Simplicity of dessert - Chocolate éclair

Lately I became really obsessed with choux pastry. But what is choux? Well it's wonderful recipe for kind of puff pastry used to make those amazing things like éclairs, profiteroles, choux swans, clurrels and of course infamous St. Honore cake.

The classic is to make it sweet, but since I love to twist recipes I already tried savory version, filled with blue cheese or kind of pate. 

But it's not about what I will be write today. Today is an éclair day on my blog. So since those lovely puffs speaks for themselves I am done with writing. Just want to say one thing - eating them for breakfast with strong espresso will definitely make your day, especially now in Poland - it's raining for almost 3 weeks or so. Depressing. Anyway - meet the lovelies.

CHOCOLATE COVERED ELAIRS

Choux pastry (for 35-40 small one):

½ cup (125g) whole milk
½ cup (125g) water
100gram butter, cut into small pieces
¼ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
120gram flour
2-3 large eggs, at room temperature

Chocolate hard glaze:

100 gram of dark chocolate

1 tablespoon of thick heavy cream

1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar ( home made by adding vanilla beans to caster sugar, closed for some time to mix a flavor)

Preheat oven 320F/180C.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan pour the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt and bring to the boil.  If a mixture is boiling add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to mediumand start to stir the mixture quickly with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together almost at once. Now -  carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. The dough should be smooth, silky. Turn off the heat and transfer the dough into a bowl.  Using your handmixer add the eggs one at a time,beating after each egg. Watch again - the dough will start to separate into small pieces, it's normal so do not worry. After a while of mixing the dough will be all together again. Ended effect should be thick and shiny, but also quite runny.The dough should be still warm.  Now the tricky part - you need a pastry bag or at least thick plastic bag with cutted corner. Make small hole. Put the dough into pastry bag and pipe onto parchment-lined bakingsheet. Make bigger free-spaces than you think you need - the pastry will raise, a lot. Bake them until golden brown and raised like twice. If they are browning to quickly turn down temperature to 150C and bake until they will dry. Cool down.

Glaze - melt chocolate with cream and sugar in a bowl placed on a high saucepan with shimmering water. Take from a heat and cool down just a little. Deep your lovelies and place to dry them. Serve on a breakfast with thick heavy cream and strong espresso.

I did not filled mine since I made them really small, but the chocolate is a must so I glazed them :)