All eyes will be on this impressive jumbo Chocolate Eclair! Filled with cream & summer berries and topped with lush chocolate
Just in time for Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day isn’t a thing in our household. Well, it kinda has to when I own a recipe blog even though my husband, Tomi, continues to call it a commercial rip-off.
My guy won’t be showering me with love and gifts, and I’m okay with that. I mean, I love flowers, but not if it’s going to cost us $150. Yes, us, because the money will come from our joint account. Hubby often jokes that I should buy myself something nice using our joint account and say it’s from him. I don’t actually mind doing this because at least I’ll buy something that I want!
Romance may be far from our minds now, but I still know how it works. Nothing screams romance louder than whipped cream, chocolate and summer berries! This jumbo Chocolate Eclair has all of this and it’s served beautifully with choux pastry.
This Jumbo Chocolate Eclair may look a little tricky to make, but it’s quite simple to whip up. There are a few steps involved, but I promise you it’s straightforward! Choux pastry sounds fancy, but it’s one of the simpler pastries to make.
I love making this giant version because it always gets a lot of attention. Plus, we spend our Valentine’s day with our family, so they’re plenty of this Chocolate Eclair to share. We had to control ourselves from eating another slice each.
Keeping up with trends is exhausting!
My sister, Nara, who is a social media queen, has been nagging me to do Instagram reels and YouTube videos for my recipes. ‘Yes, will do it when I get a chance!‘ Almost 3 years later, after establishing this blog, I still haven’t posted a video. There’s just something charming about still photos, but I have to get with the times!
After a quick 101 with Nara, I’ve finally completed my first reel! I’m so excited because it feels new. I know, I’m so slow to get on the popular bus.
I may need to buy myself a tripod because I dropped my new phone into the cream mixture whilst filming. Luckily, this was before I whipped the cream, otherwise, I would’ve tried licking it off. That’s probably not a good idea because I heard our phones have more germs than toilet seats!
Bakeries here usually sell their chocolate eclairs with either cream or custard (crème pâtissière) filling. I always have a hard time choosing because I’m greedy and want both. However, my version is cream whipped with icing/powdered sugar and vanilla. Quick, easy and who doesn’t love whipped cream?!
For the chocolate topping, I used baking chocolate with a small amount of oil. The oil doesn’t affect the taste of the chocolate. Some use chocolate ganache, but I prefer hard-set chocolate on mine because that’s how I’ve always had it.
It’s still summer here, so I’ve taken advantage of all the fresh cheap berries and cherries on sale. I know regular chocolate eclairs don’t have fruits. You could omit them, but the berries add freshness and their tartness balances the sweetness of the eclair beautifully.
More romantic dishes that will make your partner love you even more!
Classic Oyster Mornay
Brazilian Caramel Flan
Dutch Baby Pancake
Spicy Squid Ink Pasta with Calamari
Ingredients for Jumbo Chocolate Eclair
Plain flour (All-purpose flour) doesn’t have any leavening (raising agents) such as baking powder mixed in.
Thickened cream (whipping cream) has gelatine added to it and contains 35% milk fat. I don’t recommend using low-fat cream because it may not whip up well and be a little runny. We need to whip the cream to firm peaks so it’ll hold its shape.
Icing sugar (powdered sugar, confectionary sugar) – Icing sugar usually comes in two forms over here: icing sugar mixture and pure icing sugar. Icing sugar mixture is softer and lump-free because there’s starch or flour added to it. For this recipe, I used icing sugar mixture as the cornstarch helps stabilise the cream.
Cooking/baking Chocolate – I used good quality baking milk chocolate as it has a higher percentage of cocoa butter, which makes it easier to melt and work with. However, any regular dark or milk ‘eating’ chocolate would also work.
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How to make Chocolate Eclair
Step-by-step guide with photos
For the choux pastry
Preheat oven to 220°C (430°F) or 200°C (390°F) for fan-forced ovens. Line a large tray with non-stick baking/parchment paper.
Place butter, water, sugar, and salt into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring it to a boil. Add in the flour and stir quickly. Continue to stir until the mixture pulls away from the pan and forms a rough ball. This usually takes between 1 and 2 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, then beat on medium-high speed for 20 seconds. Add the eggs but one at a time, beating for around 30 seconds after each egg. The pastry dough is ready when it runs slowly from the paddle when lifted.
Place some dough underneath each corner of the parchment paper to hold it in place. Transfer the dough to the middle of the tray and shape it into a long loaf shape approximately 35 x 8cm (14 x 3in) in size.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water for the egg wash. Use a pastry brush to brush egg wash over the top and sides of the dough and gently shape it nicely. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200°C (390°F) or 180°C (360°F) for fan-forced ovens. Bake for a further 20 minutes, then turn the tray and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden and puffed up. Transfer the pastry to a cooling rack for 15 minutes. The pastry will deflate, this is normal because of its large size.
