Eclairs in Basel & Beyond

Some couples share a love of hiking or escape rooms but my husband and I have a thing with eclairs.

This photo is by the fabulous photographer Diliara Garifullina.

By which I mean that last summer we went to the Bretagne and I bought an eclair every. single. time. I saw one beginning with a series of highway pit stop bakeries because when it comes to anything with yeasted dough, I am fearless. Then my husband and I took a solo (duo?) road trip from Switzerland to Bretagne and ate all the eclairs and now it continues, so we (or maybe, he ) have decided that is our thing now.

This part begins in the 1980’s

It should come as no surprise to you, although I admit if you know anything about baking it might, that the first thing I ever baked was eclairs. I was 11. Or 13. Maybe 10. I’m not sure. It was after we moved from Lancaster County to York county so I was definitely older than 9. (Do you guesstimate memories by which house you were living in? Which city? Which country? When my kids start a sentence with “remember when…” I often have to ask them, “Which country were we in?”)

I grew up in a large-ish family with 2 sisters and 2 brothers. At that time my dad was working as the pastor of a new church, which meant he was working for pennies and prayers. Dessert was not often on the menu.

I decided to take matters into my own hands, literally, and decided to put dessert on the menu. I found a recipe for eclairs in a cookbook and proceeded to bake them. As one does. This tells you pretty much all you need to know about who I am as a person to this day: I see a need; I find a workable solution; I get my hands dirty making that solution happen; now. Then share the cake with everyone.

The eclairs I baked were spectacular. Simply phenomenal. And I’ve been hooked on eclairs ever since.

Eclairs, circa 1984

Self-baked. Cookbook, unknown.

The Very First Thing I Ever Baked In My Life. My memory still tastes the ever-so-slightly eggy pastry that had that ever-so-slightly paper thin crisp of the freshly baked dough . I remember thinking how easy it was to make something amazing. And why didn’t anyone else in my family do that. The next thing I remember baking was a cherry pie. We had a cherry tree to the side of our backyard that was 100% neglected. I remember thinking how sad it was that all the cherries would fall to the ground, be mown over, and that was that. Weren’t there starving children in the world? Wasn’t it out (Christian?) duty to not waste the food that was so plentifully right in front of us? Why did we buy bananas at the store but not eat the cherries off the tree in our yard? These were the kinds of things I would think about all.the.time. Life was whacked up and I knew it but no one else would admit it and this created so much cognitive dissonance that it took me for a wild spin that has taken me many decades to untangle myself from. Anyway, those eclairs were amazing & set the standard for all eclairs to come. (Sorry, France.)

Dolce CuCu

Allschwil, Switzerland (just 2 tram stops from the official Basel line, so, basically Basel.)

I discovered Dolce CuCu, an Italian cafe and patisserie, around 2020 when I was on a mission for Ms Hera, the cat, and wow! am I glad I did. I never stayed at the cafe cuz it doesn’t have that sitting in a living room vibe that I prefer so I can’t vouch for the coffee but the eclairs are so far the best I’ve had in Switzerland. Dolce CuCu doesn’t have a website or social media presence (which makes me love them even more, right?) but to give you a slight taste of what to expect you can find them here.

Kaphi

Basel, Switzerland

You don’t have to go to Allschwil to get Dolce CuCu Eclairs. You can get them (as well as profiteroles, cannolo, cornetto, and more) at Kaphi in Basel, which has that living room vibe I love in a cafe. Unfortunately, as of April 2025 Kaphi does not accept cash. I personally prefer paying with cash so maybe will be going straight to the source in Dolce CuCu or looking for another cafe in Basel that sells them.

A36 Rest Area, France: Nr 1

Maybe because this was the the first eclair in a year-ish and the first stop and the first eclair in a week-long eclair binge? But it was surprisingly delicious. But, maybe also, because I didn’t expect much from a truck stop eclair.

A36 Rest Area, France: Nr 2

Meh. And not only because this was the the second eclair and the second stop in a week-long eclair binge.

A36 Rest Area, France: Nr 3

Ok. This one was better than Nr 2 but not as good as Nr 1.

Boulangerie M Robin Mikaël

Plomeur, France

My only question is: why would you go to the trouble of baking an eclair when you bake it so bad? The least satisfactory eclair I have ever had in my life and makes me question everything French.

