Chocolate eclairs recipe for two, a small batch of homemade eclairs. Homemade small batch pastry cream recipe, too.
This Eclair Recipe is deliciously perfect
These mini chocolate eclairs for two positively melt my heart.
I want to dunk them in my coffee in the morning, snack on them in the afternoon, and eat them for dessert after dinner.
The good news in that scenario is that this recipe only makes 6 mini two-bite eclairs. If you share these with someone you love, you're almost guaranteed to not eat the whole batch yourself...almost.
For some divine reason, pâté à choux dough is easy to scale down.
Of all the things I thought would cause me to reach for the cork screw before 5:00, pâté à choux is not one of them. (By the way, Cabernet is my favorite problem solver ever). Cookies, on the other hand, give me loads of trouble when scaling down. Switch out just 1 teaspoon of something-or-other, and the cookies spread across the entire sheet and crisp to black in no time.
But delicate French pastry filled with rich cream and topped with chocolate? A cinch. Maybe a little too easy (says my waistline).
What are Eclairs?
Eclairs are a French pastry that consists of a delicate not-very-sweet pastry shell that is then stuffed with rich, which pastry cream, closed and dipped in chocolate. The pastry is a choux pastry, and it is known for baking up hollow, leaving plenty of space for stuffing with all sorts of creams and fillings.
What you'll need for Mini Eclairs
For the pastry cream:
- Heavy Cream. The base of pastry cream is thick, double cream.
- Sugar. Granulated sugar to sweeten the pastry cream.
- Flour. Two tablespoons of all-purpose flour for thickening the mixture.
- Egg Yolks. We only need the egg yolks, not the whole eggs for this recipe. Reserve the egg whites for another recipe.
- Vanilla. You can use vanilla extract or scrape half of the vanilla bean into the mixture.
For the eclairs:
- Butter. We’ll combine unsalted butter and water to form the base of the choux pastry dough.
- Flour. Regular, all-purpose bleached flour.
- Sugar. A very small amount of sugar (½ teaspoon) to help the pastry brown in the oven.
- Egg. One large egg.
- Chocolate. For topping the eclairs, melt ½ cup of semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.
- Coconut Oil. Add a small amount of coconut oil to the chocolate when you melt it so that the chocolate hardens and sets on top of the eclair.
Chocolate Eclair Recipe Tips
I used my Cream Puffs for two recipe, but I discovered something important worth mentioning--now that I'm cooking on a gas stove, I find that the pan doesn't hold as much heat once turned off. So, if you're cooking on a gas stove, instead of turning the heat entirely off to incorporate the flour, just turn it to low. If you're cooking on a glass cooktop, turn it off--those things hold enough heat to burn you 6 hours later.
Yes, this is exactly what I'm eating in those photos on my About page. Sorry to tease you for so long, but here they are!
I took a few photos to help you along the way.
When I say 'cook the flour until the dough pulls away from the edges of the pan,' this is exactly what that looks like:
The dough clings to the spoon and become hard to stir. This is also what I'm referring to when I say if you have a gas stove, turn the heat to low; if you have a glass cooktop, turn the heat completely off. If the dough does not clump around the spoon after 1 minute, turn the heat up slightly and continue to stir.
How to make Eclairs
1) As soon as the dough clumps together, move it to a mixing bowl, and begin beating it with an electric mixer until it is warm to the touch, about 1-2 minutes.
2) Once the dough has cooled, add the egg and continue beating.
3) Beat until the dough falls off the beaters in sheets, and is pale yellow.
4) Notice the color change from photo three to four? Perfection!
Now, go on! Make delicate French pastries and dunk them in black coffee because you deserve it!
How to fill Eclairs
Since these are homemade eclairs and we’re not running a bakery, I just slice these in half and fill the insides with the pastry cream with a spoon. If you want to be fancy, you can put the pastry cream in a pastry bag with a sharp round tip, and fill the eclairs that way. To do this, flip the eclair over, and press the tip into the eclair on one side, about half-way. Be careful not to push all the way through. Gently squeeze the pastry cream into the pastry until you feel a bit of resistance so that it doesn’t pop out. Repeat on the other side. Since these are mini eclairs, two points should be enough, but larger eclairs usually require 3 holes to fill.
How to store Mini Eclairs
It’s best to store eclairs chilled in the fridge. This is because the pastry cream contains dairy, so it cannot be left at room temperature. Line a food storage container with parchment paper or cupcake liners. Place the eclairs, not touching, in a single row, and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Be sure the container is air-tight. It's best to remove the eclairs from the fridge for about 20 minutes before serving so they’re not too cold.
Eclair Recipe freezing instructions
You can freeze the choux pastry shells after cooling for up to 3 months if you wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, freezer foil, and plate in a freezer safe bag. I don’t recommend freezing eclairs that have been stuffed with pastry cream. It’s best to stuff these just before serving.
Recommended tools for making Chocolate Eclairs
I used my silicone mat when baking these chocolate eclairs, and I highly recommend using one when baking.
Looking for more French desserts?
Try these CREPES FOR TWO:
Or, this APPLE TARTE TATIN FOR TWO:
Mini Eclairs
One of your favorite pastries in mini form!
