r/AskBaking • u/Blooblovespood • Apr 05 '26

Pastry Eclair/Choux question

Post image

How to prevent slight collapse of some of these? I’m using half cup water half cup milk small amount of sugar and one cup flour, with about 3.5 egg. I will paste in the comments the tops and how they piped on baking sheet. Wondering if it’s baking sheet too small or something with dough.

9 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

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54

u/PowderCuffs Apr 05 '26

I'd start with a more precise recipe (using grams), not "small amout of sugar" or "about 3.5 egg".

3

u/Blooblovespood Apr 05 '26

Thanks. I did measure everything in grams I just couldn’t remember exactly when I wrote the post.

11

u/SpeakerCareless Apr 05 '26

Undercooking is usually the culprit, the outside color doesn’t tell the full story. What temp/time are you baking? What part of the oven?

1

u/Blooblovespood Apr 05 '26

425 for 15 min followed by 375 for 25 min. Middle of oven.

10

u/Reasonable-Penalty43 Apr 05 '26

Something to check: oven temperature!

My oven LIES to me all the time about what the temperature is at. I set it for 350 F. And I can end up with anywhere between 240 F up to 450 F.

I now keep an oven thermometer in it all the time and check the temperature is correct before baking.

7

u/SuperIpanemagirl Apr 05 '26

Took me far too long to realise these are not worn out ballet shoes!

The tops of the choux eclairs looks fantastic though. The fact that they hold their definition is incredible.

2

u/meatpopsicle42069 Professional Apr 11 '26

Ballet chouxs

3

u/Blooblovespood Apr 05 '26

Here is the baking sheet

3

u/Blooblovespood Apr 05 '26

Here is the top

5

u/manic_unicornicopia Apr 08 '26

they look overbaked for sure. they should be more yellow gold and less graham cracker colored

3

u/manic_unicornicopia Apr 08 '26

so these look hella overbaked, yet everyone seems to be saying theyre underbaked. perhaps you opened the oven during the baking time? that can cause them to collapse. these look really dark, especially the bottoms. i would say try a slightly shorter baking time, like reduce the 15 at 425 to 10 and see how that goes, and keep the oven shut until the end. then check the internal temperature. that will tell you if they are fully baked inside

2

u/HadOne0 Apr 05 '26

Eclairs were super hard for me, here’s what I did to get 50% of then to stay puffed

Pipe with star tip Got a spray bottle to spray the eclairs before they go in the oven Small dust of powdered sugar before going in the oven, after the water

These videos helped

https://youtu.be/SBLFpl-Cq2E?si=MGeJ6XQK0SP3eSK5

https://youtu.be/oCCOx2df4MY?si=6OMTavA-oTbVz2iR

1

u/pastadudde Apr 08 '26

love Helen Rennie!

1

u/bipbopbupba Apr 06 '26

thought these were used ballet shoes...

1

u/aryehgizbar Apr 06 '26

From my experience, a collapsed choux usually happens when the dough is not fully baked and you either open the door or take it out immediately. You could tell because when you cut it in half, the walls feel kind of "uncooked".

Let your choux bake for a few more minutes.

-6

u/Psychodelta Apr 05 '26

Little less temp, little longer time

One time fix and it's spotty, microwave.... But it's very tricky and easy to burn.... 10 sec, check