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churro eclair
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Churro Eclairs

The classic churro reimagined as an Eclair with Mexican hot chocolate pastry cream and a cinnamon icing.
Course Dessert
Cuisine French, Mexican
Keyword Choux, Fillings, Non-yeasted, Pastry Cream
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 30 minutes
Chilling Time 4 hours
Total Time 6 hours 30 minutes
Servings 12 eclairs

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer
  • Piping bag and 1-½" french star nozzle
  • whisk
  • Fine-mesh strainer
  • baking tray w/ parchment paper

Ingredients

Pastry Cream Ingredients

  • 456 grams Whole milk (1 cup)
  • 1 gram Cayenne pepper powder (1 tsp)
  • 2 grams Kosher Salt (1 tsp)
  • 100 grams granulated sugar (½ cup)
  • 30 grams cornstarch (¼ cup)
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 85 grams Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces (6 tbsp)
  • 60 grams bittersweet chocolate (⅓ cup)
  • 60 grams semisweet chocolate (⅓ cup)
  • 56 grams sour cream (¼ cup)

Pâte à Choux

Icing Ingredients

  • 240 grams Powdered Sugar (2 cups)
  • 3 grams Cinnamon (2 tsp)
  • 1 gram vanilla extract (dash)
  • 2-4 Tbsp Milk

Instructions

Pastry Cream Instructions

  • Place a fine mesh sieve over the top of a large heatproof bowl, preferably metal, you'll see why later.
  • Chop chocolate chips into fine pieces so that it can easily melt into the pastry cream later.
  • Separate the eggs and set aside
  • Combine the milk. cayenne, and salt in a medium, heavy-bottomed sauce pan and over low-medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking occasionally.
  • While the milk is heating up, combine the sugar, egg yolks and cornstarch in a large bowl and whisk to combine, Go overboard and really give your forearms a workout, switching between your left and right hand when one gets tired. The mix will seem too thick initially but will thin out the more you whisk it, around 2 minutes
  • Using a ladle and whisking constantly, add around half of the hot milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture. This tempers the egg yolk mixture so when you add it back to the pan, it doesn't cook the egg yolks.
  • Whisking the hot milk mixture constantly, pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan.
  • Continue to constantly whisk the mixture in the pan and increase heat to medium. Cook for around 3 minutes or until the mixture holds the marks of the whisk and has thickened up to the consistency of pudding. If you stop whisking for a few seconds, the mixture should start bubbling.
  • At this point, remove the pan from the heat and transfer the mixture to the fine mesh sieve you set up earlier. Using the whisk, press the mixture through the sieve, discarding any solids.
  • Whisk the butter into the mixture, one piece at a time until smooth. If the mixture cools too much and the butter isn't melting, place the (hopefully) metal bowl over the stove top on very low heat. Whisk constantly to bring the temperature of the pastry cream up enough to melt the remainder of the butter.
  • Add the chopped chocolate to the pastry cream and whisk until chocolate has melted and the pastry cream is smooth and silk. Taste the pastry cream and add more cayenne if more heat is desired.
  • Transfer the pastry cream to a storage container and place a piece of cling film directly on top of the pastry cream to prevent a film from forming. Place in the fridge until cold, at least 4 hours.
  • Once cold, combine the sour cream with the pastry cream in a large bowl and whisk until smooth.
  • Transfer the pastry cream to pastry bag with a 1/4" round pastry tip.
  • Shake the bag a few times to get any air bubbles out and store in the fridge until ready to use.

Pâte à Choux Instructions

  • Prepare the choux pastry as described in the recipe linked here:
    https://trophyhusbandbakeshop.com/choux-pastry-recipe/
  • Transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a 1-½" french star tip. Shake the bag a few times to get any air bubbles out and twist the bag to close.
  • Place the tip of the piping bag on the parchment paper at a 45 degree angle and without lifting the tip off of the parchment, pipe a 4-5" long log. Twist the tip when you want to stop piping for a clean break. Dip your fingers in water and press the rough edge of the dough back in for a clean end. Repeat for the rest of your eclairs.
  • Dust the tops of your eclairs with a bit of powdered sugar or spray them with a bit of cooking spray like pam.
  • Bake for 25 minutes at 375. After 25 minutes poke a hole in the ends of all of the eclairs, rotate the trays from the bottom to the top racks and bake for another 5 minutes
  • After 5 minutes, turn the oven off and leave the eclairs inside to cool for 15-20 minutes. Prop the oven door open to help them cool slowly. Remove the pastry cream from the fridge so it can start warming up.
  • Remove the eclairs from the oven and using a small paring knife, poke three holes in the bottom of each eclair to allow steam to escape and to help with filling later. Let the eclairs cool completely on the baking trays.
  • Take the bag of pastry cream and insert the tip into the bottom of one of the eclairs and squeeze the bag to fill. The eclairs should be sufficiently filled but not so much that they're bursting. Repeat with the rest of the eclairs.

Icing Instructions

  • Sift the powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl
  • Add the vanilla extract and cinnamon and whisk to combine.
  • Add a few tablespoons of milk and whisk to combine. Add more milk as necessary to get the right consistency for piping.
  • Transfer icing to piping bag and cut 1/4" hole in bottom for piping icing onto eclairs.
  • Pipe icing onto eclairs and serve. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.