Caramel Eclair Recipe with Caramel Eclair Glaze - Dessert for Two (2024)

Prep Time30 minutes

Cook Time25 minutes

Total Time55 minutes

Ingredients

For the pastry cream:

• ¾ cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• pinch of salt
• 2 large egg yolks
• ½ teaspoon vanilla

For the eclairs:

• ⅓ cup water
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• ⅓ cup flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 12-ounce jar of pre-made salted caramel sauce
• fresh raspberries, for garnish
• large-flake sea salt, for garnish

Instructions

1. First, make the pastry cream: In a small saucepan, warm the heavy cream until the tiniest of bubbles appear on the edge of the pan--do not boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the egg yolks, and whisk. It will be crumbly at first, but just keep whisking hard.
3. Slowly pour the warm cream into the egg yolk mixture, a tablespoon or so at a time. Continue to whisk as you pour.
4. Next, pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan over medium heat. Stir it constantly while it comes to a simmer. Once simmering, it will begin to thicken. Once large bubbles pop on the surface, continue to cook for a few more seconds while stirring, then remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla.
5. Scrape the pastry cream into a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface, then chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
6. Next, make the eclairs: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with a silicone mat or parchment paper. If you want the eclairs to all be the same size, trace six 4-inch lines evenly on the paper as a guide.
7. In a small saucepan, stir together the water and butter over low heat. Let the butter gently melt without bringing the water to a rolling boil for too long.
8. Remove the water-butter mixture from heat, and add the flour, sugar and salt mixture all at once. Stir, stir, stir.
9. Put the pan back on the burner that's been turned off and stir until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. In other words, the dough will stick together in one big clump around the spoon and not the edges of the pan. It happens in about 1 minute. This is the part where you may have to leave your burner on low if you're cooking with gas or electric burners. If using a glass cook-top, leave it off entirely for this step.
10. Scrape the dough into a mixing bowl, and beat on low speed with an electric mixture until the mixture is only warm to the touch (about 1-2 minutes). Add the egg and continue beating. Beat for a few minutes, until the dough falls off the beaters in sheets and is pale yellow.
11. Scrape the mixture into a piping bag (or use two spoons).
12. Pipe out 6 eclairs about 4-inches long each.
13. Bake the eclairs for 10 minutes, then open the oven door for 5 seconds, lower the heat to 350, and close the door. Continue to bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Do not be afraid of brownness--if you under-bake, the insides do not dry out. See photo for reference.
14. When the eclairs are done baking, turn the oven off, and remove the sheet from the oven. Using a thin knife, poke a hole in the side of each eclair. You will eventually cut all the way through the eclair to fill it with the pastry cream, but for now, just cut a slit so steam can escape. Return the pan to the turned-off oven, and let cool for 30 minutes with the oven door ajar.
15. Next, slice the eclairs in half, and fill with the chilled pastry cream.
16. Before serving the eclairs, warm the store-bought caramel sauce in a small bowl.
17. Dunk each eclair in salted caramel before serving with raspberries and salt for garnish.