Ingredients
- 50g butter
- 60g plain flour, sifted
- pinch of salt
- 2 large free-range eggs
- 100ml double cream, lightly whipped
for the chocolate icing
- 200g icing sugar
- 25g cocoa powder
you will need
- disposable piping bag; 1 baking sheet, oiled
Method
Heat the oven to 200C, gas 6. To make the eclairs, bring the butter and 150ml water to the boil in a pan. Now add the flour and salt and beat well using a wooden spoon. Once the mixture starts to come away from the sides, remove from the heat and leave to cool for 2 minutes.
Now gradually whisk in the eggs until the mixture is smooth. Transfer this to a piping bag and snip off the end, leaving a 2cm hole across. Pipe lengths of 7.5cm on to the prepared baking sheet, then bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and, using a skewer, make a hole end to end, lengthways. Place back in the oven for 3 minutes, then set aside to cool.
To make the icing, place the icing sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl, add 1tbsp boiling water, stir, then add tiny drops of water until you have a shiny, quite thick icing. It needs to be just enough to dip and cover the eclair.
To assemble, split the eclairs and fill with the cream. Dip the top halves into the icing, put the eclairs together again and leave for about 30 minutes before serving.