This striking professional guide demonstrates the full creative potential of the éclair, transforming a classic pastry into a canvas for innovation. Author Joakim Prat brings formidable credentials—former head pastry chef at Can Fabes in Spain (3 Michelin stars) and L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in London (2 Michelin stars)—to bear on techniques that will transform how you think about choux pastry. Prat's approach is both methodical and inspiring. After exploring key ingredients, he reveals two distinct choux techniques: one for traditional buns and showstoppers like religieuse and croquembouche, and a game-changing method for éclairs that involves drying the dough directly in the stand mixer bowl—a technique that produces superior results. What follows is a masterclass in component building. Prat shares recipes for luxurious cream fillings, silky mousses, vibrant coulis and gels, complex caramels and pralinés, mirror-perfect glazes, and sculptural chocolate decorations. Every technique is illuminated with step-by-step photography that makes even the most sophisticated preparations achievable. The real excitement comes in the assemblies—dramatic creations that push éclairs far beyond their traditional boundaries. Glazed, sliced, molded, and savory varieties showcase Prat's fearless imagination: kalamansi éclairs that sparkle with citrus intensity, lime-basil combinations that blur sweet and savory, tiramisu interpretations that capture the beloved dessert in pastry form, and tarte tatin éclairs that reimagine the classic upside-down apple tart. Even his takes on familiar flavors—chocolate, blackberry, coffee caramel—feel revelatory, elevated by technique and presentation that transforms the expected into the extraordinary. Hardcover. Color photographs throughout. In English.
