A giant chocolate eclair filled with delicious custard cream and fresh berries, topped with caramilk chocolate ganache and crumbly flake. An impressive dessert to make over the holiday season.
If I'm completely honest, I haven't had much experience making choux pastry. It always felt a little daunting! However, this recipe for my Giant Chocolate Eclair turned out perfectly! My whole family loved this dessert and given how well it worked, I'll definitely be making it again soon.
Ingredient notes:
- Caramilk: I love the contrast in flavour with the caramilk and milk chocolate flake. But by all means, you can make the ganache with white, milk or dark chocolate if you prefer.
- Strawberries: As with the chocolate, feel free to substitute the strawberries for any of your favourite berries including raspberries or blueberries. Or, leave them out if you prefer.
- Custard cream: If you prefer plain cream, you can leave the custard out.
Your friends and family will be blown away by this epic dessert which is perfect for the festive season. The eclair can easily be made the day before (if stored in an airtight container) and assembled just before serving.
How to make my Jumbo Chocolate Eclair:
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan bake, then line a large baking tray with baking paper. Heat a saucepan over a medium heat then add butter and water, gently bringing to the boil while stirring. Turn off the heat, add the flour and stir quickly with a spatula or wooden spoon until the pastry comes together and there are no lumps of flour left.
Remove the saucepan from the stove, add eggs one at a time stirring well until each is combined. This will need some elbow grease (or you can use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment). Spoon mixture onto the lined baking tray to form a long rectangle about 3 cm from the end of the tray and 10 cm wide, level the top and round the ends.
Place in the oven for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180°C for another 40 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow the giant eclair to cool in the oven, with the door ajar for about 1 hour before transferring to a wire rack.
To make the Caramilk ganache, break up chocolate into a heatproof bowl, pour in 150ml cream and microwave for 90 seconds. Leave warm cream and chocolate to sit for 2 minutes then stir until smooth. Let it cool and thicken up before spreading on top of the eclair. You can put it in the fridge to speed up cooling. Whip cream and once peaks form add the custard and give it a quick mix to combine together.
To serve, split eclair in half horizontally. Cover the base with the custard cream, top with sliced strawberries and fresh raspberries. Cover with the pastry top. Spread over the chocolate ganache, then sprinkle over flake. Refrigerate and serve within 6 hours.
If you're a Caramilk fan, check out my super popular recipes for Caramilk Rocky Road, Caramilk Chunk Cookies, Caramilk Mousse as well as my Caramilk Muffins.
Recipe FAQs:
Yes! The eclair could be made the day before serving and stored in an airtight container. You could also make the chocolate ganache the day before, just heat it a little before spreading it on top of the pastry.
Absolutely. I made the pastry in a saucepan which I found to be a good challenge! But you could use a stand mixer or even a hand beater if you prefer. Just make sure you mix it until it's smooth and glossy as per my picture above.
All ovens are different so yours might not run as hot as mine. If this happens remove and discard any uncooked dough from the centre then fill as normal.
Storage:
Store any leftover eclair covered or in an airtight container in the fridge overnight.
Top tips:
Feel free to make any substitutions you like. I've listed many alternatives in the ingredient notes!
Related Recipes:
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Giant Chocolate Eclair
A giant eclair filled with custard cream and fresh berries, topped with a caramilk ganache and crumbled flake.
Ingredients
- 125g butter
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup plain flour
- 4 eggs (size 7)
Caramilk Ganache
- 150ml caramilk chocolate (or chocolate of your choice)
- 150ml cream
To serve
- 200ml cream, whipped
- 200g readymade custard
- 250g fresh strawberries, sliced
- 125g fresh raspberries
- 1 Flake bar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C fanbake. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
- Heat a saucepan over a medium heat. Add butter and water and gently bring to the boil, stirring.
- Turn off the heat, add flour and stir quickly with a spatula or wooden spoon until the pastry comes together and there are no lumps of flour left.
- Remove the saucepan from the stove, add eggs one at a time stirring well until each is combined. This will need some elbow grease (or you can use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment).
- Spoon mixture onto the lined baking tray to form a long rectangle about 3 cm from the end of the tray and 10 cm wide, level the top and round the ends.
- Place in the oven for 15 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 180°C and cook for another 45 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Turn the oven off and allow the giant eclair to cool in the oven, with the door ajar for about 1 hour before transferring to a wire rack.
- Caramilk ganache: Break up chocolate into a heatproof bowl, pour in 150ml cream and microwave for 90 seconds. Leave warm cream and chocolate to sit for 2 minutes then stir until smooth. Let it cool and thicken up before spreading on top of the eclair. You can put it in the fridge to speed up cooling.
- Whip cream and once peaks form add the custard and give it a quick mix to combine together.
- To serve: Split éclair in half horizontally. Cover the base with the custard cream, top with sliced strawberries and fresh raspberries.
- Cover with the pastry top. Spread with chocolate ganache. Sprinkle over flake. Refrigerate and serve within 6 hours.
Notes
- To prepare ahead: make the eclair the day before and keep in an airtight container. You can also make the ganache the day before and keep it in the fridge, you may have to warm it slightly to make it more spreadable.
- If your eclair is not cooked through when you slice it in half, remove and discard any uncooked dough from the centre then fill as normal. All ovens are different so yours might not run as hot as mine. Cook for slightly longer next time.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 380Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 154mgSodium: 145mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 2gSugar: 9gProtein: 7g
Nutritional values are approximate. Please use your own calculations if you require a special diet.
Thank you for checking out this recipe. I hope you enjoy making and eating it! If you have any questions, queries or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below.
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Vanya
Louise says
Can this be frozen before been filled
VJ cooks says
Yes it could. Allow it to cool completely then wrap tightly in cling film.