No, no, macarons aren’t over – they’re just as beloved and as beautiful as always in Paris – but éclairs are moving up on the trendmeter, mostly thanks to Christophe Adam. Adam started his – and our – obsession with éclairs when he was the chef pastry chef at Fauchon and now he’s the roi of éclairs and at the head of a few éclair-only pastry shops in Paris, L’Eclair de Génie.
Eclairs, made of pâte à choux, or cream-puff dough, are perfect for playing around: they can be sweet or savory and they bake with hollow interiors, perfect space for any kind of filling.
Here’s an Adam/Fauchon Mona Lisa éclair from many years ago – it’s still spectacular
From a Paris shop, the name of which I can’t remember, caprese salad éclairs, complete with little vials of balsamic
Eclairs like Paris-Brest, the famous coffee and hazelnut dessert
And this chocolate beauty from Un Dimanche à Paris (A Sunday in Paris), which, happily for me, is just up the street from my apartment and around the corner from L’Eclair de Génie. I live in Sugarplum Central.
And if you want to make éclairs at home, here’s a new, fun book that’ll teach you how: Jenny McCoy’s Modern Eclairs
