Daring Bakers time again, my friends. This month's recipe, chosen by Meeta and Tony, is from a book I'm dying to get: Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé.
Thus, I was excited from the get go. Even more so when I actually read the recipe and realized that this was all about éclairs. Something I've never tried. As in, never, ever, tried. Not to eat, not to make.
I have made cheese puffs, using a choux pastry dough with cheese, and loads of armpower. (Most of it provided by my able friends.) That was.. not so much fun actually, but quite tasty in the end.
This recipe turned out to be a lot easier. First of all - there was specific instructions for using a stand mixer. Excellent. That sure saved my shoulder from excessive beating. And second of all - I didn't encounter a single snag, because I was so appallingly late in doing this that many other Daring Bakers had already put up their posts, complete with good tips.
Thanks in particular to Fanny, who mentioned spraying the dough with water after shaping and also slitting the baked puffs with a knife right away. I did both - misting the dough once right before going in the oven and twice during baking, and then slitting them open straight away when they were done. Which they were after about 17 minutes. I have a convection oven and didn't bother with the rotating sheet thing. Sorry. But other than that, I followed the instructions.
Wait. More or less. Because I didn't make a pastry cream. I know, I know. But the guidelines gave us some leeway there, and I ended up just mixing vanilla custard (from a box!!) with some whipped cream. I had plans to add fresh berries, but the realities of life foiled me once again and well, no berries. I bet it'd have worked really well though, a few fat raspberries tucked underneath the glazed tops... well, next time. They were delicious just like this though. I particularly liked the chocolate glaze - that recipe is a keeper for sure!
You can find the recipes here, the blogroll here, and the discussion forums - open to everyone! - here.
I translated the parts of the recipe that I used - you can find that here.
41 comments:
Nice tips from Fanny! Maybe that would cut back on how eggy I thought these were.
Ohhh, the pastry cream was the best part! But life is like that some days.
What a beautiful job you did with your eclairs. I made mine this morning leaving it to the very last minute...no room for error;)
They look lovely. I'll try to do mine tomorrow after work... :-)
gorgeous. I hear about life sometimes foiling your blog plans. But, clearly it all worked out for the best.
I love how your glaze drips down the sides of the eclairs. Yum! Great job, they are lovely.
I love your blog. I too have a convection oven, and it didn't even occur to me to use it. I was a dummie and did not read the other members pitfalls. So far so good. terrific post.
Great post , pictures, and job. Hey I bet the custard and berries worked great.
What scrumptious looking Eclairs! Really beautiful! Great job here!
Cheers,
Rosa
mm yours look great
really good job.
i love how the glaze drips off the end, looks so appetising!
I did with berries instead of you, it's the same, isn't it?
your eclairs looks beautiful but I'm suggestin you to use the cream version without chocolate, as I did, is perfect and I must confess I thought about mixing with whipped cream eheheh
Ohh! YUM!!
The chocolate glaze is dripping!! (*wipes saliva*)
They look very yummy!
So...you did better with these not knowing what they were than I did knowing! They have perfect air pockets. Looks fantastic.
Your pastry shells look rather perfect. Great work!
Beautiful job! I used my convection too... definitely the way to go!
Oh My Gosh I haven't made eclair's in years. They look perrrrfect! Take Care :)
Your eclairs are stunning and look so very happy sitting in the sunshine! cheers!
After seeing the glaze in your photos, I'm a believer, I definitely must try it! :)
oh shit vad dom där såg smarriga ut..vill haaaa......
Your eclairs look so yummy! Make me wanna make them again!
What a great introduction to eclairs. I didn't read a lot of the tips - was too short of time to blog much.
Really pays off though. Your eclairs look tasty.
Ciao Anne I must say they look great ! I'm addicted to cookbooks as well I'll look through your list . And many miao from my four (sadly) cats !
Beautiful! Those look so yummy I love anything with berries and cream you just can't go wrong. Great blog
The glaze dripping off your eclairs makes me want to lick the screen. Beautiful!
These sure look beautiful, bravo!
They look just beautiful! I'm with you about waiting until other people make theirs first & then getting all the hints off the forum
Gorgeous! I love the macro shots of the chocolate dripping down the side of the eclair. Plus, looks like we were on the same wavelength with the berries and cream!
Great eclairs - they look just perfect!
YES! Those are picture perfect :) I take my hat off to you for rising to the challenge!
YES! Those are picture perfect :) I take my hat off to you for rising to the challenge!
I'm sure berries would have been good but they look just perfect without them too!
Looks delicious... It seems like you're an expert eclair maker based on your excellent results. Do try the pastry cream when you have time -- it's definitely a keeper.
Your eclairs look great! And the puddles of glaze...ahh.... Awesome job!
I think your eclairs look perfect with the puddling chocolate. Ooey and gooey and creamy. Great job on the challenge!
Wow!! Your eclairs look absolutely fantastic. They made my mouth water. And your photography is terrific. All around good job.
Your eclairs look so decadent with the glaze running down to the plate. I wish I could reach into the photo and steal one from the plate :)
Your photography is amazing... truly edible photos of perfect eclairs!
Your eclairs look wonderful. I should try the chocolate glaze next time.
Ooo... your eclairs look devilishly delicious; I can just taste it now! I just love the photos of the dribbling chocolate sauce :) Way to go on this month's challenge
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