Make these little puffs of pleasure extra special with homemade pastry cream! Also, a word to the wise: make sure your dough is sufficiently cool before you add the eggs (you don't want to end up in a scramble—literally!).

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly brush them with water.

For the pâte à choux, combine water, milk, butter, salt, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Add flour and mix vigorously with a wooden or heat-proof silicone spatula until a smooth, dry ball forms and a film on the bottom of the pan is present, about 4 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add 1 egg at a time, stirring constantly, ensuring each is incorporated and the mixture is velvety and smooth before adding the next.

Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip. For profiteroles, pipe mounds onto prepared parchment. For éclairs, pipe 5-inch straight lines onto prepared parchment. Space shapes out by 1 inch. Press down any peaks with a damp finger.

For the egg wash, whisk together egg, water, and salt. Brush piped dough with egg wash.

Transfer to oven and bake for 25–30 minutes or until golden brown and puffed. Do not open oven while baking. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Poke a hole in the bottoms of the pastries (1 for profiteroles and 2–3 for éclairs). Fill a piping bag with pastry cream or desired filling and cut off the tip, then insert into each hole and squeeze to fill pastries.

For the ganache, place chocolate chips in a large glass bowl. Set aside. Pour heavy cream into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until simmering. Remove cream from heat and pour evenly over chocolate chips. Do not stir. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 5 minutes. 

After 5 minutes, remove plastic wrap and whisk the chocolate and cream together gently until completely melted and combined.

Holding an éclair or profiterole upside down (hole-side up), dip the top gently into the ganache. Wait for the ganache to set on each pastry before serving.