Dark Chocolate Eclairs

1. Place the water, milk, butter, sugar and the salt into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Once boiling, remove the saucepan from the heat, add the sifted flour and mix until obtaining a smooth preparation. We commonly call this preparation with no eggs, a Panade.
3. Place back on the heat and continue cooking to dry the mixture until a dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
4. Place into the tabletop mixer and mix for one minute to release the steam.
5. Once all the steam has been released, gradually incorporate the eggs into the preparation while mixing. It is important that the eggs have a temperature of around 30°C (86°F). If the eggs are too cold, they might freeze the preparation. It is possible that the whole quantity of eggs is not needed.
6. This depends on how much eggs are needed to obtain the end result: a preparation that is bouncy and soft and holding soft peaks.
7. Once the right texture has been obtained, transfer the preparation into a piping bag with a star tip and pipe 50 cm (20”) long strips of pâte à choux on a metal tray lined with a silicone mat.
8. Brush coconut oil over the pâte à choux strips so that the pâte à choux remains smooth, even after baking.
9. Place into the freezer until solid enough to be cut.
10. Remove from the freezer and transfer onto parchment paper.
11. Cut the extremities of the dough and then cut strips of 12 cm (4.72”). This step is important to insure perfectly even éclairs.
12. Transfer again onto a silicone mat and let completely defrost.
13. Heat the oven to 250°C (482°F). Once at 250°C (482°F), place the pâte à choux into the oven and let it cook for 18 minutes.
14. Turn the heat to 170°C (338°F) and bake for around 15 minutes until the pâte à choux is golden.
15. Remove from the oven and let the pâte à choux cool down before garnishing the éclairs.

1. Bring the cream and the milk to a boil.
2. In the meantime, using a whisk, mix the egg yolks and the sugar together until the sugar is fully incorporated.
3. Once boiling, remove from the heat and pour the preparation onto the egg mixture.
4. Mix and transfer back into the saucepan.
5. Heat to 85°C (185°F).
6. Once at 85°C (185°F), pour the preparation onto the chocolate. Wait a minute to allow heat transfer and emulsify with an immersion blender.
7. Cover with plastic film and place in the refrigerator for around 12 hours.

1. Bring the water, the sugar and the glucose to the boil.
2. In the meantime, in a tall recipient, combine the sweetened condensed milk, the gelatin and the chocolate.
3. Once the water, sugar and glucose are boiling, pour over the chocolate preparation and blend with an immersion blender to emulsify. Make sure to place the immersion blender well into the bottom of the recipient to avoid any air bubbles. You can add red coloring to intensify the black color of the glaze.
4. Finally, cover with plastic film and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours or until it has re-crystallized.

Use a 3 mm (0.18”) piping tip to make three holes in the bottom of the éclairs.
Transfer the crémeux into a piping bag, cut a small tip off, and pipe into the holes that were just created. Make sure to completely fill the éclairs.
Heat the glaze to 25°C (77°F) in the microwave and stir again to make sure it is completely homogeneous.
Dip the tops of the éclairs into the glaze and right after, sprinkle some Chocrocks^TM that was previously mixed with gold powder onto the glaze.