Aunt Kathys Chocolate Eclair Ring Recipes

CHOCOLATE ECLAIR TORTE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring water and butter to a boil. Add flour all at once and stir until smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny., Line a large baking sheet with waxed paper. Draw a 10-in. circle on the waxed paper. Grease the paper. Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls just inside the circle outline. , Bake at 400° for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack. Immediately prick with a fork and cool completely. Cut off top third of puffs. Pull out and discard soft dough from inside., For filling, in a large bowl, whisk milk, pudding mixes and vanilla for 2 minutes; let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in whipped topping. Place bottom ring of cream puffs on a serving platter. Spoon filling inside. Top with top ring. Refrigerate., For icing, in a microwave, melt chocolate and butter with milk; stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add confectioners' sugar and stir until smooth. Cool for 5 minutes. Drizzle over top of cake. Serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers.

ECLAIR RING

Steps:

• 1. PREP: Preheat Oven to 400F Find a 7" plate and put top side down on greased and floured baking sheet. Trace the edge of the plate. Lift the plate and mark 12 spots (Like a clock) inside the ring
• 2. The Pastry Ring: Bring Water, butter and salt to a boil.Pour in all the flour all at once mixing to incorporate until it pulls away from the sides and forms a ball. Remove from heat and cool slightly.Add each egg one at a time beating each with a wooden spoon until dough is very smooth. Don't try to add them all at once or the batter will flow instead of holding it's shape Drop by tbs onto the marks INSIDE the ring until you have 12 mounds touching each other. Bake at 400F for 45 minutes. Do Not Open the door. Turn oven off and let sit for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool well. Slice horizontally with a bread knife.
• 3. Filling: Combine pudding, milk, heavy cream and vanilla and beat until it gets thick and holds it's shape. Spread on the bottom half of the ring. Replace the top half.
• 4. Chocolate Drizzle Frosting: Melt and combine the chocolate,karo syrup,butter, milk and vanilla until it's thin enough to drizzle. I put in the fridge for at least an hour and sometimes 2 in the freezer if I make them the day before.

CLASSIC CHOCOLATE ÉCLAIRS

Steps:

• Prepare the custard: Stir together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and kosher salt in a medium saucepan until smooth. Whisk in the milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream. Add the vanilla bean and seeds and the butter and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large heatproof bowl.
• Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and making sure to get the edges, until the mixture begins to thicken, 2 to 4 minutes. (It's helpful to have both a spatula and a whisk handy while making the custard. Switch between the two.) Let it come up to a very slow boil and cook for 1 minute more. Strain the custard through the sieve into the bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 1/2 hours.
• Prepare the puffs: Bring the butter, sugar, salt and 3/4 cup/175 milliliters water to a simmer over medium heat in a medium saucepan, stirring with a wooden spoon. As soon as it comes to a boil, add the flour, stirring constantly, until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring the dough occasionally.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Add the eggs to the dough in the pan, one at a time, stirring vigorously between each addition with a wooden spoon. The dough will break apart and slide around in the pot before it comes back together. Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large round or star tip. (The author used Ateco #826.)
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Pipe the dough into 4 1/2-inch-by-3/4-inch lengths about 3 inches apart. With a damp fingertip, flatten any points. Bake until éclairs are deep golden brown and puffed, rotating the sheets halfway through, 22 to 25 minutes. They should be very light and crisp. Turn the oven off. Poke each éclair on either end with a toothpick to allow some steam to release. Return the puffs to the oven and prop the door open a crack with a wooden spoon. Allow the puffs to dry out in the oven, about 15 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Prepare the glaze: Bring the heavy cream and salt to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate and corn syrup. Let the mixture stand for 1 minute and then whisk to make a smooth sauce.
• To finish the custard, whip the remaining 1/4 cup heavy cream to soft peaks. Whisk the cooled custard to loosen it, then fold in the whipped cream. Transfer the custard to a pastry bag fitted with a fluted tip. Slice the top third off each éclair and fill the bases of the éclairs with custard. Dip the tops of the éclairs in the glaze and set them on top of the custard-filled bases. Serve immediately.

