Growing up, I’ve always been fascinated by eclairs for how light and fluffy the choux pastry shell and how generous each shell is filled with cream! Of course, they come with various flavours with the classic vanilla and chocolate. There were more adventurous flavours too such as Coffee, Mont Blanc, Matcha, and the list goes on! Today, I decided to make these Coffee Eclairs that really speak to me.

Firstly, each eclair comes with a generous serving of bittersweet coffee and vanilla infused chantilly cream. Then, they’re topped with a light coating of dark chocolate ganache (also made with French cream) and a finishing of roasted macademia nuts.

When it comes to making eclairs like these Coffee Eclairs, my best piece of advice would be to do your research and prep work first! If you’re sharp in viewing the recipe video guide, you may have spotted that there are two differently sized coffee eclairs. This was because I experimented with different recipe proportions, the larger being the first recipe. I found the larger one to be more airy and easier to pipe, and I wished I did my research for this. Nonetheless, I hope my experience experimenting with these do help you out a little should you contemplate between the different eclair size.

Additionally, do think about what cream you would like to use! While I have decided to use coffee, you can so easily switch it up for some thing else such as Matcha as mentioned earlier in the post. Furthermore, another point of consideration will also be what flavouring agent to use. In my case, I used both coffee emulco and liquer for both colour and flavour. Deciding so also meant knowing when to add these flavouring agents (e.g. after I got soft peaks for the whipping cream).

Finally, enjoy the process! You will be surprised that these Coffee Eclairs are relatively easy to make. Furthermore, they will be tasty even if they’re slightly out of shape. Make sure to trust the process and do not open the oven door along the way or the Eclairs will deflate!

Without further ado, the recipe.

Coffee Eclairs Recipe
by Javier Tan December-17-2023

A lightly crisp shell filled with copius coffee cream and a chocolate glaze, these coffee eclairs are truly a culinary dream!

Ingredients

Eclair Shells (Choux Pastry):

  • 1/2 Cup or 100g of All-Purpose / Plain Flour
  • 1 Tbspn or 15g of Granulated Sugar
  • 1/3 Cup or 75g of Unsalted Butter, Melted
  • 1/4 Tsp Table Salt
  • 1/2 Cup or 120ml of Water
  • 3 Tbspns or 45ml of Milk
  • 4 Eggs, approx 55g each incl. weigh of shell

Topping (Chocolate Ganache):

  • 1/3 Cup or 80ml of Whipping Cream (I used French cream)
  • Approx 1/3 Cup or 80g of Dark Chocolate

Filling (Coffee Chantilly Cream):

  • 2/3 Cup or 160ml of Whipping Cream (I used French Cream)
  • Small tsp of Vanilla Beans
  • 2 Tsps of Coffee Liquor (Optional)
  • 1 Tsp of Coffee Emulco / Flavouring

Instructions

Eclair Shells (Choux Pastry):

  1. In a small saucepan, combine the unsalted butter, salt, sugar, milk and water. Using medium-high heat, boil the mixture while stirring to ensure the butter is fully melted.
  2. Remove the saucepan from the heat and mix in the flour using a spoon. You will form a ball of pastry that does not stick to the sides of the pan and is lightly shiny.
  3. Leave the pastry out to cool for about 5 – 10 mins or until lukewarm to touch. I used a fan to accelerate the process.
  4. Beat the 4 eggs and mix them in in two batches, ensuring that each batch is well-incorporated and paste-like.
  5. Transfer to a piping bag. Alternatively, use two spoons to portion the pastry.
  6. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees C and line your trays with parchment paper.
  7. In the meanwhile, pipe the choux pastry with your desired eclair size (mine was about 12cm).
  8. Bake at 200 degrees C for 10 minutes. At the 10 minute mark, reduce the temperature to 180 degrees C and continue baking for about 25 – 30 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Do not open the oven door midway!
  9. Once done, remove and let cool for 3 minutes before using a piping tip to poke three holes for each choux pastry and let the shell cool fully until it is lukewarm to touch.

Coffee Filling, Chocolate Ganache and Assembly:

  1. In the last 10 minutes, you can prepare your filling by whipping the cream until soft peaks and to add in your flavouring agents (e.g. coffee emulco, coffee liquor). Then, whip to stiff peaks thereafter.
  2. Transfer the cream to a piping bag and fill each choux pastry with coffee chantilly cream.
  3. Prepare the chocolate ganache by melting the chocolate into the whipping cream using a double boiler method, and use it as a coating.
  4. Top off with chopped roasted nuts, serve and enjoy!

Details

  • Prep time: 40 mins
  • Cook time: 40 mins
  • Total time: 1 hour 20 mins
  • Yield: 12 Delectable Coffee Eclairs

Notes:

  1. If you would like to be updated for more recipes which I strive to create to perfection for sharing and for free, do check out my Instagram, Facebook Page, or YouTube 🙂 Thank you so much for all of your support! Feel free to tag me or link back here!
  2. Serve fresh at room temperature (on the day itself) or in a fridge (up to a week).
  3. If storing the choux pastry without filling, place them after they have fully cooled in an airtight container in the fridge. They might lose their crisp after a couple of days.
  4. Please do not copy and paste the recipe without my permission, but feel free to link back here!

Enjoy!
– Bakeomaniac, Javier Tan