Chocolate Eclair Cake with Choux Pastry

5 from 2 votes

Chocolate Eclair Cake with Choux Pastry

This Chocolate Eclair Cake is a delicious cake made of crispy Choux Pastry filled with velvety diplomat cream, and fruits, and then topped with chocolate ganache.

Prep Time1

Cook Time30

Total Time1 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French, Mediterranean

Diet: Halal, Low Salt, Vegetarian

Servings: pieces

Calories: 694kcal

Author: Ayla Clulee

Equipment

Ingredients

Choux Pastry

100 g unsalted butter
250 ml water
150 g strong flour
5 g sugar
5 g salt
250 g eggs (4-6 eggs)

Diplomat Cream

650 ml full fat milk (whole milk)
150 g caster sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
30 g corn starch
1 tablespoon flour
4 egg yolks
60 g butter
1 ½ teaspoon gelatin powder
400 ml double cream or whipping cream

Chocolate Ganache

200 g dark chocolate (%50 cacao)
200 ml double cream, whipping cream or heavy cream
1 large banana (sliced)
400 g strawberries (tips removed and cut in halves)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Making the Pastry Cream

Place the milk and salt in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer gently on low heat.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and caster sugar. Add the cornstarch along with the flour and whisk until combined.
Pour about half of the simmering milk over the sugar and egg mixture, whisk well, then transfer it all back onto the saucepan.
Keep whisking until it boils, add the butter and vanilla extract, then whisk for another minute before removing from the heat.
In a small bowl, stir the gelatine powder and a little bit of cold water to dissolve it.
Add it to the pastry creme and whisk well until dissolved and combined.
Transfer the pastry cream to a clean bowl or tray, cover with cling film touching the surface, and place in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.

Making the Choux Pastries

Start preparing choux pastries while the pastry cream is cooling down.
Preheat the oven to 200° C (390° F) fan oven.
Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat and add water.
Bring it to a boil, lower the heat then add the flour, salt, and sugar all at once.
Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the flour is completely incorporated and a thick dough turned into a ball.
Gently cook the dough ball for 1 minute, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Remove from heat and let it cool down for 10 minutes before adding the eggs.
When the dough has cooled down, add the eggs bit by bit, mixing well after each time until the eggs are totally incorporated. You can do that stage with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer.
Stop adding the eggs when you reach the right texture which is shiny, thick, and smooth with a pipeable consistency. You might end up with some left eggs which you can use to eggwash the pastries.
Transfer the dough into a piping bag with a large round nozzle attachment.
Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper. Using a pen, draw a circle size of 25cm (10") Ø on each tray.
Pipe one 23 cm (9") Ø circle and two 5 cm (2") mounds on each tray. You should have 2 flat large and 4 small choux pastries in total.
Cook for 20 mins in a 200° C (390° F) preheated fan oven until golden brown then reduce the heat to 150° C (300° F).
Cook for another 10 minutes then remove the small balls from the oven. Continue cooking the larger circles for another 15 minutes.
Remove the trays from the oven and let the pastries cool down while preparing the diplomat cream.

Making the Diplomat Cream

Once the pastry cream has cooled down, start whipping the cold double cream or whipping cream until you reach stiff peaks.
Whisk the pastry cream to loosen it in a large bowl, then gently fold the whipped cream in 3 or 4 times. Transfer into a piping bag with a large round nozzle.

Preparing the Chocolate Ganache

Chop the chocolate into small pieces using a serrated knife and place in a medium heat-proof bowl.
Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it begins to gently simmer making sure it's not rapidly boiling.
Pour over the chocolate, then let it sit for 2-3 minutes to gently soften the chocolate.
Stir until completely combined and the chocolate has melted with a metal spoon or rubber spatula. The finer the chocolate, the quicker it will melt with the cream.
Start assembling the cake before the chocolate starts to set.

Assembling the Chocolate Eclair Cake

Line your 25 cm (10") Ø springform cake tins side with silicon paper. (It will make it much easier to remove the cake from the tin).
Place one layer of large choux pastry into the cake tin, pipe ½ of the diplomat cream on top spread it, and even out the surface with a spatula or a butter knife.
Place the bananas and strawberries on top of the diplomat cream.
Split open the 4 small choux pastries, dip them in the chocolate ganache then place them on top of the fruits.
Continue this step until you create a layer of chocolate-dipped choux pastries.
On top of the small choux pastries, pour in ⅔ of the chocolate ganache.
Pipe the other ½ of the diplomat cream on top spread it and even out the surface with a spatula or a butter knife.
Place the second large choux pastry on top of the diplomat cream and pour the rest ⅓ of the chocolate ganache on top.
Refrigerate overnight until it sets then remove the ring carefully before serving.

Notes

Line your springform cake tins side with silicon paper before starting to build the cake. It will make it much easier to remove the cake from the tin.
When making the batter for the choux pastry, add the beaten egg a little at a time until the consistency described above is reached. You might not need all the eggs stated in the recipe.
When the pastry cream starts boiling, cook it for another minute before removing it from the heat.
The pastry cream should have cooled down enough to not melt the whipped cream when added, but not cooled so much that it will have completely set. When adding the whipped cream to your pastry cream, add it gradually and fold it gently together until nicely combined.
If you want to make your ganache with milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate, use 280 grams of milk chocolate and 120 ml of cream.
While whipping the cream you have to start on low speed and then gradually increase it. Stop beating the cream when it reaches a pipeable consistency to avoid over-whipping it.
When making the chocolate ganache, don't let the cream boil, let it gently simmer before adding the chocolate pieces.

Nutrition