Makes 10
Ingredients
- Black Pâte à Choux
- 1 1⁄4 cup water
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons black cocoa powder
- 4-5 large eggs
- 1 egg, for egg wash
Purple Pastry Cream
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 cup cornstarch
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons ube extract
Directions
Pâte à Choux
Preheat oven to 400°F with convection heat (425°F if
using flat heat) and line a baking sheet with parchment
paper.
To make the choux paste, combine the milk (or water),
butter, and salt in a saucepan and place over medium
heat until butter melts and the mixture comes to a full
boil.
Add the flour and black cocoa all at once, stirring until
the mixture has formed a smooth paste.
Place back on heat and cook, stirring constantly, until a
fond (layer coating the bottom of the pan) appears,
about 3 - 5 minutes.
Transfer the paste to a stand mixer fitted with the
paddle attachment. Turn on low speed for 1 minute to
cool the choux paste.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix on medium speed,
incorporating each one completely.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding each
of the other eggs. When all of the eggs have been
added, the mixture will be thick, smooth, and shiny.
Use a piping bag fitted with a star tip to pipe the eclairs,
about 4 inches long. Apply a thin layer of egg wash
Bake in the oven for 20-25. Do not open the oven door
for the first 20 minutes or it could cause them to
collapse. Once fully baked, turn the oven off and leave
the tray in the oven with the door ajar to slowly cool
(Cooling too fast can also cause them to deflate).
Pastry Cream
In a medium-sized saucepan heat the milk, ube paste
and half the sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium
heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch and remaining sugar,
salt and egg yolks. The mixture will be stiff.
Working with about a cup at a time, slowly whisk the hot
milk mixture with the egg yolks to temper them. Do this
with about half of the milk, or until the bottom of the
bowl feels warm. This keeps the yolks from turning to
scrambled eggs when you add them to the simmering
milk.
Pour the egg/milk mixture back into the remaining
simmering milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a
whisk, until the mixture thickens and boils in the center
of the saucepan and is the consistency of thick pudding.
Be sure to constantly whisk all parts of the bottom of the
pan so the mixture doesn’t burn. This should be really
thick - keep cooking until it looks like thick pudding.
Remove from the heat. Transfer to shallow pans and
cover with a piece of plastic wrap (make sure it touches
the top of the pastry cream so it doesn't develop a skin),
and place in the refrigerator.
Once cool, transfer to a piping bag fitted with a circle tip.
Assembly
Once eclairs are cooled to room temperature and pastry
cream is chilled, begin filling the eclairs.
Use a paring knife to poke a small hole at the end of the
eclair. Squeeze pastry cream into the hole until no more
can be added - you want the eclairs to be really full!
We're creeping it real with these spooky good treats~
