When it comes to Eclairs, Ralph ( † 09/01/2022) should not be missing. If anyone was a perfectionist, it was Ralph. Always looking for better even if it was good. And so it has been with the Eclairs that have been available in our store for years.
The Eclair is originally a French delicacy that was available in French pastry shops from the end of the 18th century. The product owes its name to the fact that you can actually eat it quickly (and easily). In French, Eclair means "lightning bolt" and that is why this name was chosen by the pastry chef who invented it.
An Eclair is actually an elongated choux filled with vanilla cream and a layer of fondant on top. And yet the combination of, for example, Vanilla and an Eclair is a true taste sensation in your mouth. They are absolutely friends and they can't live without each other. If you eat this and concentrate on what you taste, you will forget everything around you.
The Eclair from Bond and Smolders is different from a traditional Eclair.
Basically it is a bit of a boring product. The choux batter has little flavor and there is actually no "bite" to it. The taste of course comes from the filling and topping, but according to Ralph, the mouthfeel had to be different. And that's where perfection comes into play again. After long and frequent experimentation, a layer of shortbread dough with extra sugar was placed on the Eclair. This is baked with the Eclair. This gives the basic Eclair a hint of sweetness and, more importantly, a bite! Perfect.
The great thing about an Eclair is that you can vary endlessly with flavors for the filling and topping. We do that every week at Bond and Smolders. Our pastry chefs like to give free rein to their imagination to come up with a special Eclair every week for our customers to enjoy!