Mini eclairs

These mini eclairs are tiny bites of perfection. They're super easy to bake with my foolproof choux pastry recipe, then filled with vanilla cream and topped with silky dark chocolate.

They're perfect to serve at a gathering, party or as a fun-size dessert!

To make them, you'll start by melting butter with water, bringing to the boil, then beating in plain flour. This will then go into a bowl where you'll whisk in eggs until you have a lovely, glossy dough.

Don't worry if you've never made eclairs before, you'll learn plenty of tricks to get perfect choux pastry when you follow the full recipe below.

Here's how to make my mini eclairs with vanilla cream.

Instructions

Make choux pastry dough

Before you start, sift your flour three times. It sounds excessive, but it helps give light, well risen choux pastry.

Put the butter, salt and cold 115ml (4 fl oz) water in a saucepan.

Heat very gently until the butter is melted. You don't want it to simmer or boil yet as you'll lose water, which will affect the recipe.

One all the butter is melted, turn up the heat and bring to the boil.

As soon as it's bubbling, turn off the heat and tip in the flour. Beat with a wooden spoon just until the mixture clings to the spoon. This should only take about 30 seconds.

Tip the mixture straight into a clean bowl.

Mix with an electric whisk for about a minute to help it cool.

Make sure that your eggs are well beaten. You'll then need to add them a tablespoon at a time while whisking, ensuring they are full incorporated before adding more. Take it slow as you might not need it all.

Keep adding a spoonful at a time with the mixer running. You are aiming for a smooth and glossy paste that will hold its shape, not a liquid. Ideally, you want a “reluctant drop” consistency, where a large scoop of mixture drops off the wooden spoon after 5 seconds - no more, no less.

Preheat the oven to 190C (170C fan, 350F). Fit a plain nozzle about 1cm diameter to your piping bag and fill with the choux pastry.

Pipe and bake your eclairs

Line your trays with baking paper and use a dab of choux pastry to stick them in place.

On a lightly greased baking tray, pipe thin lines of choux onto the lined baking sheet. They should be 6-8cm long and about the thickness of a pencil (1.25cm / 0.5 inch). Slow, smooth movement and even pressure should help achieve neat lines. You can trim tapered ends with a sharp, damp knife or dough scraper, if you like.

Bake the éclairs for 25-30 until puffed up and golden, even in the cracks.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Once cooled, use a sharp, serrated knife to halve the éclairs lengthways, separating the tops and bottoms.

If they're well cooked, you should see webbing inside without any dampness. If they're very soft or seem sticky inside, they need longer in the oven.

Make sure to keep them organised in pairs so that you can put them back together after filling.

Make the cream filling

Put the cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl.

Whip to soft peaks.

Fit a piping bag with a small french tip nozzle, fill with the cream and pipe the cream in waves onto the lower halves of each of the éclairs.

Make the topping

Put the broken chocolate in a heatproof bowl.

Gently melt your chocolate. You can do this in the microwave in 30 second bursts. Alternatively, put the chocolate into a bowl over a pan of simmering water, above water level. Turn the heat low to melt the chocolate slowly, stirring all the time. Take off the heat.

Dip the upper halves of the éclairs in chocolate, drain over the bowl, then pop onto of the eclairs.

Allow to set, then serve as soon as possible.

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If you enjoyed this recipe consider trying my easy apple pear crumble or my carrot cake pancakes.

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