An éclair (, ; ) is a

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ma ...

made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with a flavored icing. The dough, which is the same as that used for

profiterole A profiterole (), cream puff (US), or ''chou à la crème'' () is a filled French and Italian choux pastry ball with a typically sweet and moist filling of whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream. The puffs may be decorated or left p ...

, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a

pastry bag A pastry bag (or piping bag in the Commonwealth) is an often cone- or triangular-shaped bag made from cloth, paper, plastic, or the intestinal lining of a lamb, that is squeezed by hand to ''pipe'' semi-solid foods by pressing them through a na ...

and baked until it is crisp and hollow inside. Once cool, the pastry is filled with

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...

(''crème pâtissière''),

whipped cream Whipped cream is liquid heavy cream that is whipped by a whisk or mixer until it is light and fluffy and holds its shape, or by the expansion of dissolved gas, forming a firm colloid. It is often sweetened, typically with white sugar, and ...

chiboust cream Crème chiboust is a crème pâtissière (pastry cream) lightened with Italian meringue. Though occasionally using whipped cream to lighten it, this is traditionally a millefeuille cream. Crème chiboust can be flavoured with vanilla, orange zest ...

, then iced with

fondant icing Fondant icing, also commonly referred to simply as fondant (, from the ), is an icing used to decorate or sculpt cakes and pastries. It is made from sugar, water, gelatin, vegetable fat or shortening, and glycerol. It does not have the textur ...

. Montagné, Prosper, ''

Larousse gastronomique ' () is an encyclopedia of gastronomy. The majority of the book is about French cuisine, and contains recipes for French dishes and cooking techniques. The first edition included few non-French dishes and ingredients; later editions include many ...

: the new American edition of the world's greatest culinary encyclopedia'', Jenifer Harvey Lang, ed., New York: Crown Publishers, 1988, p. 401 Other fillings include

pistachio The pistachio (, ''Pistacia vera''), a member of the cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. ''Pistacia vera'' is often confused with other sp ...

- and

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...

-flavoured custard,

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

-flavoured fillings, or

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

purée. The icing is sometimes

caramel Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard. The process of caramelizatio ...

, in which case the dessert may be called a bâton de Jacob. A similar pastry in a round rather than oblong shape is called a

Religieuse Religieuse is a French pastry made of two choux pastry cases, one larger than the other, filled with crème pâtissière, most commonly chocolate or mocha. Each case is covered in a ganache of the same flavor as the filling, and then joined dec ...

Etymology

0 Frameries - Boulangerie-pâtisserie Godefroid (8)

The word comes from the French ''éclair'', meaning "flash of lightning", so named because it is eaten quickly (in a flash); however some believe that the name is due to the glistening of the frosting resembling lightning.

History

The éclair originated during the nineteenth century in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

where it was called "pain à la Duchesse" or "petite duchesse" until 1850. The word is first attested both in English and in French in the 1860s.

North America

Dunkin Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 195 ...

markets Long John doughnuts as eclairs in the United States. National Eclair Day is celebrated on June 22 in the U.S.

References

Bibliography

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External links