Eclair Cake

Elena Butuc

This Eclair Cake recipe is just brilliant - it's actually a huge Eclair cake with less work than with the classic eclairs. Whenever you feel like eating some eclairs, you can make everybody happy and with less effort.

On the other hand, no one says no to an Eclair cake at an event and it's the simplicity which makes it charming. The airy and tender pastry, together with the classic vanilla cream will always stand out. I like to keep it as simple as possible and I wouldn't recommend anything else than powdered sugar for decor, maybe only some fruit on top.

The Eclair cake is easy to make, you only need to be organized, in the Video you can find the detailed process but, if you don't have patience to watch it all, the steps with pictures below will help you.

show all description

Ingredients

Metric US

●

Milk

700 ml

600ml for the filling and 100ml for the pastry

●

Butter

280 g

200g for the filling (softened, at room temperature!) and 80g for the pastry

●

Sugar

150 g

●

Salt

0.5 tsp

●

White flour

140 g

●

Corn starch

60 g

can be replaced with the same amount of flour, but I still suggest using cornstarch

●

Vanilla Extract

1 tsp

●

Egg

6 pieces

2 eggs for the filling and 4 eggs for the pastry

●

Powdered sugar

1 tbsp

for decor

●

Water

100 ml

Step by step

Step 1

1. The filling

We will start with the filling because it needs time to cool - by the time we'll have prepared the dough, the cream will be ready as well.

So, in a bowl, mix together 150g sugar and 60g starch.

Step 2

Then add 2 eggs, vanilla extract and 200ml milk, beat well with a whisk, making sure there will be no lumps.

Step 3

Place 400ml milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over heat.

When it comes to a boil, carefully pour in the mixture we prepared before and whisk constantly.

Step 4

Cook over heat, mixing all the time - it will soon become dense and lumps might form easily if you don't pay attention.

So, when it starts to get thicker, stir vigorously until smooth, then remove from heat.

Step 5

Transfer to a bowl to cool down quicker and definitely cover it with some plastic bag or plastic wrap. This prevents from forming a thin skin on top while cooling.

Step 6

2. The Eclair Cakes

Now we are going to make 2 eclair cakes - for this, mix 100ml milk, 100ml water, 80g butter and 0.5 tsp salt in a saucepan, place over heat and bring to a boil.

Step 7

Then add in the flour and beat quickly with a whisk - you'll get a dense and thick dough.

Let chill on the table for 5-10 minutes.

Step 8

Now add 4 eggs one by one.

First add 1 egg, whisk to incorporate, then add the next one, whisk and so on.

Step 9

After the 4th egg, the batter resembles a thick sour cream in consistency.

Step 10

Transfer half of this batter into a pan lined with parchment paper, smooth out.

My pan is 28cm in diameter and I recommend using a cake pan with removable sides.

Step 11

Bake in the preheated oven to 200 degrees C for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

While baking, the batter will rise, when cool, it will get smaller - anyway, it will not look smooth and uniform but it's only normal, it's eclair cake.