Chocolate Eclairs

Method

1 Melt the butter with the water and caster sugar in a heavy-based pan over a low heat.

2 Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to the boil. Turn off the heat and immediately tip in all the flour.

3 Beat thoroughly with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a smooth ball in the centre of the pan.

4 Tip into a bowl and cool a little - 5-10min is enough. Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan oven) gas mark 6. Gradually whisk in the eggs a little at a time until the mixture is shiny.

5 Sprinkle cold water all over a non-stick baking sheet. Spoon the mixture into a large plastic sandwich bag. Seal the top then snip off one corner of the bag. Pipe 10-12 fingers of the mixture, around 8cm long, spaced well apart.

6 Bake in the oven for 20-25min until golden. Remove from the oven, turn over each one and use a small sharp knife to cut a small hole in each finger. Replace on the baking sheet with the hole facing up. Continue to bake for 5-10min to dry the pastry out completely.

7 Cool on a wire rack. When completely cold, fill with the whipped cream and spoon over a little chocolate topping over each. Allow the chocolate to set then serve immediately.

 

WANT TO KNIT THIS CAKE?

This recipe is part of our fun 'Make it, bake it' feature, which gives you the wonderful options of both cooking and knitting our cakes. Both the recipes and the knitting patterns are free - click here to discover 'Make it, bake it'.