Éclairs

I had an urge to bake, despite my allergies being so bad I could barely keep my eyes open. I’ve wanted to make pâte à choux since I was very little and saw Julia Child make it on television, but I always forget about all of the pastries that include it when thinking of what to make on my next baking adventure. When I was little, my mother used to buy those boxes of frozen cream puffs from the grocery store every so often and I would eat my weight in them, but cream puffs are never the first thing that comes to mind when I think “dessert.” Today, though, I remembered and decided I would make éclairs.

I used this recipe (the website also has a lovely photo tutorial to go with the recipe as well — I didn’t notice this until just now, but thankfully my éclairs turned out perfectly), except I used soy milk, since I had no other type of milk on hand, and about 1Tbsp of vanilla extract instead of a vanilla bean. I also made my choux dough by hand since the paddle attachment on my kitchenaid didn’t seem to be reaching the dough and I didn’t think it would work, and it was quite a workout for my arm (but completely worth it).

I also made the chocolate glaze differently, since I had no heavy cream.


Chocolate Glaze

• 3.5oz Ghiradelli Twilight Dark chocolate
• about 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 3 Tbsp butter

Over a double boiler, combine chocolate, corn syrup, and butter until melted and combined. Remove from heat and whisk until shiny. Refrigerate for about 5-10 minutes until chocolate starts to thicken. Dip the tops of filled éclairs into glaze, shaking gently to allow excess to drip off, then place upright on a wire rack and allow to set.