How to Make Eclairs

Ingredients

• Pastry cream (crème pâtissière):
• 2 1/4 cups liquid milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch or flour
• Yolks of 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• How to make the pastry cream:
• Whisk all the ingredients cold except the butter ..
• Stir the mixture continuously until it thickens ..
• Remove from the heat then add the butter and stir to melt ..
• Eclair dough:
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup liquid milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 4 eggs at room temperature
• For decoration:
• Chocolate
• Blue and pink food coloring
• or
• Icing or powdered sugar
• Chocolate vermicelli shavings
• This special recipe is from a friend and chef on Sho Tabkhin Today:
• Rana Jarkas
• You can visit Rana’s page on our site and see all her recipes by clicking her name
• For more of Rana’s sweet recipes, here is Znood El Sit

Method

1. Place the milk, water, butter and salt over medium heat and stir until it comes to a boil
2. Add the flour and stir until the mixture comes together and becomes dough-like ..
3. Leave the dough aside to cool then add the eggs one by one and beat with an electric mixer until you obtain a soft dough..
4. Put the dough into a pastry bag and pipe it lengthwise .. place the pieces directly on parchment paper on the tray
5. Bake in the center of the oven at 200°C for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 180°C and leave for an additional 20 minutes or according to your oven’s strength .. monitor while baking
6. Slice the éclairs lengthwise once they have cooled and fill with the pastry cream
7. Decorate the éclairs with chocolate melted in a double boiler on one or both sides and you can add food coloring to the melted chocolate as well
8. Chill the éclairs in the fridge until serving
9. Rana Jarkas
10. For more of Rana’s sweet recipes, here is Znood El Sit