Eclairs are a showstopper dessert to bring to any party. They are a couple more steps than most but are definitely worth the work!



Toasted Coconut Eclairs
Ingredients
Choux Pastry
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup butter sliced
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 cup flour sifted
- 4 eggs
- 1 egg white plus more as needed
Coconut Pastry Cream
- 2 cups milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut finely chopped
- 3/4 tsp coconut extract
Topping
- 1/2 cup toasted coconut
- 1/2 cup white chocolate melted
Instructions
Choux Pastry
- Combine the water, salt, butter and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over high heat. There’s no need to stir. Turn the heat down to medium and add the flour all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture combines and starts to form a ball. This usually takes about three minutes. (It comes together very fast but you need to cook it for a bit still.)
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl or stand mixer and mix for about 1 minute to slightly cool it.
- Mix in the eggs, one at a time, until all four are added. Check the consistency of the batter by pulling the a wooden spoon through it. When the groove it makes slowly closes in on itself, you’ve added enough eggs.
Pastry Cream
- Bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat.
- In a bowl, whisk the sugar, egg, egg yolks, and cornstarch together.
- When the milk comes to a simmer stir half of it into the egg mixture. (Make sure to pour and stir at the same time so that the egg mixture does not curdle.)
- Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan containing the rest of the milk. Turn to medium heat and whisk until the cream comes to a boil and thickens. (Make sure to get the whisk down into the bottom sides of the pan to make sure nothing burns.)
- Once thickened, transfer mixture to a bowl. Add chopped coconut and coconut extract. Mix well. Cover with plastic warp touching the surface, so a skin doesn’t form.
- Put in fridge to cool down. If it thickens while in fridge just whisk it back up.
Eclairs
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- For a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch piping tip (2A) and fill with the choux pastry.
- Pip 1 1/2 – 2 inch circles about 1 inch high.
- Once oven is preheated, turn down to 400 degrees and bake choux for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed.
- Then turn the oven down to 300 degrees and bake for about 25 minutes, until they feel light when picked up.
- Take out of oven and let the eclairs cool for about 20 minutes.
- While eclairs bake, toast coconut in a frying pan on medium heat. Stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn. Transfer to bowl once all golden brown.
- Fill a pastry bag, fitted with a Bismarck piping top, with the coconut pastry cream. Poke piping tip onto the side of the eclair and fill until pastry cream starts coming out.
- Once all filled, dip the top of the eclairs into the melted white chocolate and then straight into the toasted coconut.