Fresh Chocolate Eclair Cupcakes

Fresh Chocolate Eclair Cupcakes are made with a soft vanilla sponge, a scratch made vanilla custard filling, and topped with a silky chocolate ganache. These filled cupcakes make a statement at any event with a classic, sophisticated aesthetic and delicious cream filled middle.

The fluffy vanilla cupcakes are made with cake flour, buttermilk, and eggs for a soft crumb while the custard is made in classic form reminiscent of everyones favorite chocolate eclair donut. Our simple chocolate ganache brings everything together with a rich, chocolatey finish and elegant flair.

Filled cupcakes are always a welcomed treat because they provide a fun, tasty surprise that elevates the cupcake and adds depth of flavor. They take a bit more planning to execute than standard cupcakes, but they are well worth the extra effort.

These beautiful chocolate topped vanilla cupcakes make a lovely presentation and taste so fresh. They are one of our favorite cupcake recipes because of the combination of vanilla and chocolate.

How do you make cupcakes moist?

Soft, fluffy, and moist cupcakes are always the goal in the baking world. Here are our best tips for making the best vanilla cupcakes to execute the mini chocolate eclair cake treats.

• Use high quality, fresh ingredients for optimal flavor, rise and moisture. This is especially important for eggs, milk or creams, and any rising agents.
• Warming the cold ingredients is important because they will combine to a smooth batter with few lumps. Using room temperature ingredients like eggs and butters will also cut down on the mixing time which is another tip to respect.
• Over mixing your cake batter will result in dense, flat cupcakes because the air will be over beaten out of the mixture. Only mix until the ingredients have just combined.
• Bake at the correct temperature, and not too long. Baking cupcakes at high temperatures for too long will result in dry, flat cupcakes rather than soft, fluffy mini cakes.
• Be careful not to overfill the cupcake liners. Fill the tins 2/3 full to prevent the cupcakes from rising too much and spilling over the edges. We recommend using ice cream or cookie scoops for even distribution of the batter into the liners.

Tips to save time

This recipe is a fresh chocolate eclair cupcakes recipe making everything from scratch for the best flavor and crumb. But, we don’t always have time to spend in the kitchen, here are some ideas for how you can make these scrumptious filled cupcakes efficiently.

A popular hack is using cake mix, which will save time in the kitchen and make a pillsbury cupcakes recipe, or Boston cream cupcakes with cake mix. Both terms are interchangeable and often used for chocolate eclair cupcake recipes.

These cupcakes do take time so plan ahead and make sure you have your supplies ready before you begin. The custard is made on the stove, and will require chill time for an hour or so before using it. The ganache is also made on the stove but it’s very easy and can be set aside until you are ready for, so we recommend making the ganache while the cupcakes are cooling.

Making the custard

1. Beat egg yolks in a small bowl, add in milk and whisk together until thoroughly mixed.
2. Mix together sugar, cornstarch and salt in large heavy saucepan. slowly stir in a small amount of milk and egg mixture,
3. Gradually stir in remaining milk mixture until blended.
4. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil, this will take about 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Boil and stir 1 minute, then remove from heat immediately.
6. Cool quickly
   1. Set pan in larger pan of ice water.
   2. Stir occasionally and gently for a few minutes to hasten cooling.
   3. Stir in vanilla.
   4. Press piece of plastic wrap onto surface of pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming on top.
   5. Refrigerate the custard until thoroughly chilled and set, at least 1 hour.

Making the chocolate ganache

1. Add butter to a saucepan on medium heat
2. Pour in the heavy whipping cream and stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil
3. Put the chocolate chips into a medium size bowl
4. Pour the heavy cream mixture over the chocolate chips and stir constantly until the chocolate ganache is smooth, silky, and thick

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