Dessert
This Éclair Cake Is So Easy, an 8-Year-Old Could Make It
But so fancy that it will zhush up anyone’s table.
Éclairs are a staple of the French pastry case, elegant elongated poufs lovingly filled and dunked in ganache or fondant. You might think that means that they’re one of those things that is just too fancy to make at home, or at least not a project you should tackle without having a day or two where you can afford to be leashed to your kitchen. And sure, éclairs can be fiddly to fill without crushing them.
But if you want all that éclair flavor without the hassle, the best way to go is with Resident Carolina Gelen’s Éclair Cake, which harnesses the delicacy of the patisserie with good old-fashioned icebox cake. It’s so easy that an 8-year-old can make it—and I should know, because I recently made it with an 8-year-old.
The 8-year-old in question, my partner’s cousin, is a particularly precocious baker. He’s attempted mirror glazes and started his own “bakery” with a group of fellow schoolmates, so I knew he’d be up for a project. What’s lovely about the éclair cake, aside from the fact that it tastes very, very good, is that it harnesses the same techniques as a traditional éclair, but in a format that’s a lot more forgiving.
The staple ingredient in this éclair cake, and indeed all éclairs, is pâte à choux, an eggy dough that you cook on the stove before finishing in a stand mixer. In regular éclairs and cream puffs, the dough rises in the oven, dries out, and forms a hollow pocket inside that can be filled with pastry cream or whipped cream or sweetened cream cheese. The éclair cake version uses that same dough piped into a square—you don’t need to worry about it puffing up and forming a pocket, and if it doesn’t rise well, who cares? You’re going to layer it with pastry cream, top with another square of choux, and cover the whole thing in chocolate ganache. I promise it will taste good.
My 8-year-old friend noted that the most fun part of the process, aside from piping the pâte à choux into two careful squares that make the layers of the cake, was making chocolate ganache—you just melt chocolate into hot cream, stirring vigorously until it turns into a thick, icing-like mixture. His least favorite part? Waiting. Once you assemble the éclair cake you have to tuck it into the fridge overnight, and ideally for a whole day. Waiting is excruciating, particularly if you’re 8, but it’s the only way to get that crucial icebox cake texture. The pastry cream sets, the choux gets that crispy-gone-soggy feel, and the glossy chocolate layer tops it all off. It’s worth the wait, but pro tip: let your assistant lick the ganache spoon to make it a little easier.
Written by: Margaret Eby
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10 Comments
but this is one dessert than even an adult amateur baker like me who has done cakes, beignets, pralines, brioches, breads and the like, would not think to call it easy for an 8 year old. Making 3 separate items (pastry cream, chocolate ganache, and pate a choux) makes it more of a complicated or "too many step" dessert
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