Éclairs

Believed to have been invented by Marie-Antoine Carême, who is known as the first celebrity chef, éclairs were originally called pain à la Duchesse, or “bread to the duchess.” Though Carême died in 1833, it wasn’t until 1850 that the name of this oblong-shaped pastry was given its current moniker, which translated from French means “flash of lightning.” The first printed reference to éclairs in English was in an article in Vanity Fair in 1861, and the first recipe for éclairs in an English-language cookbook was in the Boston Cooking School Cook Book by Mrs. D.A. Lincoln, published in 1884.

The éclair is made of pâte à choux, or choux (pronounced like shoe) pastry, the same type of dough from which we get cream puffs and profiteroles. Choux pastry is unique among pastry doughs in that it is actually cooked twice — once on the stovetop as water and butter are brought to a boil, then flour is mixed in and cooked to a thick paste before adding eggs, one at a time, to create a wet dough. The dough is then piped into rounds (for cream puffs) or oblongs (for éclairs) and baked in the oven.

To understand the science behind cooking it on the stove, think about how flour is used to thicken sauces. As the flour and water cook, the starch in the flour becomes gelatinized, which thickens the batter, and the gluten structure is altered, making the dough sturdy enough to maintain its structure in the oven, even as the water turns to steam, creating airy pockets that will hold any creamy filling you could possibly imagine.

As Daniel Gritzer explains on SeriousEats.com: “The gluten-rich, starch-strengthened mass is stretchy enough to swell as steam inflates the expanding pocket of air within it, strong enough to contain that growing bubble without tearing apart, but not so elastic that it might spring back on itself before the exterior has set and collapse like a deflating balloon.”

Now that we’ve explained the history and science behind these luscious pastries, let’s talk about the challenge. The bakers in the Great White Tent were given the challenge of making 24 éclairs — 12 each of two different flavors. They could be sweet or savory, but Paul Hollywood was looking for innovation and creativity. Mary Berry said the choux pastry should be dry on the inside (before filling, of course) and look perfect on the outside.

For my take on the challenge, I chose to make Key lime éclairs topped with toasted Swiss meringue and chocolate éclairs filled with a stracciatella cannoli filling.

To make the choux pastry, I leaned heavily on the advice of TheFlavorBender.com. She has a very detailed tutorial on choux pastry in general, as well as advice for making éclairs and chocolate choux pastry. I’ve made choux pastry before, both for Mary Berry’s religieuses technical challenge and for my Paris-Brest, but I wanted to up my game in order to perfect my éclair-making skills.

Chocolate choux, it turns out, presents its own challenges, as the cocoa powder dries out the dough somewhat and makes it heavier. Therefore, it doesn’t puff up as much in the oven. I found that, while mine puffed up slightly, they weren’t as light and airy as the regular éclairs. They were more the size of “choux fingers” than éclairs. My advice would be to pipe the chocolate ones slightly bigger so that both types of éclairs turn out the same size.

The stracciatella cannoli filling combines the flavors of two Italian favorites: Stracciatella gelato and classic cannoli. Stracciatella has a few different meanings in Italian — it can refer to an egg drop soup as well as a soft cheese made from Italian buffalo milk — but for me it conjures up memories of licking rich, chocolate-studded gelato from a crunchy cone as I stand on the sun-warmed sidewalk of a street in Rome. The difference between stracciatella and plain-old American chocolate-chip gelato is that the pieces of chocolate are irregular (in this case chopped by hand), creating a mixture of very fine chocolate shavings and small but more substantial pieces you can really sink your teeth into. 

The key to making a smooth and creamy cannoli filling is to strain the ricotta overnight, draining off the excess liquid so the filling doesn’t become watery. The recipe I used calls for folding in whipped cream at the end, making it lighter than many cannoli recipes, which simply combine ricotta cheese with powdered sugar and flavorings.

To decorate my chocolate éclairs, I spread chocolate ganache on top and, while it was still warm, drizzled melted white chocolate over it, then feathered the white chocolate with a toothpick. (See video tutorial here.)

For the Key lime éclairs, I used The Flavor Bender’s classic éclair recipe, and found this recipe for Key lime tarts that provided the custard-pie-type filling I was looking for that didn’t require baking. Lime juice and egg yolks are cooked on the stove until they thicken to a custard consistency. Then lime zest and sweetened condensed milk are added to sweeten and thicken the mixture. After chilling, it piped wonderfully, but I barely had enough to fill 12 éclairs. (I’ve changed the proportions in the recipe below to make 1½ times the original recipe, so you should have plenty!)

For the topping, I made my go-to Swiss meringue (used here), which I prefer because the egg whites are brought to a food-safe temperature. After piping it onto the filled éclairs, I used my kitchen torch to brown the edges, giving it a beautiful professional finish.

What my éclairs lacked in size consistency (especially when comparing the chocolate éclairs with the Key lime ones), they made up for in flavor. The Key lime éclairs really packed a punch, with a burst of zesty lime and marshmallowy sweet meringue in every bite. The stracciatella éclairs didn’t disappoint, either, with the deep chocolate outer shell balanced by the mildly sweet but not overpowering cannoli filling. I would definitely make both of these again, and I hope you’ll try them, too!

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Making choux pastry is a pretty exact science. For that reason, I recommend measuring ingredients by weight. A basic food scale is inexpensive and a good investment for any home baker. I provide measurements by volume here, too, but for best results, weigh your ingredients.

A Sweet Fruit Loaf