Chocolate éclairs

1 Bring the butter, water, salt and sugar to the boil in a pan. Remove from the hob and add the flour all in one go. Stir with a ladle until the dough comes away from the bottom of the pan in a single lump. Allow to cool a little. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.

2 Work two eggs into the dough, one after the other. Whisk the third egg and add to the mixture but only until it reaches dropping consistency. Place the mixture into a medium-nozzle piping bag. Pipe the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with grease proof paper, to form two-tiered, finger-width strips, approximately 8 cm long. Bake in the bottom half of the oven for 50–60 minutes. Allow the éclairs to cool on a cooling rack.

3 Meanwhile, for the filling, bring the milk and corn flour to the boil, stirring all the while. Stir in the egg, the egg yolk and the sugar. Stir in the hot milk. Pour everything back into the pan, and heat to boiling point, still stirring. Remove from the hob. Break up the chocolate and dissolve into the hot crème mixture. Press through a sieve into a bowl. Flavour with orange liqueur. Allow to cool; stirring occasionally. Place into a piping bag. Place aside in a cool place.

4 Cut the éclairs in half lengthways. Pipe the chocolate cream onto the bases and cover with the top halves. To glaze, dissolve the chocolate and cream over a very low heat and use a teaspoon to pour over.

HINT. Decorate with candied orange peel.