Strawberry Chocolate Éclair Cake

Another version of the chocolate éclair cake. I added strawberries on top for the perfect finishing touch. This dessert was so requested by our family and friends that I ended up enhancing the cake's presentation!

Cream puffs and éclairs always catch my attention at every bakery, imagine then a whole cake made with this pastry. I found this recipe on Kerri's blog, and decided to give it a shot. 

A family favorite recipe.

Crust (Cream puff/éclair): 
1 cup of water
½ cup butter or margarine
½ tsp. salt
1 cup plain flour
4 eggs

1) Put water and butter in a medium saucepan, bring water to boil; simmer until butter melts. Remove from heat.

2) Mix salt and flour; add all at once to water; butter mixture. Stir until dough forms a ball. Add one egg at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition.

3) Spread in a greased jelly roll pan (15x10x1 inches) (38x25x2.5 cm) I think a 13x9 (33x23) pan would work if you don’t have the bigger one.

4) Bake at 400ºF/205ºC for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and press flat (wait a minute or two so you don’t burn yourself). Cool.

5) Spread filling and topping over crust. Serve cold.

Pastry cream filling:  
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 can milk (use the can to measure milk)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine sweetened condensed milk, milk and cornstarch and then bring to a boil, stirring frequently. The mixture will thicken. Add the vanilla. Transfer to a shallow bowl and press plastic wrap directly to prevent a skin from forming. Use as a filling for cakes, éclairs etc.

(Sometimes I use a creamy Brigadeiro recipe (Brazilian chocolate truffles) instead of the pastry cream as filling.)

Topping:
1 8oz tub of Cool Whip  Spread on top of pudding mixture.
Garnish with fresh strawberries.

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Or you can use this filling instead of the Pastry cream:
2 packages of instant vanilla pudding
2 ½ cups of milk
8oz (227 g) package of cream cheese, softened

With electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and add just a little milk at first (if you add too much at once you’ll end up with lumps of cream cheese). Keep adding milk gradually while beating. Then add the 2 puddings and beat until thick. Spread over crust. Serve cold.