The Science Behind Making Perfect Homemade Eclairs

Hi Bold Bakers! This week we have another guest host for you. His name is Benjamin the Baker. He is best known for his amazing baking videos on TikTok where he has over 500,000 followers. Ben is a math teacher here in Southern California and definitely takes a really scientific approach to his baking. We asked him to break down choux pastry for us today because it can be kind of tricky. It's a really fascinating video, check it out. Thank you so much Gemma. I'm so excited to host this episode of Bigger Bolder Baking. Today we'll be looking at a recipe for chocolate eclairs. We'll start by breaking down the pate a choux recipe using ratios so that you can easily remember it and scale it up or down for however many you want to make. We'll also look at the importance of precision when adding the eggs to make sure that you get the puff you want. From there we'll make a silky smooth vanilla pastry cream and finish it off with a chocolate ganache. Let's go! Instead of working with set amounts for this recipe, we are going to work with the ratio of ingredients. This pate a choux follows the ratios 2-1-1-2, or 2 parts water, 1 part butter, 1 part flour, and 2 parts egg. All of these will be measured by the weight of the ingredients, though I've also included the cup measurements for the written recipe on BiggerBolderBaking.com. So that we don't waste any egg, I will start by measuring their weight. A typical large size egg weighs 50 grams, but is always good to check. Today I'll be using 4 eggs. The beauty of working with ratios is that you can easily determine the recipe if you only want to use 1 egg, or if you want to use 10. The weight of the eggs is the same as the weight of water, and the weights of butter and flour are just half that amount. For example, here we will use 200 grams of water, 100 grams of butter, 100 grams of flour, and 200 grams of egg. To start, we'll heat the water, butter, and a pinch of salt to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, we'll turn off the heat and add the flour all at once. Stir quickly and continuously until there is no more dry flour. Then, it's back on the heat to make sure that we have fully gelatinized the starch in the flour. This method of pre-cooking the pastry is what allows the eclairs to puff and leave a hollow center. You'll want to mix continuously until a film develops on the bottom of the pot. When it does, transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and allow it to cool before you add the eggs. Add the eggs a little at a time and wait until they are fully incorporated before adding more. As you get to the end of the eggs, check the consistency of the dough by lifting up the paddle or a spatula. The dough should fall slowly and leave a V shape. If it falls off in a clump, add more eggs. If it slides right off the paddle, then you've added too much. To show the importance of the consistency of the dough, I have baked a side-by-side comparison of adding too much, too little, and just enough eggs. Notice how the one with the correct amount of eggs puffed up the most and left a hollow interior, whereas the other two struggled to rise. This is because they were either too dense or too loose. Then, fill a piping bag and use a plastic scraper to push the dough down to the bottom of the bag. Classically, a French star tip is used for this so that the grooves in the eclair help for an even rise. To help keep your eclairs even, draw evenly spaced lines on the underside of your parchment paper, allowing enough room for the eclairs to double in size. Bake in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes, and then turn the oven down to 325 and bake another 10 to 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown and feel hollow on the inside. While they bake, let's make the pastry cream and chocolate ganache. For the pastry cream, heat milk, sugar, and salt with a seasoned pod from one vanilla bean. In a separate bowl, combine egg yolks, a second amount of sugar, and cornstarch. Whisk to combine. Once the milk comes to just below a boil, slowly add some of the hot milk to the egg yolk mixture. To help the bowl stay in place, I like to use a wet paper towel underneath the bowl. Once you have added about half the milk, add the yolk mixture into the pot and return to the heat. Remove the vanilla bean and stir continuously until the cream thickens. Once it starts to bubble, stir for an additional 2 minutes before removing from the heat, passing through a sieve, and adding butter. Push plastic wrap right up against the cream so that it doesn't form a skin, and refrigerate until ready to use. For the chocolate ganache, heat cream and a pinch of salt to a boil. Add an equal weight of chopped chocolate to a bowl, and once the cream is hot, pour it directly over the chocolate. Let sit for a minute, and then whisk until homogenous. Ganache is another great example of where ratios can be helpful in baking. This is a classic 1 to 1 chocolate ganache, meaning equal weights of chocolate and cream. Increase the ratio to 2 to 1 chocolate to cream for a pipeable ganache, or double the amount of cream so that the ratio is 1 to 2 chocolate to cream for a ganache that can be chilled and then whipped for a light and fluffy filling. When the eclairs come out of the oven, poke 2 small holes in the bottom to allow for steam to release. Once cool, fill with pastry cream, and dip into the chocolate ganache. When done right, the shell should be crisp, and if you cut one open, the center should be filled completely with cream. My absolute favorite. You can find the full recipe for these chocolate eclairs at BiggerBolderBaking.com. If you like this side of baking from a mathematical and experimental perspective, you can find more of my videos on Instagram and TikTok, at BenjaminTheBaker. Thanks so much for watching, happy baking!