Pierre Herm s Chocolate clairs Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herm (makes 20-24 clairs) Choux Pastry

1/2 cup (125g) whole milk 1/2 cup (125g) water 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour 5 large eggs, at room temperature Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking s heets with waxed or parchment paper. In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and sa lt to the boil. Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2 -3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smo oth. Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough w ill separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will co me back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon. The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the clairs as dire cted above. Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately. You can pip e the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely froz en, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month. Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm c ream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pip e 20-24 clairs. Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back. Bake for 5 - 10 more minutes, or until the shells are golden brown and crisp. The clairs can be k ept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling. Chocolate Pastry Cream 2 cups (500g) whole milk 4 large egg yolks 6 tbsp (75g) sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted 2 1/2 tbsp (1 oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolk s, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonful s of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Tempering the eggs raises the temperatu re of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mi xture. Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scramb led. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until th e mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (s till over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat. Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice-water bath to sto p the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth. Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice-water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the i ce-water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completel y cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge. The pastry cream can be made 2 - 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator. In order to a void a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto th e cream. Chocolate Glaze (makes 1 cup or 300g) 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream 3 1/2 oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and s lowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula. Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sa uce. If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it brie fly in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bow l sitting over (not touching) simmering water. It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fr idge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze . Chocolate Sauce (makes 1 1/2 cups or 525 g) 4 1/2 oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 1 cup (250 g) water 1/2 cup (125 g) crme frache, or heavy cream 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar Place all the ingredients into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, ma

king sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens. It may take 10 - 15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon. You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two w eeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using. This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts. Assembling the clairs: Slice the clairs horizontally, lengthwise only on one side (do not cut all the wa y through), using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Pipe the pastry cream into the clairs. The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 104 degrees F or 35 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over th e tops of the clairs using a metal icing spatula. Or if your chocolate glaze is t hin enough, dip the tops of the eclairs in the glaze and let the excess drip off then set aside to dry. and allow the tops to set. If you have chilled your choc olate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water, stirring it ge ntly with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to creat e bubbles. The clairs should be served as soon as they have been filled