Intermarche

Plomeur, France

In an informal taste test between the local bakery and the local supermarket, the supermarket wins on all things baked goods, (And fresh fish too, but that’s another story.) Not a 5 star eclair but a solid 3 star one.

AB Boulangerie Larmor

Larmor, France

The French redeemed themselves by having one of the best eclairs I’ve ever had. A delight.

Le Péché Mignon

Lamor, France

Thankfully, we bought eclairs at the bakery around the corner because this one had zero eclairs. They did, however, have Kouign Amann, which we had no idea what it was so naturally we got it and it was like eating a sticky honey croissant bun, which, while great to try once, in my book (or, rather, on my tongue?) has nothing on an eclair.

Coop

Basel, Switzerland

Why? Perhaps this was a tribute to our summer trip but one day my husband brought home an eclair from Coop. Why? To be fair if I made hime try truck stop eclairs in France, then it is only logical to try gocery store eclairs in Switzerland. The truck stop eclairs in France were far superior and I would suggest that buying an eclair at Coop is like buying Sushi at Coop and we all know that doesn’t come with a happy ending.

Naz Deravian’s Eclair Cake

Self-baked disaster. Circa Feb 2025. Basel, Switzerland

Naz Deravian is better known for her Persian recipes but this recipe for Eclair Cake is stellar—as long as you don’t substitute cornflakes for the graham crackers. :)

All you really need to know here is that unlike The Spectacular Eclair Very First Thing I Ever Baked In My Life, my version of Naz Deravian’s Eclair Cake was spectacularly disastrous. So disastrous in fact that it is in the Top 3 Most Disgusting Things I Have Ever Baked. I can only recommend you follow the recipe, unlike me. Under exactly zero circumstances should you substitute graham crackers with corn flakes. (Don’t ask. But if you want to know see the Top 3 Most Disgusting Things I Have Ever Baked below & I also wrote about this tangentially in my zine Everyday Expeditions as one of my Flumpy Cures. (You can get that here.)

Naz Deravian is better known for her Persian recipes but if you want to try this truly stellar Eclair Cake here is a link to the recipe.

A Total, Barely Related, Tangent

Top 3 Most Disgusting Things I Have Ever Baked

3. Cookie Bars: circa 1985. I was probably around 13 years old. Again, craving something sweet. Again, not on the menu. I Started baking and midway I went to put the egg in the bowl and it turned out it was a boiled egg, not a raw egg—and the only egg we had in the house. The recipe only said “egg”, it did not say “raw egg”. My older sister walked through the kitchen just at that point and I asked her if she thought it would be okay to use a boiled egg. I knew she would know the answer because I knew for a fact that she knew everything in the world that was important to know. She hesitated, said yes, and moved on. What was worse: the dessert or realizing that my older sister did not indeed know all the important things in the world? Turns out boiled egg is not what is meant when a recipe asks for an “egg”. My family still pins that mistake on me, even though it was clearly my sister’s call, not mine. Also, let the record show, my family ate the whole entire thing that night.

2. That One Dinner in Qatar… I only have to say those words and my kids and husband know exactly what meal I’m talking about. Normally I have a talent for opening a refrigerator and making an amazing—or at least edible—meal with whatever random bits happen to be left over. Not this time. It was the only thing I ever magicked up that was completely, utterly, and unsalvageably non-consumable. We called Fabio’s Pizza and called it a night. (I don’t believe that particular night we ordered their pizza with hot dogs and french fries on it though.I believe at least one Nutella Panini.)

1. Eclair Cake: I should know by now that substitutions are not my forte. But I live in Switzerland and if I want to bake stuff that I like substitutions are inevitable. My husband searched for graham cracker substitutes and found a good long list of possibilities. We settled on Digestive Biscuits for this particular Eclair Cake recipe. Unfortunately, I could not find any at Migros and the only other substitute from that long ass list he read to me was: cornflakes. I believe the re-telling of this story could end here and feel complete. Alas, it would not be. A photo should suffice though. I don’t know what to tell you. If I was the kind of person who blamed things on menopause brain this would be an excellent candidate.

baselChristine Gerber-RuttMarch 5, 2025