National Chocolate Éclair Day Date in the current year: June 22, 2024

Éclairs appeared in France in the 1860s and were called “petite duchesss” or “pain à la duchesss”. Later pastry was called éclairs and the name is still widely used today. French word “éclair” means "the flash of the lightning" and no one can tell how it became the name for the pastry. Some food historians believe, that glaze of éclairs glistens like a lightning, that suggested then name. But we think, that fresh éclairs disappear as fast as the lightning, that is why they were called so.

Did you known that in some parts of the United States another type of pastry, Long Johns, was sold under the name “éclairs”? Long Johns and éclairs have nothing in common. While éclairs are made with choux dough, Long Johns are baked with donut dough. The filling also differs. Long Johns are filled with vanilla pudding or custard, that makes them less expensive and simpler to make than real éclairs.