Giant chocolate and pistachio éclair

Ingredients:

Choux pastry: 

• 1 cup (250ml) water 
• ¼ cup (60ml) milk 
• ½ cup (125g) butter 
• 2 tsp (10ml) castor sugar 
• 1 cup (150g) cake flour 
• 4 eggs, whisked 

Filling: 

• 2 cups (500ml) cream 
• 2-4 slabs (80g each) dark chocolate, melted and slightly cooled 
• 1 packet (180g) PnP Wobbles (chocolate-coated malt balls), lightly crushed 

Caramel: 

• 2 cups (400g) sugar 
• 1 cup (250ml) water 

• Chopped pistachios, for topping (almonds work well too) 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. 
2. Line a baking tray with baking paper. 
3. Place water, milk, butter and sugar in a saucepan over a high heat and melt butter, keeping the lid on. 
4. Bring to the boil before removing from heat and adding flour immediately. 
5. Stir vigorously, using a wooden spoon, until a smooth dough ball forms and mixture is pulling away from the sides of pot.  
6. Cool mixture down to room temperature for 5-10 minutes ​​– don’t let it get cold.  
7. Add eggs a little at a time, mixing vigorously with the same wooden spoon, until the dough is glossy. Dough is ready when it drips lazily from the spoon.  
8. Spoon pastry into a large piping bag and cut the end so you have a hole about 4cm in diameter. 
9. Pipe a long sausage shape of pastry onto the prepared tin, about 30-35cm.  
10. Bake for 25 minutes. 
11. Turn down the oven temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 20 minutes until well risen, golden and crisp.  
12. Remove from oven and cool completely.  
13. Slice pastry in half horizontally, using a sharp breadknife. 
14. For the filling, whip cream until stiff peaks form and gently fold in chocolate until well combined.  
15. When ready to assemble, fill the bottom half of pastry with whipped cream and sprinkle with crushed Wobbles. 
16. For the caramel, combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring only until sugar has dissolved. 
17. Simmer over medium heat until sugar turns a golden amber colour – this can take about 8-15 minutes. (Don’t stir once sugar is dissolved, rather swirl pot to avoid crystals.) 
18. Drizzle the pastry top with slightly cooled caramel and sprinkle with chopped nuts. 
19. Allow caramel to set completely before re-placing the top. 
20. Serve immediately. 

Browse more baking recipes here.