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Chocolate eclairs
A wrapped toffee with a heart of chocolate, the chocolate eclair sweet is not the cream filled pastry of the same name. Here is what goes into them, and the diet and safety points worth knowing.
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Chocolate eclairs are wrapped sweets made of chewy toffee or caramel with a chocolate centre. Cadbury makes them under the name Eclairs, which is one of its brands, and one UK retailer describes them as a layer of chewy caramel around a heart of Cadbury chocolate.
Two recipes
Cadbury Eclairs, as photographed for Open Food Facts. Glucose syrup, sugar, palm oil, skimmed milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, whey permeate powder from milk, milk fat, the emulsifiers E471 and E442, salt, flavourings, and sodium carbonates as an acidity regulator.
Tesco Milk Chocolate Eclairs, as recorded by Open Food Facts. Glucose syrup, sugar, milk chocolate (20 per cent, with at least 28 per cent cocoa solids), palm oil, condensed skimmed milk, butter, salt, soya lecithins and flavouring. Tesco labels them as suitable for vegetarians.
Toffee outside, chocolate inside
The chewy part is a milk toffee or caramel, made with milk, sugar and fat: see how is toffee made? and what is the difference between toffee and caramel? Tesco's recipe lists milk chocolate as 20 per cent of the sweet; for how chocolate itself is made, see how is chocolate made?
Diet, allergy and safety points
- Milk. Both recipes contain milk, so they are not suitable for anyone with a milk allergy or for vegans: see milk in sweets
- Soya. Tesco's contains soya lecithins; Cadbury's, as photographed, lists E442 and E471 as its emulsifiers instead: see soya in sweets
- Palm oil. Both recipes contain palm oil: see palm oil in sweets
- Choking. Cadbury's pack says the sweets are not suitable for children under 4.
The 2008 recall in China
On 29 September 2008, Cadbury withdrew all 11 chocolate products made in its three Beijing factories, on suspicion of contamination with melamine. The recall affected mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia, and the products recalled included Chocolate Eclairs. For Cadbury's earlier salmonella recall in the UK, see the Cadbury salmonella scare of 2006
Toffee cousins
For a toffee sweet dusted in icing sugar instead, see toffee bonbons
In our pick and mix
We sell 
Chocolate Toffee Eclairs by the 100 g. Recipes differ between makers, so the card opens up to show the full ingredients and allergens for the chocolate eclairs we actually stock.
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For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
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Questions and answers
What are chocolate eclairs made of?
Tesco's, as recorded on Open Food Facts: glucose syrup, sugar, milk chocolate (20 per cent), palm oil, condensed skimmed milk, butter, salt, soya lecithins and flavouring.
Are chocolate eclairs vegetarian?
Tesco's are labelled vegetarian, and one UK retailer shows a vegetarian symbol for Cadbury Eclairs. They contain milk, so they are not vegan.
Do chocolate eclairs contain gluten?
Neither recipe here lists wheat or other cereals containing gluten, but always check the pack.
Do chocolate eclairs carry a choking warning?
Cadbury's pack, as photographed for Open Food Facts, carries a choking warning saying they are not suitable for children under 4.
Sources
- Cadbury Eclairs, 130 g, product record, Open Food Facts
- Tesco milk chocolate eclairs, 175 g, product record, Open Food Facts
- Cadbury chocolate eclairs 130g, product listing, Sweets and Candy
- Cadbury, Wikipedia
Keep reading
- How it is madeHow is toffee made?Toffee is sugar or treacle boiled with butter to the hard crack stage, 149 to 154°C, then poured out to set. Cooked less, it stays chewier.
- Sweet by sweetToffee bonbonsToffee bonbons are chewy toffee sweets dusted in icing sugar. Made with condensed milk, they suit vegetarians but contain milk. What else is in them.
- How it is madeHow is chocolate made?Cocoa beans are fermented, dried, roasted and shelled; the nibs are ground to liquor, mixed with sugar and often milk, then conched smooth and tempered.
- Diet, allergens and labelsMilk in sweetsMilk is one of the 14 allergens. It turns up in chocolate, fudge, toffee, caramel and butterscotch, sometimes as milk powder or whey. How to spot it on a label.
- Diet, allergens and labelsSoya in sweetsSoya can appear in sweets as soya lecithin, E322, an emulsifier used in chocolate. Soya is one of the 14 allergens, though some soya ingredients are exempt.
- How it is madeWhat is the difference between toffee and caramel?Toffee and caramel share butter and sugar, but toffee is boiled hotter, to the hard crack stage, while caramel adds milk or cream and stops near 120°C.