Valentines Day Strawberry Éclairs (Printable)

Airy pastries with strawberry cream filling and pink glaze, ideal for romantic desserts or celebrations.

# What You'll Need:

→ Choux Pastry

01 - 1/2 cup water
02 - 1/2 cup whole milk
03 - 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed
04 - 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
05 - 1/2 teaspoon salt
06 - 1 cup all-purpose flour
07 - 4 large eggs

→ Strawberry Cream Filling

08 - 1 cup heavy cream, cold
09 - 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, cold
10 - 1/3 cup powdered sugar
11 - 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 - 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and finely diced

→ Strawberry Glaze

13 - 1 cup powdered sugar
14 - 2 to 3 tablespoons strawberry purée from fresh strawberries
15 - 1 to 2 drops pink or red food coloring, optional

# How to Make It:

01 - Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium saucepan, combine water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
03 - Add flour all at once and stir vigorously until the mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan, approximately 2 minutes.
04 - Remove from heat and allow to cool for 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition until the dough is glossy and pipeable.
05 - Transfer dough to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe 10 strips, each approximately 4 inches long, onto the prepared baking sheet.
06 - Bake for 10 minutes at 400°F, then reduce oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking for an additional 20 minutes until golden and puffed. Cool completely on the baking sheet.
07 - In a large bowl, whip cold heavy cream, mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract to stiff peaks. Gently fold in the diced strawberries until evenly distributed.
08 - Slice each cooled éclair in half lengthwise. Pipe or spoon strawberry cream onto the bottom halves and replace the tops.
09 - Whisk powdered sugar with strawberry purée and food coloring, if using, until smooth and spreadable.
10 - Spread glaze evenly on top of each éclair. Allow to set for 10 minutes before serving.

# Expert Hints:

01 -
  • They look impossibly fancy but the technique is more forgiving than you'd think, which means you get to feel like a pastry chef without the stress.
  • Fresh strawberries and mascarpone together taste like summer decided to show up in the middle of winter, and that's the kind of surprise worth making.
  • The whole process comes together in about an hour, so you can actually pull this off on a weeknight if you're feeling ambitious.
02 -
  • Room temperature eggs are non-negotiable—cold eggs will seize up in the hot dough and refuse to incorporate, which I learned the hard way on my second attempt.
  • Don't skip cooling the dough slightly after adding flour because it's genuinely impossible to beat in eggs if the mixture is still steaming hot.
  • The strawberry cream will weep if you make it more than a few hours ahead, so fill these as close to serving time as you can manage.
03 -
  • If your choux pastry cracks while baking, brush it gently with egg wash before it finishes cooking and it'll seal right up like nothing happened.
  • The glaze should be thick enough to coat a spoon but thin enough to spread easily—if it's too thick, add a drop of strawberry purée, and if it's too thin, add more powdered sugar.
  • Make these the morning of serving and keep them uncovered on the counter so the pastry stays crispy, then fill them two hours before you eat them.
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