Chocolate Eclairs/Cream Puffs - Pâte à Choux

An old favorite. :) 

Pastry (pâte à choux) Ingredients:
1 C water
1/2 C butter
1 C flour
4 eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.

Heat water and butter to a rolling boil in saucepan. Stir in flour all at once; stir vigorously over low heat until mixture leaves the pan and forms a ball (about 1 minute). Remove from heat. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat mixture until smooth and velvety.

Drop by spoonfuls (or pipe for more uniform puffs or eclairs) onto ungreased cookie sheet -- in 'balls' for puffs, or form into logs for longer eclairs. Bake until dry; 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool slowly.

Once cool, slice open and scoop out soft centers if needed. Of course, if you have a piping tip -- the long nozzled ones for filling doughnuts & pastry -- and a pastry bag, you wouldn't need to slice them in half. However, both methods are common with professionals. 

For cream puffs, fill with sweetened whipped cream and dust with powdered sugar.

For eclairs, fill with Rich Custard Filling (recipe below) and top with melted chocolate or ganache (thinned with just a little cream).

I like a generous amount of chocolate; but you can drizzle more judiciously if you like.

Craquelin Topping (or Choux au Craquelin)

I usually top my cream puffs or eclairs with a thin icing, or just a dusting of powdered sugar. But a craquelin topping is another option. For a very basic craquelin, equal parts (by weight) butter, brown sugar and flour are combined -- with a pinch of salt; the mixture is rolled thin, chilled, cut to size, rechilled so it's very firm (even frozen) then placed on top of cream puffs just before baking.

It makes the puffs expand much more evenly and uniformly, and gives them a crunch (or 'crack'). Some of the flour can be replaced by cocoa powder, for a chocolate craquelin. I've also seen colored craquelins, though I've never done that myself.

Rich Custard Filling* Ingredients:
1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 C flour
2 C milk
4 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Place egg yolks in a bowl and set aside. Mix sugar, salt and flour in a saucepan. Stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring until it boils. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir 1/2 this mixture into egg yolks and stir until well blended. Add yolk mixture into hot mixture in saucepan. Bring just to boiling point. Cover with Saran wrap gently pressed directly on surface of custard (so custard won't form a skin). Cool. Blend in vanilla.

* As the lower picture shows, the custard is delicious as a dessert pudding on its own, or topped with a bright, mixed berry puree or even fresh fruit...