Ingredients
For the pastry cream:
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- pinch of salt
- 2 large egg yolks
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
For the eclairs:
- ⅓ cup water
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- ⅓ cup flour
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, beaten
For the chocolate glaze:
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks
- 1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil
Instructions
- First, make the pastry cream: In a small saucepan, warm the heavy cream until the tiniest of bubbles appear on the edge of the pan--do NOT boil.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the egg yolks, and whisk. It will be crumbly, it's fine.
- Slowly pour the warm cream into the egg yolk mixture, a tablespoon or so at a time. Continue to whisk as you pour.
- Next, pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly while it comes to a simmer. Once simmering, it will begin to thicken. Once large bubbles pop on the surface, continue to cook for a few more seconds while whisking, then remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla.
- Scrape the pastry cream into a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface, then chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
- Next, make the eclairs: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan, stir together the water and butter over low heat. Let the butter gently melt without bringing the water to a rolling boil for too long.
- Remove the water-butter mixture from heat, and add the flour, sugar and salt mixture all at once. Stir, stir, stir.
- Put the pan back on the burner that's been turned off and stir until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. In other words, the dough will stick together in one big clump around the spoon and not the edges of the pan. It happens in about 1 minute. This is the part where you may have to leave your burner on low if you're cooking with gas or electric burners. If using a glass cook-top, turn it off entirely for this step.
- Scrape the dough into a mixing bowl, and beat on low speed with an electric mixture until the mixture is only warm to the touch (about 1-2 minutes). Add the egg and continue beating. Beat for a few minutes, until the dough falls off the beaters in sheets and is pale yellow.
- Scrape the mixture into a piping bags (or use two spoons). To get the most rise out of your dough, scoop 3 balls of dough and pile the dough on top of itself with the edge of a spoon. (See photo for reference). You should get 6 eclairs.
- Bake the eclairs for 10 minutes, then open the oven door for 5 seconds, lower the heat to 350, and close the door. Continue to bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Do not be afraid of brownness--if you under-bake, the insides do not dry out. See photo for reference.
- When the eclairs are done baking, turn the oven off, and remove the sheet from the oven. Using a thin knife, poke a hole in the side of each eclair. You will eventually cut all the way through the eclair to fill it with the pastry cream, but for now, just cut a slit so steam can escape. Return the pan to the turned-off oven, and let cool for 30 minutes with the oven door ajar.
- Next, slice the eclairs in half, and fill with the chilled pastry cream.
- For the chocolate topping, combine the chocolate and coconut oil in a small bowl. Stir well, then microwave in 10-second pulses until almost all the way melted, stirring between each pulse. Dip the tops of the eclairs in the chocolate, and chill until set for 15 minutes.
- The eclairs taste best served within a few hours of making, but they will keep covered in the fridge for 1 day.
Notes
Pastry cream recipe adapted from TheKitchn.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 356Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 173mgSodium: 112mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 6g
aimee @ like mother like daughter says
Oh my heavens, Christina. These look amazing! I don't know why I haven't looked st your blog more as I am in love with deserts for two. I scout play have a couple cookies for two recipes on my blog that I think are pretty good. But I can tell I need these in my life asap.
Kelly says
Hi!
I love your site! Such a great idea for desserts. I recently made éclairs and mentioned your recipe in my post. Can't wait to try them!
http://cupsandspoonfuls.com/2014/04/06/chocolate-frosted-eclair-with-fluffy-vanilla-pastry-cream-and-fresh-strawberries-5-eclair-recipes-you-should-try/
Efrain- Rooks to Cooks says
My family loves eclairs and I cannot wait to try and make these! Hopefully they come out as good as the one in your pictures, but in either case I'm sure they'll be a huge success~
Jenn @ Deliciously Sprinkled says
AMAZING!!!! My husband LOVES chocolate eclairs, I need to make these for him soon!! :)
Nutmeg nanny says
I love eclairs soooooo much, you don't even know.
Ashley | Spoonful of Flavor says
I'll take the whole batch, please! That cream and chocolate looks incredible. It is probably a good thing that I don't have these in front of me right now or I would eat them all!
Steph says
Any changes in procedure or effect if I triple the recipe?
Christina Lane says
ooh, Steph. I have no idea. I didn't test the recipe tripled. The pastry cream will be fine. I'm not sure about the eclairs...just make sure the batter consistency matches that in the step by step photos, ok? Let me know :)
Happy baking,
Christina
Matea says
I made eclairs for the first time a couple of weeks ago and they were delicious! I'd probably need to triple this recipe for my family of six :)
willspeak says
I REALLY wish I had the patience to make eclairs at home. Absolutely love them but never have the patience to actually make some at home ;(
Keith Bailey says
Hi Christina . I didn't make the choux pastry.I only made the pastry cream, because I was looking for a small batch of pastry cream.And I've made the recipe twice so far, the only things I changed was that I used a whole egg for the place of the egg yolks for both times, I also used whole milk instead of the heavy cream, both times. The only other thing I changed was that I used cornstarch instead of flour, because the first time I made it it had a doughy taste.But overall, I liked the recipe very much.Thanks for sharing.
Keith,