Chocolate Eclairs

Freely adapted from recipes in “Bouchon” by Thomas Keller and Food & Wine by Jacques Pepin.

Yield: 12 servings

1 quantity Basic Pâte à Choux recipe, with sugar

2⁄3 cup granulated sugar

3 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup whole milk

2 ounces grated semisweet chocolate

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped, or chocolate chips ½ cup whipping cream

. Position racks in upper and lower thirds of your oven and heat to 375 degrees. Draw 6 well-spaced, straight 6-inch lines on each of 2 pieces of parchment paper, turn the paper over and use to line 2 baking sheets.

Use a pastry bag with a ½-inch tip to pipe out choux dough, holding the bag about ¾ inch above the parchment; follow the lines you drew that should be visible through the parchment paper. If you do not have a pastry bag, use a resealable plastic bag with a ½-inch hole cut in one corner or simply spoon out the dough into straight 6-inch cylinders about ½ inch in diameter.

You can gently straighten any irregularities with your fingers dipped in water.

Place baking sheets in oven and immediately lower temperature to 350 degrees. Bake 40 minutes until eclairs are beginning to brown; rotate trays halfway through. Lower temperature to 325 degrees and bake 20 more minutes until golden brown. Lower temperature to 300 degrees and bake 10 more minutes until the puffs are light and feel hollow. Cool completely on wire racks.

Meanwhile, make the chocolate crème patisserie: Whisk together sugar, yolks and vanilla in a medium bowl for 3 to 4 minutes until mixture is pale yellow; when you lift the whisk, the batter on it should fall back into the batter in the bowl in ribbons and leave a visible impression that lasts a few moments before disappearing. Add flour; whisk until smooth.

Heat milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edge, about 3 minutes. Gradually add milk to egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return mixture to saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, about 3 minutes. Boil mixture, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the 2 ounces of grated chocolate until melted and thoroughly blended.

Transfer mixture to a medium bowl; press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. This mixture can be chilled, covered, for up to 3 days.

Make the chocolate frosting: Place the 4 ounces of chopped chocolate or chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan at least until bubbles form around the edge. Pour over chocolate and let sit 1 minute. Stir mixture until chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is a solid color.

Assemble the éclairs: If you have a pastry bag with a Bismark tip, fill it with the chocolate crème patisserie, insert tip into both ends of each éclair and fill with cream. If you don’t have a Bismark tip, carefully slice each éclair in half horizontally and pipe or spoon chocolate filling on top of the bottom half.

Place the chocolate frosting in a bowl large enough to hold an éclair, and dip the top of each éclair – or the top of the top half, if sliced in half. If sliced, replace that half on top of the other half. If the frosting has become too solid do dip the eclairs, simply stir in 1 or 2 tablespoons of very hot milk. Eclairs can be refrigerated for up to a few hours.

Per serving: 213 calories; 13g fat; 8g saturated fat; 75mg cholesterol; 3g protein; 22g carbohydrate; 20g sugar; 1g fiber; 70mg sodium; 59mg calcium