Eclairs (from Nick Malgiari's Perfect Pastry)

(N___'s)

Pate a choix:
3/4 cup water
6 Tbsp. butter
pinch of salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs

Pastry cream
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
4 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. vanilla
4 oz. very dark chocolate cut up
1/4 cup hot milk
1 envelope gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
3/4 cup heavy cream

Glaze:
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
 8 oz. dark chocolate cut finely.

A) To make the pate a choux: boil water butter and salt, remove from heat and add flour all at once, put back on heat and cook 1 to two minutes beating with a wooden spoon.   Remove from heat, beat to cool slightly, and beat in eggs one at a time.  Pipe onto wax paper lined pan through 1/2 in ch round tube into 4 inch x 3/4 inch lengths two inches apart.  brush with  an egg wash of one beaten egg and a pinch of salt, then bake at 425F until risen and beginning to color, for ten minutes, then decrease to 350 and bake another 20 minutes until dry.  Cool on a rack.

B) To make the pastry cream: boil one cup of the milk plus the sugar; in a separate bowl, whisk the rest of the milk with the cornstarch, then whisk in the yolks; add 1/3 of the boiling milk to the yolks, then bring the ilk back to a boil and whisk in the yolks, beat constantly until thickened and boiling.  Pour into a bowl and whisk in the butter and vanilla, melt the chocolate in the /14 cup milk and beat into the pastry cream - cover and refrigerate until cold, reserve 1/4 of the cream to remain vegetarian.  Sprinkle gelatin in 1/4 cup water, soften for five minutes, put on a double boiler to melt for five more minutes.  Whisk 1/2 cup cold pastry cream into gelatin, then whisk the gelatin into the cream.  Whip the heavy cream hard and fold into the pastry cream.  Refrigerate until needed.  Fill the eclairs with the pastry cream with a 1/4 round tube.

C) To make the glaze: must be made after eclairs are filled, or will set before it can be applied.  Boil water, corn syrup , and sugar., remove from heat nad add chocolate.  Let stand for one minutes without stirring to melt chocolate, then whisk smooth; dip the top third of each eclair into the glaze, dry on paper lined pan.