Skip to main content
Dessert

Chocolate Eclairs

Chocolate eclairs filled with cold cream and topped with a chocolate glaze.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Chocolate Eclairs

Ingredients

Directions

Make the eclairs

  1. Make a batter as for Cream Cakes.

  2. Form it into cakes 4 inches long and 1.5 inches wide on a greased baking sheet.

  3. Bake until golden.

  4. Let cool.

  5. Make an opening in one side of each eclair.

Make the cream

  1. To make the cream, dissolve chocolate in boiling water over a double boiler.

  2. Gradually add milk and heat until scalding.

  3. Beat the egg in a bowl.

  4. Mix in sugar and corn-starch.

  5. Stir in the scalding milk.

  6. Return to the double boiler, stirring until thickened.

  7. Add a pinch of salt and vanilla.

  8. Fill with cold cream.

Make the topping and finish

  1. For the chocolate topping, melt sweetened chocolate with boiling water over low heat.

  2. Mix in sugar.

  3. Add water if needed for a smooth consistency.

  4. Cover the top of each eclair with the chocolate mixture using a knife.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,943 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Milk + corntop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg thickens the cream as it heats, giving it body and a set texture.
Corn-starch
Starch swells when heated with the milk, thickening the cream so it holds its shape.
Milk
Milk forms the liquid base of the cream, adding richness and softness.
Chocolate
Melted chocolate gives the cream and topping their flavor and deep color.
Sugar
Sugar sweetens the cream and topping and helps give the topping a smooth gloss.

The step that matters

Return to the double boiler, stirring until thickened. Corn-starch needs to be heated and stirred so the granules swell and set the cream. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while overheating can scorch the milk or curdle the egg.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Chocolate CreamChocolate Cream171 recipesVanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesCorn CakeCorn Cake90 recipesCorn Starch CakeCorn Starch Cake89 recipes