Lover's Double Chocolate Eclairs + Video

It's 10.06 am and I am sitting here trying to conjure up something to say about these scrummy Double Chocolate Eclairs. I've been awake since 3.45am - because kids! I'm munching on my second breakfast (Toast with avocado and ham) because HANGRY and I'm on my third cup of tea already. I'm wearing sweaty workout pants from my 5.30am workout and have my flannelette jammie top on because it's a little crisp this morning. My hair is in dire need of a wash not to mention a haircut and colour; it's scraped up into a bun and not looking all that hip - because hey I'm a busy mum with kids! The oldest child is at daycare and the youngest is having a grand time pulling all the Tupperware out of the cupboard and drawing on the tiles with a pencil. I'll have to clean that up later *sigh*.

Love, love, love that's what this post is meant to be all about. It's Valentine's day and that is the day when most people pull out the romance card for their wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, fiance or partner. Ooey gooey things are spoken, proclamations of love are professed and many a smooch is shared. I find love to be different in my 10th  year of marriage than in my first. The first years are still a little gooey, and smoochy and as the saying goes it's the "honeymoon period". By the time you get closer to double digits the gooeyness might have faded a little but there is a certain steadfastness, strength and silent comfort in the love shared.  

This past month has been very tough for the family. We've run the course of health scares with Little Miss and dealing with the unexpected death of my brother-in-law. Through these hard moments, I found it has made us stronger as a couple with the difficult moments being like mortar between the bricks of our marriage, bringing us together and making it stronger.

Eclairs are one of my hubby's favourite treats and I knew I wanted to spoil him and make a Lover's Double Chocolate Eclair just for him. The process of making them does taking a little bit so give yourself a couple of hours to put them all together. I would recommend making the choux pastry hearts and dark chocolate creme`patisserie the day before and assembling the day you want to serve them. These little treats are not overly rich and sit just nicely alongside a cup of coffee. Talking about coffee you so could add a dash into the creme`patisserie for a touch of coffee flavour or if you want to be a bit naughty add a dash or rum or bourbon. If you can't find any love heart sprinkles just add some chocolate ones or whatever you can find at the supermarket.

 Oh, you can't forget the sprinkling of rose petals to serve these with. Kidding!!! I'm super excited to share my first video with you today. I've been learning how to make my own video tutorials over the past month and I have been slowly putting them up on my

YouTube channel

. Please go over and check it out and subscribe! I will be forever grateful and I might even deliver you one of these Double Chocolate Eclairs as a thankyou. The recipe is a tutorial on the process of making these eclairs and the full recipe will be below that. Love to hear some feedback about my tutorials in the comments section below. In the mean time Happy Valentine's everyone, I hope you have a very special day - don't forget to spoil your loved one with a Lover's Double Chocolate Eclair! :-)

Lover's Double Chocolate Eclair

Prep Time:

1 hour + Chilling

Cook Time:

15-25 Minutes

Makes:

 approx 10 heart eclairs

Ingredient:

Choux Pastry

• 60g butter, unsalted
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup plain flour

Dark Chocolate Creme`Patisserie

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 75g castor sugar
• 45g cornflour
• 100g 70% dark chocolate
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Dark Chocolate Topping

• 20g butter, unsalted
• 120g 70% dark chocolate, broken into pieces

To Garnish

• Love heart sprinkles

Instructions:

Choux Pastry

1. In a medium sized saucepan add the water, milk and butter. Place over medium heat to melt the butter and bring the milk mixture to a boil. Remove from heat.
2. Add the plain flour to the milk mixture and stir together until the mixture comes away from the edge of the saucepan and forms a firm dough. Place the pan over a medium heat and cook the mixture for 3-4 minutes. This will help cook out the flour and develop the gluten.
3. Remove the dough from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.
4. Once cooled, add the eggs, one at a time, stirring them in after each addition.
5. Once all the eggs have been added vigorously mix the dough together to emulsify the egg into the dough until you form a sticky mixture.
6. Place a large Ziploc bag inside a large cup and fold the edges over the side of the cup. Gently scrape the choux pastry into the bag, remove any air and clip up the top. Set aside to cool.
7. Preheat an oven to 180C (Fan bake) and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
8. Snip the corner of the Ziploc bag with scissors and carefully pipe love heart shapes with the dough mixture onto the baking tray. Leave a 3-4cm gap between each heart. Repeat until all the mixture is used.
9. Place the tray in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown.
10. Remove from the oven and place the love heart pastries onto a cooling rack.

Dark Chocolate Creme`Patisserie

1. In a medium sized saucepan add the milk and place over high heat to bring to the boil.
2. In a medium sized bowl place the egg yolks, vanilla and sugar and whisk until light and creamy.
3. Add the cornflour and whisk until smooth.
4. Gently pour in some of the warm milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine so no lumps form. Add the rest of the milk and whisk to combine. Add the milk and egg mixture back to the pan and add the dark chocolate.
5. Place over medium heat and whisk constantly until a thick custard is formed.
6. Remove from the heat and scrape the custard into a bowl and cover with cling film.
7. Place in the fridge to chill for about 2 hours. Once chilled place into a large Ziploc bag and set aside in the refrigerator until required.

Dark Chocolate Topping

1. Add the butter and chocolate to a microwave proof bowl. Place in the microwave for 30-40 second increments until the chocolate and butter has melted and is smooth and silky.
2. Cut the love heart pastries in half and dip the top half into the chocolate mixture. Let the chocolate drain off for a second before transferring to a lined tray.
3. Sprinkle the top with the love heart sprinkles. Repeat with the remaining halves.
4. Place in the fridge for the chocolate to set.

Assemble

1. Remove the chilled tops of the heart pastries and set aside for later use.
2. Grab the bottom half of the choux pastries and gently pipe the dark chocolate creme`patisserie mixture over the base. Arrange it on a platter and place the matching top half on top. Repeat with the remaining bases.
3. Serve the eclairs immediately or place back in the fridge until ready to serve.
4. Enjoy.

Cooks Notes

• The cooked choux pastry can be made a day ahead and kept in an airtight container in the cupboard.
• The dark chocolate creme`patisserie can be done a day ahead and kept in the Ziploc bag in the fridge.

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