Signature Éclairs is Joakim Prat’s first book and a love letter to his favourite format: the éclair.

Across 320 pages, the Michelin-starred chef shares his contemporary vision of choux pastry, unveiling the techniques behind his colourful, refined éclairs and choux pieces. More than 1,000 step-by-step photos, chef’s tips and detailed work processes turn this into a practical manual for pastry professionals and serious enthusiasts alike.

The book is built in two main pillars. The first covers theory and foundations: understanding ingredients and their function, essential equipment and tools, what happens inside the oven during baking, and how to balance flavours and textures for a well-structured pastry. From there, Prat guides you through all the base recipes that support his creations – several pâte à choux recipes (including gluten-free), creams and mousses, fruit coulis and gels, pralinés and caramels, sablés and other crunchy elements, glazes, and chocolate decorations. Each family of preparations is organized so you can create multiple variations from the same workflow.

The second pillar is the Signature Collection, where those techniques come to life in 38 sweet and savoury creations. Classic glazed éclairs, craquelin choux, elegant raspberry–vanilla choux disks, éclairs topped with macarons, moulded and sliced éclairs, towering pièces montées and savoury flavours like salmon–avocado or chicken satay show the breadth of Joakim’s style. Every composition is broken down into its components and photographed in detail, so you can reproduce his clean lines, sharp glazing and precise piping in your own pastry lab or bakery.

In this book you’ll find:

• 38 signature choux and éclair creations, both sweet and savoury, showcasing Joakim Prat’s modern, graphic style.

• A full “Preparation” section on ingredient understanding, equipment and tools, baking science, and balancing flavours and textures.

• A comprehensive “Basic Recipes” section: multiple pâte à choux recipes (including gluten-free), creams, mousses, fruit coulis and compotées, pralinés and caramels, sablés and other pastry elements, glazes and chocolate decorations.

• Clear work processes with chef’s tips, piping guidance (including texture and ribbon-test visuals), and production-oriented advice.

• Step-by-step photographic sequences for shaping, baking, filling and finishing éclairs and choux in different styles and formats.

For pastry chefs, instructors and advanced home bakers, Signature Éclairs is both a creative inspiration and a technical handbook – a way to master pâte à choux from the ground up and to bring a new, highly personal éclairs collection into your showcase.

• Language: English
• Author(s): Joakim Prat
• 320 pages
• Published in 2024