Look out for: a balance of fresh thin pastry, cream that isn’t stale or over-whipped and a rich chocolate topping.

Guest panellist: Billy Drabble, executive chef at Aubergine, London SW10 (020-7352 3449).

THE TOP THREE

***** Marks & Spencer 2 Large Chocolate Éclairs, £1.39

Big and plump-looking, there’s a richness and fullness of flavour here. Cool cream squirts out when you bite in, the chocolate has a lovely hint of bitterness and you don’t feel dirty after eating one. Perfect.

**** Waitrose 4 Chocolate Éclairs, £1.29

Plenty of fresh-tasting cream and a rich, gooey dark-chocolate topping. As you eat, the pastry melts away with the cream, leaving a delicate chocolate flavour.

**** Tesco 2 Temptingly Rich Fresh Cream Chocolate Éclairs, 84p

A little insubstantial, but the caramel-coloured pastry is thin and light, and the chocolate has an appetising sheen.

AND THE REST…

*** Sainsbury’s 4 Fresh Cream Chocolate Éclairs, £1.24

The chocolate’s not that bad, but otherwise a factory-line approximation of an éclair that’s almost more chore than treat.

** Asda 4 Fresh Cream Chocolate Éclairs, £1.58

Not much cream filling in this and the pastry is cakey. You get a smear of fondant-like chocolate topping, which tastes nice initially, but vanishes into a spongy, stodgy workout for your jaws.

** Morrisons The Best 2 Fresh Cream & Belgian Chocolate Éclairs, £1.69

There’s no balance here. The chocolate is thick and painfully sugary, the cream is buttery and stale, and you’re left chewing through pastry that’s like a bread crust. Bon appétit.

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