Cappuccino Eclairs
Cappuccino Eclairs combines the classic sweet breakfast, dessert, or snack combo of eclairs and coffee into one delicious treat. Light, airy eclairs are loaded with rich, creamy vanilla coffee custard. Delicious!
Everyone loves coffee and eclairs. We know we certainly do. We took that classic combination and got a little creative with our eclair recipe to create eclairs filled with a vanilla coffee custard that tastes just like a cappuccino. It’s delicious, and most importantly, it’s easy!
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It uses a handful of simple ingredients to make.
- It’s very easy to make.
- The rich, creamy filling tastes just like a cappuccino.
- The light, airy dough, rich custard filling, and chocolate topping are delicious.
🛒Ingredients
This recipe only uses a handful of ingredients to make the dough, filling, and chocolate drizzle. You’ll find everything you need in a matter of minutes in your kitchen or local grocery store.
All the ingredients are listed here, but you can find their exact amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
For the Filling
- Freshly brewed espresso
- Vanilla bean paste
- Heavy cream
- Sugar
- Cornstarch
- Egg yolks
- Butter
Dough
- Butter
- Water
- Salt
- Flour
- Eggs
For the Chocolate Drizzle
- Heavy cream
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
🔪 How to Make Cappuccino Eclairs
This recipe takes a few steps, but they’re all very simple when you break them down. It only takes a few minutes when you boil it down to basics, and anyone can do it.
Step 1: Boil Espresso and Cream
Add the espresso, heavy cream, and vanilla paste to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Step 2: Mix with Eggs
Mix the sugar, cornstarch, and egg yolks in a bowl. Slowly add the hot coffee mixture to the eggs, mixing in a little at a time to temper the eggs and prevent curdling.
Step 3: Cook the Custard
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and bring to a low simmer over medium-low heat, constantly stirring, until thickened.
Step 4: Chill
Transfer the custard to a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, ensuring the plastic is in full contact with the custard. Chill for 2 to 3 hours.
Step 5: Prep for Baking the Eclairs
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and set a baking sheet on the counter.
Step 6: Boil Water and Butter
Add the water, butter, and salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
Step 7: Add the Flour
Add the flour and mix, using a wooden spoon or danish dough whisk. Cook over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes too cook of the flour taste.
Step 8: Add the Eggs
Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously between each addition until fully combined.
Step 9: Pipe
Scoop the dough into a large piping bag and cut off the tip to create a 1/2-inch opening. Pip 4-inch long lines of dough onto the baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between each line.
Step 10: Bake
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until golden brown.
Step 11: Cool and Slice
Remove the eclairs from the oven and let them cool completely on the baking sheet. When cooled, cut the shells in half lengthwise to create two boats.
Step 12: Fill
Fill one boat with the filling. Then, top with the other half of the eclair.
Step 13: Make the Chocolate Sauce
Heat the heavy cream to not quite boiling and pour it over the chocolate chips. Let them melt in the hot cream. If the chips haven’t melted fully, microwave them at 10-second intervals until melted. Stir until silky smooth.
Step 14: Top the Eclairs
Pour the chocolate into a piping bag and cut off the tip to create a small opening. Pipe the chocolate over the shells. Enjoy!
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Omit the espresso for classic eclairs.
- If you don’t have espresso, brew an extremely strong batch of coffee.
- Bake the dough in rounds to make cream puffs.
If you think these cappuccino eclairs look good, then you’ll love our chocolate eclair cake.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowl
- Saucepans
- Danish dough whisk
- Baking sheet
- Knife
🥫 Storage
Refrigerate these eclairs in an air-tight container for up to 2 days. For longer storage, wrap the eclairs in plastic wrap and freeze them for up to 2 months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container or heavy-duty freezer bag. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
Serve With
Seve these eclairs with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea. They’re also delicious with a little fresh fruit on the side. You can pair them with your favorite savory breakfast items for a kick of sweetness to start the day, as well.
💭 Tips
- While not required, a danish dough whisk makes it much easier to mix the eclair dough.
- Be sure to cook your dough for at least 2 minutes to eliminate the raw flour flavor.
- Pout the coffee mixture into the egg mixture extremely slowly and whisk vigorously to prevent curdling.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
An eclair is a French pastry made with choux dough filled with cream and topped with chocolate.
Choux pastry is a delicate pastry dough made with butter, water, flour, and eggs. It uses steam rather than leavening agents to make it rise.
Eclair dough should be baked at a high initial temperature to create the steam needed for the dough to rise. If it isn’t baked at a high enough temperature, it won’t rise.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy cream filled pastries like these cappuccino eclairs? Then these delicious recipes:
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Cappuccino Eclairs
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Mixing Bowl
- Saucepans
- Danish dough whisk
- baking sheet
- Knife
Ingredients
Ingredients for the filling:
- 1 cup freshly brewed espresso
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 egg yolks
- ¼ cup butter
Ingredients for the dough:
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup flour
- 4 eggs
Ingredients for the chocolate drizzle:
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- For the filling, place the espresso and heavy cream and vanilla paste in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Mix together the sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks in a bowl. Slowly add the hot coffee to the egg mixture a small amount at a time so as not to curdle the eggs.
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return to the stove and cook until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly. Once it’s thickened, remove from heat and transfer to a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.
- Press the wrap down directly on the surface of the custard to avoid it creating a crust on top.
- Place it in the refrigerator to thoroughly chill–about 2-3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- For the dough, place water, butter and salt into a medium sized pan and bring to a boil on the stove.
- Once it’s boiling and butter has melted, add in the flour.
- Using a wooden spoon, or danish dough whisk until the flour is fully mixed, cook over low heat for about 1-2 minutes to lose the flour taste.
- Remove from heat and add in the eggs, one at a time, beating vigorously until incorporated.
- Repeat until all the eggs have been added.
- Scoop dough into a large piping bag and cut the tip off to create about a ½” opening.
- Pipe 4” long lines of dough onto a baking sheet, leaving about 2” space between.
- Place in the oven at 400 degrees for the first 15 minutes, then drop the temperature to 350 for an additional 5-10 minutes until they are golden brown.
- Do not open the oven when switching temperatures.
- Cool the shells on the baking pan and once completely cool, slice lengthwise down the entire shell.
- Spoon the filling into the boat created and replace the top of the shell.
- To make the chocolate drizzle, heat the heavy cream to not quite boiling.
- Pour over the chocolate chips and allow them to melt.
- If they haven’t completely melted, place in the microwave for 10 second bursts, stirring each time you stop it. Stir until the chocolate is silky smooth.
- Pour into a piping bag and cut a small hole at the tip and drizzle chocolate over the top of the shells.
