Bite Me: Chocolate Eclair

Ingredients

Yield:

12 Eclairs

• éclair

  • 175 g all-purpose flour
  • 33 g sugar
  • 240 g water
  • 120 g butter
  • 205 g salt
  • 250 g eggs

• espresso gel

  • 90 g sugar
  • 1.75 g agar agar
  • 200 g fresh espresso

• chocolate cookie

  • 259 g all-purpose flour
  • 87 g cocoa powder
  • 1.6 g baking soda
  • 227 g butter
  • 6 g salt
  • 161 g sugar

• pâte mousse

  • 184 g butter
  • 212 g chocolate
  • 85 g sugar
  • 92 g egg
  • 133 g egg yolk
  • 35.5 g cocoa powder
  • 248 g whipped cream

• fondant glaze

  • 1 cup fondant
  • hot espresso

Preparation

Difficulty:

Difficult

Time:

 

Total Time:

 

1. éclair

   1. mix water and butter together over heat, bringing to a boil. gently mix in salt and all-purpose flour. Put ingredients into a mixer and slowly add the eff. cover and chill in the fridge overnight.
   2. after chilled, pipe on silpat with french star tip in a line approximately 5 inches long. bake at 375°F about 20 minutes or until golden brown. turn down the oven to 300°F and bake for another 15 minutes more.

2. espresso gel

   1. in a pot, bring espresso to a boil. add sugar an agar agar together, and then mix into the espresso. let it boil for 3 minutes. pour into a plastic wrap lined baking dish, letting it sit in the fridge overnight.
   2. after chilled, cut the chilled espresso gel into small squares or rectangles.

3. chocolate cookie

   1. put butter and sugar into the mixer. while gently mixing, add in the salt. stop mixing and scrape the sides of the bowl, and add the all-purpose flour and cocoa powder. mix again.
   2. roll out thinly between two pieces of parchment paper. sprinkle with cocoa nibs and bake in the oven at 325°F for 10-12 minutes. cool and crumble.

4. pâte mousse

   1. over heat in a pot, melt butter. add in chocolate and gently stir until melted. set aside.
   2. in a new pot, add water and sugar and bring it up to 240°F.
   3. in a mixer, add egg yolk and gently mix. while mixing, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the whipping eggs. whip until cool and fluffy.
   4. add cocoa powder then the butter/chocolate mixture. mix again.
   5. add in whipped cream and gently stir by hand. put in a piping bag.

5. fondant glaze

   1. in a large dish, add small amounts of hot espresso to the fondant and thoroughly mix until it is thinned and reaches a rich creamy colour.

6. building the éclair

   1. dip the cooled éclair into the fondant glaze and let the glaze dry.
   2. slice the éclair in half gently to ensure you don’t crack the glaze.
   3. pipe the pâte mousse in small dabs in two rows along the éclair.
   4. along the centre, put in the chocolate cookie crumble.
   5. place the top of the éclair back on top and place espresso gel pieces along top.
   6. garnish with a piece of edible 24k gold leaf.

7. optional garnish

   1. spread a very thin and even layer of temperate chocolate across a small sheet of acetate. wait until chocolate has just set enough to not be sticky to touch. measure 5” long by 1.5” wide strips. then going back, cut out a 4” by 0.5” rectangle out of the center of each bar, measuring and cutting quickly to avoid having the chocolate set completely while working. flip the acetate sheet over onto a piece of parchment on a perfectly flat surface and carefully weigh down with a flat object, such as a