Hi Bold Bakers. This week we have another guest host for you. His name is Benjamin the Baker. He
is best known for his amazing baking videos on Tik Tok, where he has over 500,000 followers.
Ben is a math teacher here in Southern California and definitely takes a really
scientific approach to his baking. We asked him to break down choux pastry for us today
because it can be kind of tricky. It's really fascinating video, check it out.
Thank you so much Gemma. I'm so excited to host this episode of Bigger Bolder Baking. Today we'll
be looking at a recipe for chocolate eclairs. We'll start by breaking down the pastry recipe
using ratios so that you can easily remember it and scale it up or down for however many you want
to make. We'll also look at the importance of precision when adding the eggs to make sure that
you get the puff you want. From there we'll make a silky smooth vanilla pastry cream and finish it
off with a chocolate ganache. Let's go. Instead of working with set amounts for this recipe, we
are going to work with the ratio of ingredients. This pair of shoe follows the ratios to 112 are
two parts water, one part butter, one part flour, and two parts egg. All of these will be measured
by the weight of the ingredients. Though I've also included the cut measurements for the
written recipe on Bigger Bolder bacon calm so that we don't waste any egg. I will start by measuring
their weight. A typical large sized egg weighs 50 grams, but it's always good to check. today
I'll be using four eggs. The beauty of working with ratios is that you can easily determine the
recipe if you only want to use one egg or if you want to use 10 The weight of the eggs is the same
as the weight of water and the weights of butter and flour are just half that amount. For example,
here we will use 200 grams of water 100 grams of butter 100 grams of flour and 200 grams of egg
to start will heat the water butter and a pinch of salt to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil will
turn off the heat and add the flour all at once. Stir quickly and continuously until there's no
more dry flour. Then it's back on the heat to make sure that we have fully gelatinous the starch in
the flour. This method of pre cooking the pastry is what allows the eclairs to puff and leave a
hollow center. You'll want to mix continuously until a film develops on the bottom of the pot.
When it does transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and allow it to cool before you add the eggs.
Add the eggs a little at a time and wait until they are fully incorporated before adding more.
As you get to the end of the eggs. Check the consistency of the dough
by lifting up the paddle or a spatula, the dough should fall slowly and leave a V shape. If it
falls off in a clump add more eggs. If it slides right off the paddle then you've added too much
to show the importance of the consistency of the dough and baked a side by side comparison
of adding too much too little and just enough eggs. Notice how the woman with the correct amount
of eggs puffed up the most and left a hollow interior whereas the other two struggled to rise.
This is because they were either too dense or too loose. Then fill a piping bag and use a plastic
scraper to push the dough down to the bottom of the bag. Classically, a French star tip is
use for this so that the grooves in the Eclair help for an even rise to help keep your eclairs
even draw evenly spaced lines on the underside of your parchment paper allowing enough room
for the eclairs to double in size. Baking a 400 degree fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes and then
turn the oven down to 325 and bake another 10 to 20 minutes or until they are golden brown
and feel hollow on the inside. While they bake. Let's make the pastry cream and chocolate ganache
for the pastry cream. He'd milk sugar and salt with the seeds and pod from one vanilla bean.
In a separate bowl, combine egg yolks a second amount of sugar and cornstarch was to combine
Once the milk comes to just below boil slowly add some of the hot milk to the egg yolk mixture.
To help the bowl stay in place. I like to use a wet paper towel underneath the bowl. Once you've
added about half the milk. Add the yolk mixture into the pot and return to the heat. Remove the
vanilla bean and stir continuously until the cream thickens. Once it starts to bubble, stir for an
additional two minutes before removing from the heat passing through a sieve and adding butter.
Push plastic wrap right up against the cream so that it doesn't form a skin and refrigerate
until ready to use. For the chocolate ganache heat cream in a pinch of salt to a boil. Add an equal
weight of chop chocolate to a bowl and once the cream is hot, pour directly over the chocolate.
Let's sit for a minute and then whisk until homogenous. Ganache is another great example
of where ratios can be helpful in baking. This is a classic one to one chocolate ganache, meaning
equal weights of chocolate and cream. Increase the ratio to two to one chocolate to cream for people
but ganache or double the amount of cream so that the ratio is one to two chocolate to cream for a
ganache that can be chilled and then whipped for a light and fluffy feeling. When the eclairs come
out of the oven, poked through small holes in the bottom to allow for steam to release. Once cool,
fill with pastry cream and dip into the chocolate ganache when done right The shelves should be
crisp and if you cut one open, the center should be filled completely with cream. My absolute
favorite, you can find the full recipe for these chocolate declares at BiggerBolderBaking.com . If
you like this side of baking from a mathematical and experimental perspective, you can find more of
my videos on Instagram and Tiktok at Benjamin the baker. Thanks so much for watching. Happy baking