CHOCOLATE

ÉCLAIR

Copyright©2021 International Culinary Academy KICA, All rights reserved. Photo credit: Nataliya Khoroshaeva
 2

Copyright©2021 International Culinary Academy KICA, All rights reserved. Photo credit: Nataliya Khoroshaeva
 CHOCOLATE ÉCLAIR
for 15-20 éclairs 13 cm long

NEUTRAL GEL (NAPPAGE)

Ingredients Total weight: ~ 180 g 100%

Water 88 g 44%
Sugar 1 74 g 37%
Sugar 2 12 g 6%
Pectin NH 4g 2%
Glucose syrup 22 g 11%
Citric acid powder 0.2 g <1%

1 Pour the water into the saucepan, add there the glucose syrup and sugar 1.

2 Heat the mixture to 30 °C / 86 °F.

3 Mix sugar 2 and pectin NH.

4 Introduce the combination of pectin and sugar 2 into the saucepan with water and glucose and
sugar 1.

5 Bring everything to a boil.

6 Then add citric acid powder.

7 Continue cooking for about 3 minutes.

8 Strain the gel into a clean container and refrigerate.

9 Leave the neutral gel to stabilise in the fridge at 4 °C / 39 °F for at least 6 hours.

10 Heat the gel to 60-70 °C / 140-158 °F before use. Dilute the gel with some water if needed.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

Ingredients Total weight: ~ 608 g 100%

Water 73 g 12%
Condensed milk 75 g 12%
Sugar 75 g 12%
Glucose syrup 95 g 16%
Dark chocolate Callebaut 70% 120 g 20%
Cocoa butter 20 g 3%
Neutral gel 150 g 25%

1 Pour the water, sugar and glucose syrup into the saucepan and bring everything to a boil.
Continue cooking the syrup up to 104 °C / 219 °F to make it thicker. Put the mixture off the heat
and let it cool a little bit.

2 Put dark chocolate, cocoa butter, condensed milk and neutral gel in the measuring cup.
3

Copyright©2021 International Culinary Academy KICA, All rights reserved. Photo credit: Nataliya Khoroshaeva
 CHOCOLATE ÉCLAIR
for 15-20 éclairs 13 cm long

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

3 Pour hot syrup onto the ingredients contained in the measuring cup and then process the glaze
with a hand blender until a smooth, glossy and stable emulsion is formed.

4 Transfer the glaze into a clean container, cover with cling film touching the surface and let it
stabilize in the fridge for at least 6 hours, preferably for about 12 hours.

5 Heat the glaze slightly and mix with a hand blender before use.

CHOCOLATE CHOUX PASTE

MAKING THE CHOUX PASTE

Ingredients
for 15-20 éclairs 13 cm long Total weight: ~ 750 g 100%

Water 125 g 17%

Milk 125 g 17%
Sea salt 4g <1%
Sugar 4g <1%
Inverted sugar 2g <1%
Butter 82% 100 g 13%
All-purpose flour 125 g 17%
Cocoa powder 15 g 2%
Whole eggs 250 g 33%

1 Prepare the eggs and the butter: process the room temperature eggs with a hand blender until
smooth and cut the butter into small pieces.

2 Put salt, sugar and inverted sugar in a saucepan. Inverted sugar prevents the formation of ice
crystals in the choux paste and keeps its texture tender and moist for a longer time. If you are not
going to freeze the choux paste, you can skip this ingredient.

3 Put the saucepan with the butter, water and milk over low heat, stirring occasionally the mass
with a whisk.

4 When the butter melts completely, increase the heat and bring the liquid to a strong boil.

5 Remove the mixture from heat, add the flour and cocoa powder sifted together and stir
thoroughly with the whisk until smooth.

6 To make sure that all the starch has swelled, place the choux paste back on the stove and heat it
for two minutes over low heat, stirring actively with a silicone spatula.

7 Transfer the choux paste to the mixer bowl and start mixing it with a paddle attachment, cooling
it down to 55-60 °C / 131-140 °F.

