| Éclair | |
| Image Alt: | Éclairs at Fauchon in Paris |
| Country: | France |
| National Cuisine: | French cuisine |
| Type: | Pastry |
| Main Ingredient: | Choux pastry, flavoured cream filling, icing |
An éclair ([1] or,[2] in French eklɛːʁ/;) is a pastry 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, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a pastry bag and baked until it is crisp and hollow inside. Once cool, the pastry is filled with custard (French: crème pâtissière), whipped cream or chiboust cream, then iced with fondant icing.[3] 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 French: bâton de Jacob . A similar pastry in a round rather than oblong shape is called a religieuse.
The word comes from the French, meaning 'flash of lightning', so named because it is eaten quickly (in a flash);[4] however some believe that the name is due to the glistening of the frosting resembling lightning.[5]
The éclair originated during the nineteenth century in Lyon,[6] France where it was called French: pain à la Duchesse ('Duchess-style bread') or French: petite duchesse ('little duchess') until 1850. The word is first attested both in English and in French in the 1860s.[7] [8]
Dunkin' Donuts markets Long John doughnuts as eclairs in the United States.[9] National Eclair Day is celebrated on June 22 in the U.S.[10]