Cherry Éclairs
 
Makes 12
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup water
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 recipe Cherry Pastry Cream (recipe follows)
  • 1 recipe Chocolate Glaze (recipe follows)
  • Garnish: edible gold leaf*
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
  2. In a medium saucepan, heat ¾ cup water, butter, sugar, and salt over medium heat until butter melts. Add all flour at once, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. Cook and stir until dough pulls away from sides of pan, 1 to 2 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat, and let stand for 2 minutes, stirring a few times to cool dough. Add eggs, one at a time, beating with a mixer at medium-high speed until dough is smooth and shiny.
  4. Transfer dough to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip*. Pipe dough in 5-inch lengths 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. (Pat dough with damp finger, if needed, for additional shaping.)
  5. Bake for 15 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350°, and bake until puffs are golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes more. (Insides will be dry). Let puffs cool completely. Using the tip of a wooden spoon handle, poke two holes in the bottom of the shell.
  6. Place Cherry Pastry Cream in a separate piping bag with tip cut off, and pipe into holes of shells. Dip tops of filled shells in Chocolate Glaze, and refrigerate until served. Before serving, top with bits of edible gold leaf, if desired.
Notes
*For testing purposes, our test kitchen used Paolo Angeletti Edible Gold Leaves and an Ateco 804 pastry tip.

Note: Éclair shells can be made in advance and frozen (unfilled) in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Let thaw completely before filling. Pastry cream can be made 1 day in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator.
Recipe by Victoria at https://victoriamag.com/cherry-eclairs/