Éclairs are something I associate with bakeries, not with home cooking. But as I first discovered with Dorie’s Gougères, back when we first started French Fridays, choux pastry is much more accessible than the results would suggest. The pastry cream filling and the glaze for the top were equally simple.
I added cinnamon to my pastry cream and ground ginger to the lemony glaze. The flavours really work well together. I’m looking forward to seeing what combinations and variations the rest of the French Fridays crew came up with.
I didn’t make these gluten-free, so only baked a few and froze the rest to pass on to my parents. I am going to try gluten-free choux pastry, though. I recently came across this recipe from Gluten Free Canteen and it looks wonderful. It’s great that there are so many talented gluten-free bakers blogging these days. For now, though, I’m going to go enjoy another of Dorie’s delicious éclairs.
You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Vanilla Éclairs
One Wet Foot 
Teresa, Lovely job! I love that you played with the flavors by using cinnamon and ginger. What a nice way to bump it up a notch! Glad you found a gluten free recipe.
Thanks, Kathy! When I do get ’round to trying the gluten-free version, I’ll be sure to post the results.
I love cinnamon. It sounds like a great combination!
Looking at your photos I realised I forgot the recipe had a glaze! Great to see what Dorie had in mind. Great photos!
Thanks! I think mine were a little more misshapen than Dorie’s though. I really have to work on my piping skills…
Ginger and cinnamon – what great flavors for eclairs. These look so good, Teresa! I wish I had some to go with my morning coffee.
Thanks, Elaine – they did make a good breakfast treat.
Ginger and cinnamon. Hmmm. Very lovely.
I know that you are an éclair purist, Cher!
Oh, that sounds good…not a combo I had thought of. I’ll have to add your ideas to my list of things to do…soon…would also be nice for the holidays.
Thanks, Krissy – it would be a good combination for holiday baking. I’ll have to keep that in mind, too.
Cinnamon cream and ginger glaze sound terrific. I love the loopy way your cream is piped inside the eclair. I was disappointed that my pastry didn’t puff very much, but the eclairs still tasted very good.
It was fun to pipe the pastry cream and I think I was a little more successful at it than I was piping the éclairs themselves!
Cinnamon and Ginger together in an eclair? Now, that’s something I can definitely fall in love with rather quickly! This is a great twist on Dorie’s recipe.
Thanks, Maya – I liked the combination a lot, especially the slight kick of the ginger.
I love your spicy twist on the vanilla pastry cream and the glace! I think it is wonderful that there are gluten free alternatives even for these pastries.
Thanks, Adriana – I was so happy when I found that g-f recipe. I’m looking forward to trying it sometime, but I think I’ll wait until there’s an occasion when there are more people than just the two of us to eat them…
Oooh, such lovely additions! And good luck with your gluten free eclairs 🙂
Thanks, Liz!
Yummy! Cinnamon and ginger sound really good 🙂
I really liked the combination, Yuri. There’s so many flavour possibilities for these.
Ooh, the cinnamonpastry cream sounds amazing. These were good weren’t they!
They were really great, too great to make very often (unless there’s a crowd around)!
Very cool, love your cinnamon and Ginger flavor adaption to Dorie’s eclair recipe, they look scrumptious. I’m glad you enjoyed this installment in our cooking journey;-)
Thanks, Patty – I think I enjoyed it a little too much, actually! I was *very* full…
Oh dear those look good. I won’t bake things like that because I have no willpower, but I remember when my mother went to a lot of trouble to make some once. They were incredibly delicious. She was incredibly angry when I snuck into the kitchen and ate, let us say, more than my share. It was a very, very long time ago and the memory is very fresh indeed.
That’s a great story, Gerry! My partner has a similar one about some cheese, which his mother still likes to tell.
I am so impressed with your cinnamon and ginger version – that is really creative!!
Thanks, luciacara! They were quite delicious.
These eclairs are a work of art! My, my- you really wield a mean piping tip- I simply need to practice, practice & practice some more. Your flavorings sound so yummy, too!
Thanks, Beverly! I think I need a little more pratice, too – I just have to make sure I’m going to have lots of people to share with when I do! I enjoyed the combination of flavours and would like to try some other variations. There were so many good ideas in all the French Friday folks’ posts.
The cinnamon looks lovely in your eclairs.
Thanks, Christina – it turned out really well, I think.