Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Eclairs

I've been looking forward to making this recipe, for sure.  My mother made cream puffs often (but only very, very rarely filled them).  As kids, we were convinced that the plain, unfilled shells were the best snack. We also thought that uncooked pasta straight from the box was really good too.

I don't think I've ever made choux pastries.   When I see them made on Great British Bake Off, the batter always seems more liquid than the dense ball that my mother would make (and I think Dorie was describing in the recipe).  I love the fact that all of the ingredients are simple pantry staples.  I made a full recipe of pastry cream and eclair shells.   Since it was a fairly small amount of batter for the eclairs, I decided to incorporate the eggs by hand.  I thought it looked as Dorie described but my eclairs didn't expand as much as I expected.  Cutting one open, the interior looked good--not dense and with the expected air pockets.  Possibly my piping opening was too small or just my expectations were wrong.  The baked shells were about the size of larger hot dogs.  I'll need to retry soon (using the standup mixer) and see if I get larger shells.

Despite any expectations on size, the glaze, shells and pastry cream were all delicious.  My husband said they were something he'd hope to get in an upscale restaurant and my son the chocoholic enjoyed them too.  I didn't have time to pipe the pastry cream but the tasters didn't mind.  Please forgive the late night photo.  

To see the successes of my fellow Tuesdays with Dorie bakers, see the Tuesdays with Dorie LYL posts for links.  To try this great classic recipe, check out Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple.