a medium bowl and pour the cream over and whisk until melted, set aside and keep warm. Pour over each éclair. 

Enjoy!!!