Short answer
An eclair is a finger-shaped pastry made from choux dough, baked hollow, filled with cream or custard and finished with a glaze. Its name is French and is usually translated as lightning. It differs from a cream puff mainly in shape.
An eclair is a long, finger-shaped pastry made from choux dough, baked until hollow, filled with cream or custard and finished with a shiny glaze, most often chocolate. Eclair is a French word that means lightning. Unlike most pastry, the dough is cooked on the stove first, then piped and baked.
What is an eclair?
An eclair is a choux pastry shaped into a long finger, split or pierced, filled and glazed. The pastry is light and hollow, and the filling gives it its richness.
The word choux describes a dough made from water or milk, butter, flour and eggs. Choux means cabbages in French, a reference to the rounded shape of choux buns. When the dough is piped in a straight line instead of a round, the result is an eclair.
Eclairs belong to French pastry, though they are sold in Italian bakeries and cafes around the world. The classic flavours are chocolate and coffee, and many bakeries also make vanilla, caramel and fruit versions.
What is choux pastry?
Choux pastry is a dough cooked in a pan before baking, which makes a shell that puffs up and hollows out in the oven. It has no raising agent: steam does the work.
The method has four steps:
- Bring water, butter and salt to a boil.
- Stir in flour off the heat until a smooth paste forms, then dry the paste briefly over heat.
- Beat in eggs one at a time until the dough is glossy and falls from a spoon in a ribbon.
- Pipe the dough and bake it at high heat, then lower the heat to dry the shells.
The moisture in the dough turns to steam and pushes the shell up. The egg and cooked flour then set the structure, leaving a hollow centre that is ready to fill.
What is the filling of an eclair?
The classic eclair filling is crème pâtissière, a cooked custard thickened with flour or cornflour. Whipped cream and flavoured creams are common alternatives.
| Filling | Texture | Typical flavour |
|---|---|---|
| Crème pâtissière | Thick, smooth, spoonable | Vanilla, chocolate, coffee |
| Whipped cream | Light, airy | Mild and milky |
| Diplomat cream | Between custard and whipped cream | Vanilla, soft and rich |
| Fruit or flavoured cream | Varies | Strawberry, pistachio, caramel |
The filling is usually piped through small holes poked in the base, or the shell is split and filled like a sandwich. Bakers add flavour to the cream, then glaze the top, so the outside tells you what to expect inside.
How is an eclair different from a cream puff?
An eclair is long and finger-shaped, while a cream puff is round. Both are made from the same choux dough, and both are filled with cream.
The difference is mainly shape and finish. Cream puffs are often dusted with icing sugar and left unglazed, while eclairs are usually glazed. Profiteroles, the third relative, are small round choux balls, often served in groups with a sauce. A related pastry, the French religieuse, is made of two stacked choux balls.
How do you glaze an eclair?
An eclair is glazed with a thin coating of chocolate, fondant or caramel, spread or dipped across the top. The glaze should be smooth and just thick enough to hold its shine.
Chocolate glaze is made by warming chocolate with cream or butter. Fondant glaze is a thin sugar paste coloured and flavoured to match the filling, and it is traditional for coffee eclairs. Bakers dip the filled eclair top-down, wipe the edges for a clean line, and let the glaze set before serving.
How do you eat an eclair?
Eat an eclair with your hands, or with a fork if the glaze is soft. Hold it with the seam facing up and bite from one end.
Because eclairs are filled, they squeeze as you bite. Eating over a plate helps, and a cold eclair is easier to handle than a warm one. If you plan to serve eclairs at an event, set them out shortly before eating, since the shell softens over time.
How do you store an eclair?
Store filled eclairs in the refrigerator in a covered container and eat them within one to two days. The filling needs to stay cold, and the shell softens as it takes moisture from the cream.
Unfilled shells keep better. Keep baked shells in an airtight container for a day, or freeze them. To refresh a shell, warm it in the oven for a few minutes, let it cool completely, then fill it. Filling just before serving is the most reliable way to keep the shell crisp.
Why do eclairs go wrong?
Eclairs go wrong most often because the dough is too wet, the oven door is opened early or the shells are underbaked. Each problem has a fix.
- Flat shells: the dough was too runny. Beat in eggs gradually and stop when the dough holds a ribbon.
- Cracks and uneven rise: the oven was too hot at the start or the pipes were uneven.
- Collapse after baking: the shell was pulled out too early. Bake until deep golden, then dry in a low oven.
- Soggy shells: filling was added too early, or the pastry was stored in a humid place.
Eclairs are a good example of why many people buy them from a bakery: the timing is exact, and small errors show.
Does Cordi Italian Bakery sell eclairs?
Eclairs are not on the list of pastries recorded for Cordi Italian Bakery in Mississauga, Ontario. Directories and a 2013 review name custard-filled cornetti, custard tarts, cannoli and doughnuts instead.
Cordi has no official website or published menu, so the recorded list comes from third-party sources and may be incomplete. For a custard-based pastry, this guide’s menu page shows the custard-filled items that the sources name, and the bakery’s phone number is on the hours and location page if you want to ask what is on the counter today.
Common questions
Why is it called an eclair?
Eclair is the French word for lightning. The most common explanations are that the pastry is eaten so fast, or that the glaze shines like a flash, but nobody has settled the true reason.
What is inside an eclair?
Most eclairs hold crème pâtissière, a thick pastry cream, though whipped cream and flavoured custards are also used. The filling is piped into the hollow shell after baking and the top is glazed.
Do eclairs need to be refrigerated?
Yes, when filled with a dairy cream or custard. Keep them chilled and eat them within a day or two for the best texture, because the shell softens as it absorbs moisture from the filling.
Can you freeze eclair shells?
Yes. Unfilled baked shells freeze well in a sealed container. Re-crisp them in a warm oven for a few minutes, cool them, then fill and glaze just before serving.
Why do eclairs collapse after baking?
Usually the shells were underbaked or pulled out too early, so the steam inside was not fully dried out. A longer bake at lower heat sets the structure so the shell stays tall.
Everything practical is on the home page: Cordi Italian Bakery hours, menu and directions.
This article is general information from an independent guide, not from Cordi Italian Bakery itself. For the store’s current details see hours and location.