Classic Eclair Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between an eclair and a French eclair? ›

Other than form and name, they are continents apart in taste. An American eclair is made from frozen ingredients such as frozen pre-separated egg whites and yolks and frozen pre-made cream. A French eclair is fresh: freshly separated eggs, freshly stirred creme, freshly picked or ground ingredients.

Pastry cream is often the filling. It is a thick custard made with egg yolks, milk, sugar, cornstarch, and may include butter. The icing should be one that hardens, such as fondant or ganache. This allows the eclair to be handled easier.

If cooled éclair shells are not as crisp as you like, pop them back into a 375° F oven for 6-8 minutes until they are extremely hot to the touch. Cool completely before filling. Here's a bonus: You can bake shells in advance and freeze them in a Ziploc bag as soon as they are cool.

In doughnuts, you typically get Boston creme, Custard and bavarian cream as all being the same exact filling. They're just called different things. Eclairs however aren't typical dough based doughnuts but more like flake pastries that are filled with a whipped filling of you want to get technical.

Once cool, the pastry is filled with custard (crème pâtissière), whipped cream or chiboust cream, then iced with fondant icing. Other fillings include pistachio- and rum-flavoured custard, fruit-flavoured fillings, or chestnut purée.

When piping choux pastry into eclairs, using a French star nozzle (as pictured here) will reduce the amount of cracking in the pastry as well as help to retain a neater, more consistent eclair shape as it bakes. If you don't have a French star nozzle, an open star nozzle is the next best option.

Don't let the grocery store eclairs fool you. Those soft, soggy logs are not what eclairs should be. Trust me, I know good pastries. Good eclairs are crisp and brown on the outside and dried out on the inside.

Like all non-cake doughnuts, Long Johns are made with a yeasted dough, which gives them their trademark chewiness. Eclairs, meanwhile, are made with a French Choux pastry, which uses no leavening agent whatsoever and consists primarily of butter, flour, water, and eggs.

Bavarian cream, custard enriched with whipped cream and solidified with gelatin. A Bavarian cream can be flavoured with chocolate, coffee, fruit, or the like and is usually molded in a fancy shape and garnished with fruit or a sweet sauce. Its country of origin is either Bavaria or France.

Removing the eclairs from the oven too early can also cause them to sink, not giving them enough time to crisp up. This is why I recommend after the 30min mark, as they are nicely puffed and golden on top, take them out and quickly poke them with a toothpick or a knife.

Why are my eclairs soggy inside? ›

Why are my eclairs soggy? Answer: This can happen if your choux pastry wasn't thick enough, and too runny. It's important to make sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. It is also important not to open your oven and peak.

If too much egg is added or if it is added too quickly, the Choux's ability to rise when baked will be affected. Similarly, if not enough egg is incorporated, it won't puff, causing it to be dense inside.

Bavarian cream involves milk, eggs, sugar, and often vanilla extract, the same as Boston cream. But then the two ingredient lists diverge: Bavarian cream includes heavy cream and gelatin, while Boston cream involves cornstarch.

Bavarian Cream is made from a Crème Anglaise base (milk, vanilla, egg yolks and sugar), thickened with Gelatine and lightened with Whipped Cream. Pastry Cream (or Crème Pâtissière) is relatively similar to a Crème Anglaise but is thickened on the stove with Cornstarch (or sometimes flour).

Vanilla custard filling- these donuts are filled with a creamy and velvety smooth vanilla custard filling that melts in your mouth. Chocolate ganache topping- after every donut is filled with pastry cream, each donut is dipped in silky and rich chocolate ganache which takes these to the next level.

Chocolate Eclairs (éclairs au chocolat)

In the 19th century, Antonin Carême, a famous pastry chef for French royalty, had the idea of removing the almonds, garnishing them with chocolate or coffee custard, and covering it with fondant sugar. The éclair was born! Eclair means “lightning” in French.

Translation of éclair – French–English dictionary

a flash of lightning. lightning [noun] a flash of electricity between clouds or from a cloud to earth during a storm, usually followed by thunder.

Chouquettes are a famous French pastry made from choux dough. They are small, hollow puffs filled with cream or custard and topped with chocolate sauce. They are also known as cream puffs, eclairs, and profiteroles. The ingredients for making chouquettes only need water, butter, flour, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.