1
Start by making the pastry cream. Heat the milk in a saucepan almost to boiling. Meanwhile, whisk together the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla extract in a bowl, then gradually add the flour, a few teaspoons at a time, until you have a smooth paste.
2
Gradually whisk in the hot milk, pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over high heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes until thickened – the mixture may become very lumpy, but don’t worry, keep stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth.
3
Place a sheet of cling film directly on the surface of the pastry cream, then cool and refrigerate until you are ready to fill the buns.
4
To make the choux buns, preheat the oven to 220 °C/200 °C with convection/gas 7. Sift the flour with the sugar and a pinch of salt into a small bowl. Put the milk and butter into a medium saucepan with 125 ml water and heat gently until the butter melts and the liquid does not boil.
5
When the butter is fully melted, increase the heat until the liquid comes to a vigorous boil. Immediately remove from the heat, add the sifted flour and whisk energetically with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth dough that pulls away from the sides of the pan. Spread it on a large plate to cool to hand temperature.
6
Let it cool for a few minutes, then gradually add the eggs, mixing thoroughly after each addition until the mixture starts to cling heavily to the spoon. Do not add all the eggs at once, only as needed.
7
Cut two large sheets of parchment paper. On each, draw two rows of “guide lines” spaced 10 cm apart – these will be your guides so the eclairs are roughly the same size. Use the paper to line two large trays, with the choux side down.
8
Transfer the choux mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a 1 cm star or round wide tip, or a disposable bag with a similarly sized opening. On each sheet between the guides, pipe two rows of evenly spaced, flattened “S” shapes. Bake, one tray at a time, on a fairly high rack for 25 minutes, reducing the temperature immediately after insertion to 200 °C/180 °C with convection/gas 6.
9
After 25 minutes, pierce each bun at the end or, using a small serrated knife, cut it in half and turn it upside down in the oven to dry for 5 minutes until a crisp golden crust forms. Set aside to cool.
10
While the buns cool, finish the filling. Whip the cream to thickness, then electrically beat the chilled pastry cream until smooth. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag – use a small tip if you’re filling the buns through the piercings, or a large one if you cut them in half. Gently pipe the cream into each cooled bun – they should feel heavy when filled.
11
For the glaze, melt 100 g dark chocolate and 25 g butter together in a heat‑proof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. After melting, remove from heat and stir in 75 ml double cream and 1 tbsp sifted powdered sugar. After cooling slightly, spread the glaze over the tops of the buns and let set.

Source: bbcgoodfood.com

Original recipe ↗

Want to try this recipe?

The Prepka App Is Ready

All your recipes at your fingertips — in the Progressive Web App

Open the App