Éclair with Chocolate Cream and Chocolate Icing (French Éclair Fauchon)

Fauchon, synonymous with gourmet food and luxury is also one of the places where you can eat the best eclairs in Paris. Chocolate éclair recipe adapted from their official website is broken down into three segments: the icing, the pastry, and the cream. This recipe calls for powdered instead of regular milk in the dough. The chocolate cream is loaded with high-quality 67% chocolate, and the chocolate icing is fortified with gelatin to prevent it from melting and to add shine. To finish, a golden leaf is placed on top of each éclair for a special touch of luxury.

Chocolate Icing:
water (40 g)
caster sugar (100 g)
cocoa powder (35 g)
cream (70 g)
gelatin (4 g)

Choux Pastry:
flour (45 g)
1 pinch sea salt
2 pinches sugar
butter (35 g)
1 whole egg (80 g)
water (80 g)
milk powder (7 g)

Chocolate Cream:
dark chocolate, 67% cocoa (100 g)
gelatin sheet (2 g)
caster sugar (10 g)
liquid cream (120 g)
milk (190 g)
2 egg yolks (40 g)

Make the Chocolate Icing:
Add the gelatin in a small bowl of water and leave to bloom. In the meantime, prepare a simple syrup. When the water and sugar boil, remove from heat, add the cocoa powder, and mix well. Boil the cream, remove from heat, add the gelatin, and mix until melted. Add the gelatin mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Let cool in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

For the Choux Pastry:
Boil the water with butter, sugar, and salt. Add the powdered milk and bring to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously for 6 minutes over a low heat. Remove from heat and keep stirring it until the dough has cooled off a bit and then, add the eggs, one at the time, mixing after each addition until fully incorporated. Transfer the dough into a piping bag, and pipe on a buttered tray pipe into a éclair shape. Bake in a preheated oven at 165°C for 45 minutes.

Prepare the Chocolate Cream:
Start by soaking the gelatin in cold water for at least 20 minutes. Chop up the chocolate into small pieces and whisk the eggs together with sugar. Boil the milk and cream and slowly pour over the egg and sugar mixture. Cook the mixture over a very low heat while constantly stirring with a wooden spoon, until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Do not allow the mixture to boil. When done, remove from heat and add the prepared gelatin, stirring constantly until dissolved. The cream should be completely smooth and if necessary, run it through a sieve. Pour the prepared cream over chopped chocolate and mix to combine. Cool the chocolate cream in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

To Assemble:
Poke a hole at the base of each éclair and fill with the chocolate cream using a piping bag. Let them cool in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Take out the prepared chocolate icing and soften it in a microwave for 30 minutes. Glaze the top of the eclairs with the chocolate icing. Carefully add the gold leaf on top of each éclair.

Keep the prepared éclairs in the fridge and take out a few minutes before serving.

Makes 8 servings.