Chocolate Eclairs

Tomorrow I'm going to be going to a potluck, a sort of kick-off-the-holiday-season thing, so I thought I'd use today to do a little advance scouting for yummy potluck recipes. And the one that I've settled on is this:

Chocolate Eclairs:

For Pastry:
1 cup water
1/2 cup stick margarine or butter
1 cup flour
4 large eggs

For Filling:
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 large egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened (5 seconds in the microwave if you don't remember to set it out beforehand)
2 teaspoons vanilla

For Chocolate Frosting:
1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 teaspoon stick margarine or butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons hot water

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Heat water and margarine to rolling boil in 2 1/2 quart saucepan. Stir in flour; reduce heat to low. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat.
3. Beat in eggs all at once, continue beating until smooth. Shape scant 1/4 cupfuls of dough into fingers about 4 1/2" long by 1 1/2" wide using spatula. Place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until puffy and golden. While they're baking, make the Cream Filling and Chocolate Frosting. Cool. Cut off top third of each puff and pull out any strands of soft dough. Eat them. Or throw them away, whichever you prefer. But I know which one I'll be doing.
5. Fill puffs with Cream Filling, replace tops.
6. Frost with Chocolate Frosting. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Refrigerate any leftovers. Hopefully, there won't be any leftovers!

Cream Filling:
Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in medium to large saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Gradually stir at least half of the hot mixture into egg yolks. Stir back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in margarine and vanilla. Cool.

Frosting:
Melt chocolate and margarine in small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar and water. Beat until smooth and spreadable.

* I'm going to be trying this one tomorrow morning, so I'll let you know how it turns out. If anyone else tries it too, I'd love to know how it works for you! Or any of your other favorite sweet potluck recipes.

I also solved a small culinary mystery this morning - the difference between the eclair and the profiterole. It looks like it's all in the shape. Eclairs are long; profiteroles are round, like regular cream puffs with chocolate on top. Which is your favorite?