Éclair (pastry)
 Classical éclair |
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| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | France |
| Details | |
| Type | Pastry |
| Main ingredient(s) | Choux pastry, coffee- or chocolate-flavoured cream, icing |
An éclair is an oblong pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with icing.
The dough, which is the same as that used for profiterole, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a pastry bag and baked until it is crisp and hollow inside. Once cool, the pastry then is filled with a coffee- or chocolate-flavoured[1] pastry cream (crème pâtissière), custard, whipped cream, or chiboust cream; and iced with fondant icing.[1] Other fillings include pistachio- and rum-flavoured custard, fruit-flavoured fillings, or chestnut purée. The icing is sometimes caramel, in which case the dessert may be called a bâton de Jacob.[2]
Other old variants use petit four dough.
Contents |
[edit] Etymology
The word comes from French éclair 'flash of lightning.' The semantic connection is unclear.
[edit] History of the éclair
The éclair probably originated in France during the nineteenth century. It is a popular type of cake served all over the world. The word is first attested both in English and in French in the 1860s.[3][4] Some food historians speculate that éclairs were first made by Antonin Carême (1784–1833), the famous French chef.[citation needed] The first known English-language recipe for éclairs appears in the Boston Cooking School Cook Book by Mrs. D.A. Lincoln, published in 1884.
[edit] Outside France
In some parts of the United States, Long Johns are marketed under the name éclairs, though the two are not identical. A Long John uses donut pastry and is typically filled with vanilla pudding or custard, making it a simpler and inexpensive alternative to the éclair.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Montagné, Prosper, Larousse gastronomique : the new American edition of the world's greatest culinary encyclopedia, Jenifer Harvey Lang, ed., New York: Crown Publishers, 1988, p. 401 ISBN 978-0-517-57032-6
- ^ (Montagné 1961, p. 365, Éclair)
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 1861. Petit Larousse, 1863.
- ^ Gouffé, Jules (1873). "Entremets détachés" (in French) (PDF). Le Livre de Pâtisserie. Paris: Hachette. p. 288. http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k107860n.image.f310. Retrieved 2009-03-24. "On a changé, depuis une vingtaine d'années, le nom de ces gâteaux [pains à la duchesse] : on les désigne actuellement sous le nom d'éclairs."
[edit] References
- Jules Gouffé, Le livre de pâtisserie, 1873 [1], Deuxième Partie, Chapitre IX, "Pains à la duchesse au café"
- Prosper Montagné, Larousse Gastronomique, The Encyclopedia of Wine, Food & Cookery (English translation), 1961
[edit] External links
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