Éclair vs Baumkuchen (German Tree Cake)

Both desserts finish under a dark chocolate glaze, yet they use their shared butter, eggs and cream very differently. The éclair beats whole eggs into a boiled butter-and-water dough, baking it into a puffed, firm choux shell filled with cream whipped to stiff peaks with powdered sugar and vanilla, then dipped in chocolate melted with butter. Baumkuchen separates its eggs, folding whipped whites into a creamed butter batter scented with vanilla and almond for a light crumb, broiling it in fifteen thin layers, each a distinct golden ring, and saving cream for its poured glaze.