For the filling
Use a bread knife to slice the eclair carefully in half lengthwise. Remove and discard any soft uncooked parts inside the pastry, leaving mostly the crispy pastry shell.
Place cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract into a large bowl. Whip the cream until firm peaks or until it’s firm enough to hold its shape.
Pipe or spread the cream on one side of the pastry, then neatly arrange the sliced strawberries and raspberries over the cream.
For the chocolate topping and garnish
Place the chocolate and the oil in a microwave-safe jug (or bowl) and melt it in the microwave. Do this in 40-second bursts, stirring well after each burst until the chocolate has completely melted. Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the eclair and smooth it out with a spatula. Chill in the fridge for half an hour or until the chocolate is almost set but still a little sticky.
Arrange the berries, cherries and edible flowers (all optional) over the chocolate. Once the chocolate sets, it’ll help hold the berries in place. Return the Chocolate Eclair to the fridge and chill for a further 30 minutes or until the chocolate is completely set. Before serving leave the eclair at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes or less if it’s a very humid day.
Leftovers – Transfer the chocolate eclair into a sealed container and store it in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.
I’ve used a third-party application to calculate the calories and nutritional information, so please use this as an approximate guide only.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements. For specific details and conversions, visit our Australian Cooking Measurements page.
I would love your feedback and support if you made this recipe. To do this, please rate this recipe and provide a comment by scrolling down this page or by clicking that green circle on the bottom left. An email address is required (for spam), but it won’t be published. I would also love to see your dish, so don’t forget to tag me on my Instagram account ‘3catsfoodie’
Cheers – Cat T
Chocolate Eclair (Jumbo-sized with berries)
Video
Ingredients
For the choux pastry
- 115 gm unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup plain/all-purpose flour (NOTE 1)
- 4 large eggs
For the egg wash
- 1 egg
- 1½ tsp water
For the filling
- 2 cup thickened/whipping cream (NOTE 2)
- 3 tbsp icing/powdered sugar (NOTE 3)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250 gm strawberries (sliced)
- 125 gm raspberries
Chocolate topping
- 250 gm milk or dark cooking chocolate (chopped into small chunks) (NOTE 4)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola oil)
Optional garnish
- strawberries
- raspberries
- cherries
- dried roses or edible flowers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C (430°F) or 200°C (390°F) for fan-forced ovens. Line a large tray with non-stick baking/parchment paper.For the choux pastry – Place butter, water, sugar, and salt into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring it to a boil. Add in the flour and stir quickly. Continue to stir until the mixture pulls away from the pan and forms a rough ball. This usually takes between 1 and 2 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, then beat on medium-high speed for 20 seconds. Add the eggs but one at a time, beating for around 30 seconds after each egg. The pastry dough is ready when it runs slowly from the paddle when lifted.
- Place some dough underneath each corner of the parchment paper to hold it in place. Transfer the dough to the middle of the tray and shape it into a long loaf shape approximately 35 x 8cm (14 x 3in) in size.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water for the egg wash. Use a pastry brush to brush egg wash over the top and sides of the dough and gently shape it nicely. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200°C (390°F) or 180°C (360°F) for fan-forced ovens. Bake for a further 20 minutes, then turn the tray and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden and puffed up.Transfer the pastry to a cooling rack for 15 minutes. The pastry will deflate, this is normal because of its large size.
- Use a bread knife to slice the eclair carefully in half lengthwise. Remove and discard any soft uncooked parts inside the pastry, leaving mostly the crispy pastry shell.
- For the filling – Place cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract into a large bowl. Whip the cream until firm peaks or until it's firm enough to hold its shape. Pipe or spread the cream on one side of the pastry, then neatly arrange the sliced strawberries and raspberries over the cream.
- Chocolate topping – Place the chocolate and the oil in a microwave-safe jug (or bowl) and melt it in the microwave. Do this in 40-second bursts, stirring well after each burst until the chocolate has completely melted. Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the eclair and smooth it out with a spatula. Chill in the fridge for half an hour or until the chocolate is almost set but still a little sticky.
- Arrange the berries, cherries and edible flowers (all optional) over the chocolate. Once the chocolate sets, it'll help hold the berries in place. Return the Chocolate Eclair to the fridge and chill for a further 30 minutes or until the chocolate is completely set. Before serving leave the eclair at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes or less if it's a very humid day.
