A good éclair can be hard to find, but the best, like these chocolate éclairs from famed pastry chef Joanne Chang, are absolutely spectacular. Chang loves the classic French dessert, but lightens the thick crème pâtissière by adding whipped cream for an airier consistency. The result: the fluffiest éclairs around.

What is choux pastry?

Choux pastry (or “pâte à choux”) is a common French style of pastry dough that’s also used to make pastries like cream puffs, churros, gougères, and Paris–Brests. The pastry gets its distinctive puff from a unique preparation: The butter and water are brought to a boil, at which point the baker stirs in the flour until the liquid is absorbed. Eggs are beaten in once the mixture cools. The resulting dough contains a lot of moisture, which creates steam when it hits the hot oven — inflating the pastry without the use of leavening agents. Recipes will typically have you turn the oven down after the initial high-heat blast, which lets the dough set (not burn) and preserves the billowy air pockets.

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

• If you’d rather not split the pastry, you can instead poke holes in the bottom (or at either end) and pipe in the cream using a pastry bag.


• The chocolate glaze must be used warm, so make it right before you’re ready to ice your éclairs.