24. Chocolate Dipped Vanilla Éclairs

Ohhh man. The combination of pastry cream and vanilla ganache makes the filling that extra bit lighter and the slight crack and bitterness from the dark chocolate balances the crispy choux to make for a delicious dessert.

Chocolate Dipped Vanilla Eclairs

Makes about 20

For choux pastry:

100g water

100g milk

4g salt

4g sugar

90g butter

110g flour

180g eggs (about 4)

For filling:

Pastry cream:

250g milk

60g sugar

50g cornstarch

3 egg yolks

25g unsalted butter

1/2 vanilla pod

Vanilla ganache:

150g whipping cream (30%)

80g white chocolate

1 vanilla pod

For topping:

200g dark chocolate

Prepare your fillings first. For your pastry cream, scrape the seeds from your vanilla pod and add to a saucepan with your milk and place on a medium heat. Whisk together your sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks to form a paste. Whisk half of your warmed milk into your paste and then add the mixture to the saucepan with your butter. Continue whisking until very thick (your whisk will leave a trail behind it) or a thermometer reads 96ºC. Transfer to a clean bowl and cling film the surface directly to avoid a skin forming. Pop it in the fridge to cool completely.

For your vanilla ganache, heat half your cream with the seeds from your vanilla pod. Finely chop your white chocolate and add to a heatproof bowl. Pour your hot cream over your chocolate and whisk until it's fully melted. Add in the other half of your cream, mix, clingfilm the surface and refrigerate to cool completely.

Preheat your oven to 170ºC. Place your water, milk, salt, sugar and butter in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove your pan from the heat and add in your flour in one go, then beat with a wooden spoon. Return your pan to a medium heat and continue stirring the mixture to dry it out a further 2 minutes (your dough will form a ball quite quickly, but keep stirring to dry the mixture out). Place your dough into a clean bowl and continue mixing until most of the steam has evaporated and the dough is cool, about 3-4 minutes. Add in your eggs one at a time, giving it a good mix in between additions. Your dough might need a little more or a little less egg depending on how much water remains. You can test the consistency by drawing a line in your batter: if the gap closes after 4-5 seconds you're good to go. If not, add a bit more egg.

Pipe your choux pastry onto parchment paper lined baking trays. Your eclairs should be about 10cm in length and 2cm wide. I use a star shaped piping tip (with a minimum of 8 teeth) to help the pastry expand evenly in the oven without cracking, but piping with a round tip and using a fork dipped in water yields good results too. Bake for 40-45 minutes, quickly opening the oven door after 30 minutes to let some of the steam escape and help your choux dry out (don't do this too early or your eclairs will collapse). Your pastry should be an even golden brown and feel dry to touch.

Prepare your filling by whisking your vanilla ganache until stiff. Stir your pastry cream to smooth it out and fold both creams together. Melt 150g of your dark chocolate over a bain marie. Remove from heat, finely chop the remaining 50g and stir into your melted chocolate. Leave for 10 or so minutes to cool and thicken slightly.

To assemble, poke two holes in the top of each eclair and pipe in your vanilla filling. Dip each eclair into your melted chocolate and allow to cool and set (if you can resist!). These are best eaten the same day but can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.