Dave Smith wrote:

> Reg wrote:
>
> The classic chocolate eclair can have whipped cream, pastry cream or
> custard. The latter two are cheap imitations of the real thing.....whipped
> cream.
>
> My mother used to make chocolate eclairs regularly. She is the only person
> I knew who made them at home, and she always used whipped cream. Bakeries
> use pastry cream, or its cousin, custard, because they are cheaper.

I'd be the last person to tell you what your eclair can and
can't have in it. We do disagree on it's history, though.
The classic eclair recipe has a custard type filling or some
version of what is referred to as French cremes.

And it's completely wrong to say that pastry cream is somehow
an "imitation" of whipped cream. They have different applications
(one is more stable than the other) and they appeal to different
tastes.

--
Reg