A good éclair is more than the sum of its pastry, filling, and glaze parts—it’s a study in simple contrasts in texture and flavor. Fortunately, making excellent éclairs at home can be done with relative ease.
Pâte à choux, or cream puff paste, is the most elemental type of French pastry, and it forms the pastry for our éclairs recipe. In our pâte à choux, we chose to use a combination of milk and water—during baking, the former helps the pastry ...