Preheat the oven to 425F.

In a saucepan, heat the water, milk, salt, sugar, and butter to a simmer over medium heat.

When it comes to a simmer, add your flour and mix until it forms a ball of dough. Keep cooking and mixing the dough in the pot over medium heat for about 6-7 minutes until smooth and shiny.

Transfer the dough to an electric mixer with a paddle attachment and mix on medium speed until the dough is lukewarm. Slowly stream in the eggs one at a time. The mixture should be thick and sticky.

Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a ½ inch round piping tip. Pipe the dough onto a silpat lined sheet pan. At this point, you can make large or small eclairs but I piped mine into 5″ by 1″ pieces. Give the pastries 1 inch of space in between each piece during the baking process. If any tails form at the end of the eclairs, simply pat it down with a wet finger.

Bake the pastry in the 425F oven for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 375F and bake for another 10 minutes or until completely golden brown. Take it out of the oven and pierce the ends of each eclair to help it ventilate.

To prepare the pastry cream, heat the heavy cream and half of the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks, sugar, and cornstarch until pale yellow. Temper the yolks by slowly streaming in the hot cream. Whisk constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling. Add the yolk mixture back to the saucepan over medium low heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens. You should see a few bubbles form during this process. Stir in the butter, chopped chocolate and spices. If you’re concerned that some of the yolk has curdled during the cooking process, strain the cream into a new bowl.

Cover the pastry cream with plastic wrap and place it onto an ice bath or into the refrigerator for a few hours until chilled through.

To fill the eclairs, pierce the bottom of each eclair on both ends. Bag the pastry cream in a piping bag with a small round tip and pipe it into both ends of the eclair.

Prepare the icing by combining the powdered sugar, water, and food gel coloring. The glaze should be thick but just thin enough to dip the eclairs in. Pour the black glaze into a piping bottle and leave the red glaze in a bowl. Dip the eclairs first in the red glaze. Rock it back and forth to ensure the eclair is covered and let the excess drip off. Take the excess off with your finger or an offset spatula. Pipe the black glaze in a zig zag pattern down the eclair and create the webbing by dragging a toothpick up and down the eclair, vertically.

Finish the eclair by garnishing or stabbing it with slivered almonds.