Éclair

An éclair is an oblong pastry made from choux dough, baked until crisp and hollow, then filled with cream and topped with icing. It originated in France and remains one of the most recognisable items in French patisserie and beyond.

History

The éclair emerged in France during the nineteenth century, in the Lyon area according to the sources consulted, where it was known as "pain à la Duchesse" or "petite duchesse" (roughly 'duchess-style bread' or 'little duchess') until 1850. Some food historians speculate that the celebrated chef Marie-Antoine Carême (1784–1833) may have made the first éclairs, but this remains a conjecture rather than a documented fact.

The word appears in French and English texts from the 1860s. The pastry uses the same dough as profiteroles, piped into an oblong shape and baked until hollow. Once cool, it is traditionally filled with vanilla or chocolate custard or whipped cream and finished with chocolate icing. Later fillings included coffee, cocoa, rum, fruit and chestnut purée.

Its name is explained in two ways: it is eaten in a flash, or its glossy icing looks like lightning.

Culture

The éclair belongs to the family of choux pastries, which also includes round lionesas and profiteroles, filled with cream and coated in chocolate sauce. Frying the same dough instead of baking it produces sweet buñuelos, common in Catalan cooking, and a family-sized version called roscón is made with the same dough and filling.

Regional names vary widely. In Catalonia it is often filled with crema catalana, a custard of egg yolks, milk, sugar and cinnamon. In Costa Rica it is called éclair or duquesa and, in Cartago, embuste. In Argentina it is known as palo de Jacob, usually with caramel icing or chocolate sauce. In Venezuela it is called jumbo or lengua de suegra and sold alongside doughnuts, while in Peru, Ecuador and Guatemala it is called relámpago and found mainly in pastry shops. In the United States, a brand of long doughnuts is sold as eclairs, and a National Eclair Day is held on June 22.