EASY CHOCOLATE ECLAIR " RING SHAPED " DESSERT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• On a cookie sheet grease and flour a circle
• approx 7 inches.
• In a sauce pan, over high heat mix Water and Butter until boiling. Turn burner to Low and add Flour and Salt. Mix fast with a wooden spoon until dough leaves the sides of the pan.
• Transfer dough to a large bowl and mix with an electric beaters at Medium speed. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat until dough is smooth and slimy.
• Drop tablespoons of dough onto the cookie sheet to form a circle with an open center. Bake for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes turn oven off and leave in the oven for an additional 20 minutes.
• Put on a wire rack to cool. Once cool carefully cut in half (like a cream puff).
• For the Filling, mix BOTH packages Instant French Vanilla pudding with the 2 1/2 cups milk. Mix with an electric beater on Low for 1 - 2 minutes. Once pudding has set up, add Cool Whip and Almond Extract and fold in slowly until incorporated.
• Take the top of the "ring" off and set to the side. Spread the filling evenly on the bottom "ring". Once you have distributed all the filling evenly across the bottom "ring" replace the top of the "ring".
• For the frosting, make the Chocolate Fudge Frosting Mix as directed on the package and spread on the top of the ring. Let Frosting set up until ready to serve.

CHOCOLATE ECLAIR RING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In medium sauce pan, bring water and butter to a boil.
• Remove from heat and add flour and salt. Stir until it forms a ball.
• Add eggs, one at a time, and BEAT THOROUGHLY AFTER EACH ONE with a hand mixer. (The ring may not puff up if not thoroughly mixed.).
• Drop mixture by spoonfuls into a ring-shape on a greased cookie sheet.
• Bake 45 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
• While ring is baking, beat pudding mix, cream, and milk until thick.
• When ring is cool, cut in half horizontally.
• Spread pudding mixture on bottom half and replace top.
• Spread chocolate frosting on top. (It may be easier to spread if softened in the microwave for a few seconds.).
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.

CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS

Steps:

• Start by making the custard filling. Heat the milk until almost boiling in a saucepan. Meanwhile, mix together the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a bowl, then stir in the flours, a couple of tsp at a time, to a smooth paste.
• Gradually whisk in the hot milk, pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over a high heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 mins until thick - it will go alarmingly lumpy but don't worry, just keep stirring it vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth
• Lay a sheet of cling film directly on the custard surface, then cool and chill until you're ready to fill the buns.
• To make the choux buns, heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Sift the flour with the sugar and a pinch of salt into a small bowl. Put the milk and butter into a medium saucepan with 125ml water and gently heat so the butter melts but the liquid doesn't bubble.
• Once the butter has completely melted, increase the heat until the liquid comes to a fast rolling boil. Immediately turn off the heat, tip in the sifted flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until you a have a smooth dough that comes away from the sides of the pan. Spread over a large dinner plate to cool to hand temperature.
• Allow to cool for a few minutes, then gradually add the eggs, mixing well between each addition until the mixture reluctantly drops off the spoon. Don't add all the egg unless you need to.
• Cut two large sheets of baking parchment. On each one draw two sets of 'track' lines with a 10cm gap - these will be your guidelines so your eclairs will all be roughly the same size. Use the paper to line two large baking sheets - penside down.
• Spoon your choux mixture into a piping bag with a 1cm star or round wide nozzle, or into a disposable piping bag with a similar-size hole snipped off for piping. Pipe two rows of well-spaced, squashed 'S' shapes on each sheet between the guidelines. Bake, one tray at a time, on a high-ish shelf for 25 mins, reducing temperature to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 as soon as they go in the oven.
• After 25 mins, poke a hole in the end of each bun, or using a small serrated knife, split down the middle and return to the oven, upside-down, to dry out for 5 mins until crisp and golden. Set aside to cool.
• While the buns are cooling, finish your filling. Whisk the cream until thick, then use your electric whisk to beat the cooled, set custard until just smooth again. Fold in the cream. Spoon your filling into a piping bag - use a small nozzle if you're filling the buns through the holes you've pierced, or a large nozzle if you've split the buns in half. Carefully pipe the custard into each cooled bun - they should feel heavy once full.
• To make the icing, melt 100g plain chocolate and 25g butter together in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Once melted, remove from the heat and stir in 75ml double cream and 1 tbsp sifted icing sugar. Once cooled a little, spread over the tops of the buns and leave to cool.

ECLAIR RING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• The Ring: Bring to a rolling boil 1st 3 ingredients, add flour.
• Stir until absorbed and it pull away from sides of pan.
• Remove from heat. Add one egg at a time, mixing well each time.
• Drop by TBSP onto a well greased pizza pan forming a ring.
• Turn oven down to 400 degrees and bake 30 minutes.
• Shutoff oven and leave 20 more minutes.
• DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR.
• Cool well and slice in half to make 2 rings.
• The Filling: Beat all and spread of bottom half of ring.
• Place the top ring on.
• The Frosting: Melt first 3 ingredients.
• Add powdered sugar and vanilla.
• Frosting should be loose enough to drizzle over ring.
• If not, add more milk.
• Refrigerate overnight.