Copyright©2021 International Culinary Academy KICA, All rights reserved. Photo credit: Nataliya Khoroshaeva
 CHOCOLATE ÉCLAIR
for 15-20 éclairs 13 cm long

MAKING THE CHOUX PASTE

8 When the choux paste has reached the required temperature, gradually, in small portions, start
to add in the eggs, continuing to mix the choux paste at low speed. The texture of the finished
choux paste is checked visually, that’s why you might need a little less egg mixture than is
mentioned in the recipe. The choux paste should be smooth, homogeneous, glossy, and fall off
the paddle as a ribbon. If you have used all the eggs and the right texture is still not achieved, you
can add warm milk, but such cases are extremely rare to happen.

9 Cover the finished choux paste with cling film and leave it to rest at 30 °C / 86 °F for an hour.
When leaving the paste to rest, make sure the temperature doesn’t come lower than
27 °C / 81 °F. Stick to the most balanced temperature - 30-32 °C / 86-90 °F.

PIPING THE ÉCLAIRS

Ingredients

Chocolate choux paste

Cooking oil spray
Icing sugar

1 Fill a pastry bag with an Open French Star tip d=16 mm with chough paste 2/3 full.

2 Pipe the 12.5-13 cm long éclairs (~35 g each) at a distance of 1-1.5 cm over a Teflon-coated
baking sheet or a perforated silicone mat. To get perfectly even éclairs, do not move your hands
while piping, but move your body back.

3 After piping, apply a thin layer of cooking oil spray. Then use a sieve to slightly sift some icing
sugar on the surface of éclairs. A thin layer of icing sugar protects the éclair from bursting.

4 Put the finished éclairs in the freezer until they freeze completely. Éclairs can be stored frozen for
up to two weeks. After freezing, just put them into an airtight container to protect them from

BAKING THE ÉCLAIRS

Ingredients

Piped frozen éclairs

1 Preheat the oven to 280 °C / 536 °F and then turn it off.

2 Transfer the frozen éclairs to a perforated silicone mat, keeping a distance of approximately
4-5 cm between them.

3 Place the éclairs in the turned-off oven for 20-25 minutes. During this time, they should rise,
acquire the maximum volume and begin to brown slightly. Then turn on the heat at 150 °C / 302 °F
and bake the éclairs for 20-25 minutes more.
5

Copyright©2021 International Culinary Academy KICA, All rights reserved. Photo credit: Nataliya Khoroshaeva
 CHOCOLATE ÉCLAIR
for 15-20 éclairs 13 cm long

BAKING THE ÉCLAIRS

4 Finished éclairs should have a uniform golden brown color and a rather hard surface. When
pressed, it will crunch slightly, but the inside of the éclair will remain soft and moist. After baking,
transfer the éclairs to the wire rack, so they cool down faster. In 30 minutes they are ready to be
used.
TIP
When baking éclairs in advance, let the baked éclairs cool down completely and then freeze them. Frozen, they can be
stored in the fridge for about two weeks. Once you need some, put the frozen éclairs in the oven at 150 °C / 302 °F
for 3-4 minutes.

CRUNCHY LAYER

Ingredients Total weight: ~ 146 g 100%

Milk chocolate 20 g 14%

Cacao Barry Ghana 40%
Praline 60 g 41%
Sea salt 0.5 g <1%
Royaltine (wafer crumb) 50 g 34%
Cocoa bean nibs 15 g 10%

1 Put the praline into a bowl. Incorporate the sea salt and milk chocolate melted to 40 °C / 104 °F.

2 Add the wafer crumbs and, for a more pronounced chocolate touch, add cocoa bean nibs.
This ingredient is not obligatory and can be safely replaced by chopped dark chocolate. Gently
combine all ingredients.

3 Use a 16 x 16 cm frame and an offset spatula to arrange the obtained mass to get a 0,5 cm thick
layer.

4 When the layer is formed, remove the frame and put the layer into the freezer until it completely
sets.

5 The frozen crunchy layer needs to be prepared for assembling. For this, transfer it on the cutting
board to cut strips 8 cm long and 1 cm wide. The size can be modified depending on the
measurements of your baked éclairs.

6 Once the strips of a crunchy layer are cut, put them back into the freezer to stabilize and keep like
that until assembly.

