White Chocolate Cinnamon Eclairs

Makes about 16-18 Eclairs

Making the Choux Pastry (Dough)

Ingredients

• 1 cup water (237 ml)
• 1/2 cup butter (113 g)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (125 g)
• 3 to 4 large eggs + 1 additional beaten egg for an egg wash

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine water, butter, sugar, and salt, stirring with a wooden spoon occasionally. You can chop the butter into smaller pieces beforehand so it melts faster.
2. Once mixture comes to a rolling boil, take it off the heat and stir in flour to incorporate.
3. Place back onto medium heat and stir dough continuously for about 1 to 2 minutes. You should see the dough start to pull away from the sides of the saucepan and a film of residue form at the bottom.
4. Turn off the heat and set aside the saucepan to allow the dough to cool, about 10 minutes.
5. Add in eggs one at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon to fully incorporate in between each egg. After the third egg, test the dough with the V-test. Scoop up some of the dough with a wooden spoon and let the dough drape down vertically. If the dough drapes down in a V-shape, then it passes the test. If it does not, then whisk the fourth egg in a separate bowl and add little by little to the dough until it passes the test. See image below for a visual representation of the V-test.
6. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218 degrees Celsius).
7. Transfer dough to a piping bag fitted with a large French star tip. Alternatively, you can use a large round tip or simply snip off the end of a piping or Ziploc bag.
8. Line baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment. If using parchment, pipe a small bit of dough underneath the paper in the corners so it lies flat while baking.
9. Pipe your dough onto your lined baking sheets, about 3/4 inch (2 cm) in width and 4 inches (10 cm) in length. Space piped dough an inch (2.5 cm) apart because they will expand in the oven.
10. Brush your piped dough with an egg wash. This can come from an entirely new egg or if you have part of an egg leftover from making the dough, you can use that for the egg wash.
11. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218 degrees Celsius) to allow pastry to rise and brown. Then lower temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius) to continue to cook through on the inside, about 25 minutes more.
12. After baking, set aside pastry to cool completely on a cooling rack. Prick three holes in the bottom of your eclairs to allow steam to escape. These holes will also be where you pipe in the filling.

V-test (Source: Tasty.co)

Making the Pastry Cream Filling

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk (237 ml)
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3 tbsp sugar (38 g)
• 2 tbsp cornstarch (15 g)
• 3 ounces chopped white chocolate (85 g)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp butter (7 g)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream (177 ml)

Directions

1. Heat milk to a simmer in a pot over medium heat.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch until smooth, pale, and light yellow.
3. Once at a simmer, slowly pour milk into egg yolk mixture while whisking.
4. Then return milk and egg mixture to the pot over medium heat. Continuously stir for several minutes until mixture thickens. You should be able to run a spatula through the mixture and along the bottom of the pot and leave a clean line.
5. Turn off the heat and stir in white chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and butter until melted. If there are still unmelted pieces of white chocolate or butter remaining, you can place mixture back onto low heat briefly while stirring until everything is melted and incorporated.
6. Chill the pastry cream in the fridge until cool, about 30 minutes.
7. Whip up heavy cream until thick and you can overturn the bowl without any cream falling out. Remember not to over-whip or go past stiff peaks.
8. Gently fold the whipped cream into your chilled white chocolate pastry cream.
9. Chill in the fridge until ready to use.

Making the White Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

• 5.3 ounces chopped white chocolate (150 grams)
• 1.8 ounces heavy cream (51 grams)
• dark chocolate (optional for decorating)

Directions

1. In a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, combine white chocolate and heavy cream.
2. Stir until melted and combined.
3. Set aside ganache to cool.
4. In a separate heatproof bowl, melt a handful of chopped dark chocolate over the same pot of simmering water.

Assembly:

1. Transfer your pastry cream filling to a piping bag fitted with a Bismarck or small round piping tip, and pipe the cream into the holes you made earlier at the bottom of your eclairs. If you do not have a piping tip, you can also slice open your eclairs lengthwise with a knife and add the custard inside with a spoon forming a “sandwich”.
2. Dip the tops of each eclair in your white chocolate ganache,
3. Drizzle your melted dark chocolate on top using a spoon or piping bag.
4. Enjoy! Eclairs are best enjoyed the day they are made. I like to serve mine after they have chilled in the fridge for a bit.