Classic Chocolate Éclairs

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the pastry cream base

   Warm the 2 cups milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until steaming and just beginning to bubble at the edges. Meanwhile, whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a bowl, then whisk in the egg yolks until the mixture is pale and thick enough to ribbon off the whisk.

2. 2

   Temper and thicken

   Pour about a third of the hot milk into the yolks in a thin stream, whisking hard the whole time so they warm up instead of scrambling. Scrape everything back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly and getting into the corners, until the cream thickens and you see it bubble lazily for a full 30 seconds. That boil is what kills the starch's raw taste and sets the thickness.

3. 3

   Finish and chill the cream

   Off the heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla until smooth. Push the cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a shallow dish, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface so no skin forms, and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight. It needs to be cold and firm before it goes anywhere near a shell.

4. 4

   Set up for the choux

   Heat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the center. Draw twelve 4 1/2-inch lines on two sheets of parchment, spacing them about 2 inches apart, then flip the parchment pencil-side down onto two baking sheets. Fit a piping bag with a 1/2-inch French star or round tip.

5. 5

   Make the panade

   Bring the water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt to a full rolling boil in a medium saucepan, making sure the butter has melted completely before it boils so you don't lose liquid to evaporation. Dump in all the flour at once and stir hard with a wooden spoon until it comes together in a shaggy mass.

6. 6

   Dry out the dough

   Return the pan to medium heat and keep mashing and stirring the dough against the bottom for 2 to 3 minutes, until it forms a smooth ball and leaves a thin film on the pan. You're driving off moisture here, which is exactly what makes room for the eggs later.

7. 7

   Beat in the eggs

   Transfer the dough to a stand mixer with the paddle (or a bowl and a sturdy spoon) and beat on low for a minute to cool it to warm, not hot. Add the beaten eggs in four additions, beating until fully absorbed each time. Stop when the dough is glossy and falls from the paddle in a slow V-shaped ribbon. If the last addition would make it runny, hold some back.

8. 8

   Pipe the éclairs

   Pipe along each drawn line with steady, even pressure, holding the bag at a 45-degree angle and finishing with a quick flick to cut the dough. Smooth any peaks with a damp fingertip, since points scorch. Lightly brush or mist the tops with water.

9. 9

   Bake until deeply golden

   Bake one sheet at a time for 15 minutes at 425°F without opening the door, then lower the oven to 375°F and bake 20 to 25 minutes more, until the shells are a deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Pale shells are underbaked and will sink. Pierce each shell twice at one end with a skewer and return them to the turned-off oven for 5 minutes to dry the insides, then cool completely on a rack.

10. 10

    Fill the shells

    Whisk the cold pastry cream smooth and loose again, then load it into a piping bag with a small round tip. Poke three holes along the bottom of each shell and pipe into each one until you feel the éclair gain weight and resist. Wipe away any overflow.

11. 11

    Glaze and set

    Heat the cream until steaming and pour it over the chopped chocolate with the corn syrup. Let it sit 2 minutes, then stir from the center outward until glossy. Cool until it coats a spoon thickly, then dip each éclair top-down, lift, and let the excess drip off. Set on a rack and chill 20 minutes to firm the glaze.

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Baker's Tips

• 1.

  Egg quantity is a target, not a rule. Pan size, heat, and how long you dried the dough all change how much liquid is left, so judge by the V-shaped ribbon rather than the count.

• 2.

  Dough that's too loose spreads into flat ovals; dough that's too stiff bakes into dense, cracked logs. The ribbon test takes five seconds and saves the batch.

• 3.

  Resist opening the oven during the first 15 minutes. The structure is still soft steam at that point, and a rush of cool air collapses it.

• 4.

  Bake well past where they look done. The color you want is tan-brown, not pale gold.

• 5.

  Unfilled shells freeze beautifully for a month. Re-crisp from frozen at 375°F for 5 to 7 minutes and they're as good as fresh.

• 6.

  Fill as close to serving as you can. Pastry cream begins softening the shells within a few hours.

• 7.

  If your glaze sets too thick to dip cleanly, warm it for 5 seconds at a time and stir; if it runs off in sheets, let it cool a few more minutes.

Equipment

• Medium heavy-bottomed saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer
• Two rimmed baking sheets
• Parchment paper
• Large piping bag with 1/2-inch French star or round tip
• Piping bag with small round tip for filling
• Fine-mesh sieve
• Wire cooling rack
• Wooden skewer

Storage