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Crisp and airy choux pastry éclairs filled with smooth chocolate pastry cream, topped with festive red, white, and blue white chocolate coatings and edible fondant stars, perfect for Fourth of July celebrations.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup water
  • unsalted butter (amount not specified)
  • flour (amount not specified)
  • salt (amount not specified)
  • large, room-temperature eggs (quantity not specified)
  • whole milk (amount not specified)
  • sugar (amount not specified)
  • cornstarch (amount not specified)
  • egg yolks (quantity not specified)
  • semisweet chocolate (chopped, amount not specified)
  • vanilla extract (amount not specified)
  • white candy melts (amount not specified)
  • gel food coloring (red and blue)
  • edible fondant stars
  • dark chocolate, melted (optional amount)

Instructions

  1. Melt butter, water, and salt together in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
  2. Add all the flour at once and stir vigorously until the dough forms one tight ball and pulls away from the pan.
  3. Transfer the hot dough to a mixing bowl and beat in large room-temperature eggs one at a time until the dough is thick enough to fall off a spoon in a thick ribbon.
  4. Fit a piping bag with a plain round tip and pipe 5-inch lines of choux dough onto parchment paper, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.
  5. Bake the piped éclairs at 400°F until evenly deep golden brown, checking around 18 minutes; usually about 20 minutes total.
  6. Cool the baked shells in the oven with the door cracked open for 10–15 minutes, then remove to a rack to finish cooling.
  7. Heat whole milk until steaming but not boiling.
  8. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and egg yolks until smooth.
  9. Temper the eggs by slowly whisking hot milk into the egg-yolk mixture, then return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and smooth.
  10. Remove the pastry cream from heat and stir in chopped semisweet chocolate, butter, and vanilla until velvety.
  11. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin and chill until cold.
  12. Poke small holes at each end of every cooled éclair shell.
  13. Fit a piping bag with a small plain tip and pipe chocolate pastry cream into each éclair from both ends slowly until you feel pushback.
  14. Melt white candy melts or white chocolate and divide into three bowls; tint one bowl red, one blue, and leave one white, using gel food coloring and stirring gently.
  15. Melt candy melts or white chocolate in short microwave bursts (15–20 seconds), stirring between bursts to avoid overheating.
  16. Optionally dip the tops of éclairs in melted dark chocolate and let set before decorating.
  17. Dip each éclair top in the blue coating, then pipe red and white stripes over the rest of the top.
  18. Sprinkle edible fondant stars onto the blue section while the coating is still wet so they adhere.

Notes

Do not open the oven door too soon to avoid collapsed éclairs., Add eggs to the dough one at a time and beat well for proper texture and rise., Fill éclairs slowly from both ends to prevent splitting shells., Use gel food coloring with white chocolate or candy melts to avoid thinning and texture issues., Fill éclairs right before serving to keep shells crisp for about six hours., Unfilled shells can be stored airtight at room temperature up to 1 day or frozen; pastry cream can be made up to 48 hours ahead and covered well; fill on serving day., If thawing unfilled shells, warm in oven at 325°F for 3–5 minutes to refresh; do not warm filled éclairs., Semisweet chocolate with 50–60% cocoa is best balance for filling; bittersweet makes firmer filling; milk chocolate is sweeter and softer., Many ingredient swaps and flavor twists are possible but may affect texture and crispness, so best to fill and decorate on serving day for best results.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://margorecipes.com/patriotic-eclairs-that-steal-the-show-a-bakers-guide-for-fourth-of-july-desserts/