Chocolate Eclairs à la Haworth Bakery, Great Harwood

Name: Chocolate Eclairs à la Haworth Bakery, Great Harwood
Total time: 3600 s
Yield: 12 small eclairs
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: For the choux pastry:; 65 g plain flour, sifted; pinch salt; 50 g unsalted butter, diced, plus extra for greasing; 2 free-range eggs, beaten; For the filling:; 200 ml whipping or double cream; 5 tsp icing sugar, sifted; 1 tsp vanilla extract; For the icing:; 100 g Cadbury Dairy Milk, chopped

Laura @FeelBetter

Milton Keynes, England

Eclairs À l'anglaise is a French phrase meaning ‘in the English manner’, style or ‘fashion’.

Typically an eclair, a classic French pillowy, crisp choux (pronounced shoe in English), pastry parcel is filled with a rich pastry cream (crème pâtissière) and topped with a glossy chocolate ganache or icing. The pastry is prepared in a unique way in a pan over heat, then piped onto a baking sheet and baked.

In the UK, we often fill the choux with freshly whipped cream with a hint of vanilla or sometimes chocolate custard or diplomat cream and instead of icing, my Aunty Peg who used to make these day in, day out in my grandparents’ bakery used to dip them in my favourite chocolate, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk for a delicious crunch. That’s when the chocolate bars were made with a glass and a half of milk and not made by Mondelez.

The goal is a contrast between the crispy shell, the creamy, soft interior coated in a chocolate snap. Once you’ve made these, you’ll never buy them again! #February2027

Eclairs À l'anglaise is a French phrase meaning ‘in the English manner’, style or ‘fashion’.

The goal is a contrast between the crispy shell, the creamy, soft interior coated in a chocolate snap. Once you’ve made these, you’ll never buy them again! #February2027

Laura @FeelBetter

Milton Keynes, England

Eclairs À l'anglaise is a French phrase meaning ‘in the English manner’, style or ‘fashion’.

The goal is a contrast between the crispy shell, the creamy, soft interior coated in a chocolate snap. Once you’ve made these, you’ll never buy them again! #February2027

Eclairs À l'anglaise is a French phrase meaning ‘in the English manner’, style or ‘fashion’.

The goal is a contrast between the crispy shell, the creamy, soft interior coated in a chocolate snap. Once you’ve made these, you’ll never buy them again! #February2027

Saved

Ingredients

45 - 60 minutes

12 small eclairs

For the choux pastry:
65 gplain flour, sifted
pinchsalt
50 gunsalted butter, diced, plus extra for greasing
2free-range eggs, beaten
For the filling:
200 mlwhipping or double cream
5 tspicing sugar, sifted
1 tspvanilla extract
For the icing:
100 gCadbury Dairy Milk, chopped

Saved

Steps

45 - 60 minutes

1

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C fan. Generously grease a baking tray with butter. Sift the flour.
Put 120ml water into a pan. Add the salt and butter and heat gently until the butter has completely melted. Quickly bring the mixture to the boil and tip in all the sifted flour in one go. Remove the pan from the heat and beat furiously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together to make a smooth heavy dough.
2

Put the pan back on a low heat and beat the dough for about a minute to slightly cook the dough – it should come away from the sides of the pan to make a smooth, glossy ball. Tip the dough into a large mixing bowl and leave to cool until tepid.
3

Beat the eggs in a bowl until combined, then gradually beat them into the dough with a mixer, beating well after each addition. Note: you may not need all the egg. The dough should be very shiny and paste-like, and fall from a spoon when lightly shaken.
4

Spoon the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a 1.25cm plain nozzle and pipe 12 x 10cm lengths onto the greased baking tray.
Sprinkle the tray, not the pastry, with a few drops of water, and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then, without opening the door, reduce the oven temperature to 150 degrees C fan and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden-brown and crisp.
5

Remove the tray from the oven and carefully make a small hole in the side of each éclair to allow steam to escape. Return to the oven and bake for a further five minutes, or until the pastry is completely crisp. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
6

Filling: whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl until just stiff.
Once the éclairs have cooled, cut down the length of one side of each éclair and pipe in the whipped cream.
7

Melt the chocolate over a bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water (do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water) or in the microwave on a low setting and allow it to cool slightly. Dip the tops of the éclairs in the chocolate and let the chocolate set before serving.