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Halal Chocolate Eclair Recipe: Make This Classic French Dessert For An Indulgent Treat

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Ili •  Jul 22, 2020

Mention chocolate eclairs and a few things come to mind: beautiful airy shells, delicious cream filling and a rich chocolate glaze ? It’s all these combined and more that makes the chocolate eclair one of the most popular classic French desserts out there. And while you may think that this delicate treat is hard to make, the truth is that it’s totally doable on your own! With this halal eclair recipe, you’ll see for yourself how simple it can be to whip up an entire batch of it in your kitchen ?

Ingredients (yields 10)

For the choux pastry

  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • 8 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp granulated sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 large eggs

For the pastry cream

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 2 ½ tsp vanilla essence
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup cornstarch
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

For the chocolate glaze

  • 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

  1. To make the choux pastry: Preheat the oven to 200°C. In a saucepan, combine water, milk, butter, sugar and salt. Over medium-high heat, bring the ingredients to a boil. Then, remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of flour.
  2. Return the saucepan to the heat and whisk the mixture for about 1 ½ to 2 minutes, stirring continuously until it becomes a smooth ball of dough. 
  3. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for about 1 minute. Add 4 eggs, one at a time, letting each egg incorporate into the mixture thoroughly before adding the next. Beat until the dough becomes smooth and forms a thick ribbon when stretched.
  4. Pipe the dough onto a baking sheet lined with silicone about 4 inches long and ¾ inches wide. Make sure to keep them about 1 ½ inches apart.
  5. Bake for about 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 160°C and bake for another 30 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the pastry to a cooling rack and move onto preparing the pastry cream. At this stage, your eclairs should look like this in x’s video:

  1. To make the pastry cream: In a saucepan, add milk and vanilla essence and bring to a boil, occasionally stirring to prevent film from forming. 
  2. In a mixing bowl, whisk sugar, cornstarch and salt together. Then add egg yolks and whisk until the mixture becomes smooth and creamy. 
  3. While whisking constantly, gradually add hot milk in a steady stream. Pour the mixture into the saucepan and bring back to a boil. Continue to whisk for another 30 seconds until thickened. 
  4. Add vanilla essence and chunks of butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap directly over the custard and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
  5. Using a small pastry tip, indent the bottom of each pastry and fill them with pastry cream. Refrigerate the eclairs as you move onto the chocolate glaze. Check out Preppy Kitchen’s video to see how it’s done:

  1. To make the chocolate glaze: In a heat-proof bowl, add semi-sweet chocolate chips. 
  2. Heat heavy whipping cream, either in a saucepan over heat or microwave, and pour it over the chocolate chips. Leave it for 2 minutes and stir the mixture until everything has melted properly.
  3. Dip the top of the eclair into the chocolate glaze and let any excess drip back into the bowl. Serve at room temperature or chilled. 

The process of making chocolate eclairs may seem elaborate, but it’s not an impossible task. And if anything, it’s a fun baking project that you can enjoy with friends and family ?