Copyright©2021 International Culinary Academy KICA, All rights reserved. Photo credit: Nataliya Khoroshaeva
 CHOCOLATE ÉCLAIR
for 15-20 éclairs 13 cm long

CHOCOLATE CUSTARD

Ingredients Total weight: ~ 709 g 100%

Sugar 45 g 6%
Cornstarch 30 g 4%
Egg yolks 30 g 4%
Whole eggs 38 g 5%
Milk 340 g 48%
Sea salt 1.5 g <1%
Dark chocolate Callebaut 80% 53 g 7%
Dark chocolate 142 g 20%
Cacao Barry Fleur de Cao 70%
Butter 82% 30 g 4%

1 In a saucepan, warm up the milk to 80 °C / 176 °F or bring it to a boil stirring occasionally.

2 In a bowl, mix the sugar and the cornstarch. Then pour the egg yolks and whole eggs and mix
them with a whisk thoroughly until combined. Be mindful to do this just a few moments before
cooking the custard. The sugar and the starch tend to absorb liquid from the eggs very actively
which soon forms a thin film on the surface of the mixture that will remain in the custard
undissolved.

3 When the milk boils, put it off the heat and gradually pour it into the mixture of yolk, eggs, sugar
and starch, stirring constantly.

4 Put the saucepan back on the stove over medium heat and, whisking constantly, let the custard
thicken by bringing it up to 75-80 °C / 167-176 °F. Then bring it to a boil and continue cooking for
1-2 minutes and immediately remove it from the heat.

5 Add both types of chocolate into the hot mixture and mix with a whisk vigorously so that the hot
custard melts the chocolate. Then add the butter at room temperature (18-20 °C / 64-68 °F) and
mix with a hand blender.

6 To cool down the custard as fast as possible, transfer it to a clean, wide container and cover it
with cling film touching the surface. Put it in the freezer or fridge for 15-20 minutes until it cools
down completely reaching 4 °C / 39 °F.

7 When the custard has cooled, it is ready to be used. Keep the custard in the fridge for no more
than 48 hours.

Copyright©2021 International Culinary Academy KICA, All rights reserved. Photo credit: Nataliya Khoroshaeva
 CHOCOLATE ÉCLAIR
for 15-20 éclairs 13 cm long

ASSEMBLING THE ÉCLAIRS

Ingredients

Baked éclairs
Chocolate custard
Frozen crunchy strips

1 When the éclairs have cooled down, prepare them for filling. To do this, cut an 8 cm long and
1 cm wide strip from the bottom of each éclair. Keep the removed pieces of baked choux paste.

2 When the chocolate custard has cooled, its texture is slightly jellified. To make it softer, put it in
the mixer bowl and mix with a whisk attachment at medium speed until smooth. The same can
be made manually with a hand whisk. Take a pastry bag with a round tip d=7 mm and fill 2/3 of it
with the custard.

3 Fill the éclair with custard through the removed piece from the bottom by guiding the tip from
one extremity to the other leaving some space for the crunchy layer.

4 Insert the strip of a crunchy layer inside each éclair and press slightly. Use the removed pieces
of baked choux paste to seal the bottom.

5 Put the éclairs in the fridge to stabilize for a couple of minutes.

GLAZING THE ÉCLAIRS

Ingredients

Filled cooled éclairs

Chocolate glaze

1 Heat the chocolate glaze to 30 °C / 86 °F. Firstly, fill the cornet with some glaze. The rest of the
glaze is to be processed with a hand blender avoiding sending the air bubbles until uniform.

2 Coat the cooled éclairs with the glaze heated to 30 °C / 86 °F by dipping 1/3 of each éclair into
the glaze. Carefully remove excess glaze by running your finger over the surface of the éclair.

Copyright©2021 International Culinary Academy KICA, All rights reserved. Photo credit: Nataliya Khoroshaeva
 CHOCOLATE ÉCLAIR
for 15-20 éclairs 13 cm long

DECORATING THE ÉCLAIRS

Ingredients

Glazed éclairs
Red cocoa powder
Chocolate glaze
Gold leaf

1 Use a ruler to get a neat line of cocoa powder sifted on 1/3 of the glaze.

2 Draw a thin line of chocolate glaze so that it separates the glossy glazed side of the éclair and the
one dusted with cocoa powder. Then decorate the éclair with a piece of gold leaf.

3 Before tasting, cool the éclairs down to 8-10 °C / 46-50 °F.

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Copyright©2021 International Culinary Academy KICA, All rights reserved. Photo credit: Nataliya Khoroshaeva