How to spot a good Eclair au Chocolat

Eclair is, in my opinion, one of the most well-known French dessert. As a Nomster, I have tried a high amount of different eclairs (mainly chocolate flavor) in different countries and heard the criteria for a good Eclair many times throughout my life via my (French) mother. There are a variety of signs that can tell you if the eclair is going to be good. Here are a few tips:

1. Creme patissiere: this is the cream that fills the eclair. It is very important that it is chocolate/coffee flavored depending on the eclair of your choice and most importantly that the creme is NOT white. I have had many disappointments upon buying or finding those shaped like and called eclairs but filled with whipped cream. If you see white cream in the inside, remember, it is an impostor.  
2. Chocolate icing on top of the eclair. On a good eclair, the chocolate icing should be shiny. I find it aesthetically more appealing and it also shows that it is not the same cream used for the filling and the covering. 
3. Dough: this is something that can only be tested once in your mouth. The eclair dough has to be soft and moist. If it is too chewy and dry, it means the dough was left on the fire for too long. 
4. The filling: the filling inside of an eclair is called creme patissiere. This cream should be filling the eclair generously. If not, the eclair may feel rather dry. 
5. The taste of creme patissiere: a good one will obviously taste like chocolate or coffee. Sounds obvious but I have come across some that were rather tasteless! 
6. Consistency of creme patissiere: the cream inside should neither be too liquid or too thick. If too liquid, eating it without any spill will be a challenge and if too thick, it will make the eclair heavy. 

Below is a chocolate eclair from a French boulangerie that opened in West London. As you can see the icing in very shiny and dark and the filling tasted like chocolate with a good consistency. The only minus point was the dough that could be softer. 

The next eclair is from Maison Blanc at Chiswhick. This one was absolutely delicious: the dough was light and the filling was exceptionally good. It was pretty thick and you could really taste the chocolate (you can also see it's pretty legit by the colour of the filling as well!). The only minus point was that they were a little stingy on the chocolate icing on top.

Filled with deliciousness!

Hope this will help you identify more authentic eclairs :)