Eclairs

Week 39

This week's host was Jenn. She choose Eclairs. Recipe on page 441-442 of our book.
(And I guess it's week 40? Must of gotten thrown off on our July 4th) holiday.)

Ohhh a french pastry this week! Looked a little intimidating but now that we are more then half way through our baking it didn't worry me to much. I feel that we have baked some pretty complicated goods so far and can say that my confidence and baking/cooking skills have defiantly improved.

 "So, Please bake some Eclairs this week. . . no problem." :)

Looking Good!

I didn't take a picture of the pastry cream exploding inside but you can see a glimpse of it in the picture above. These Eclairs tasted exactly like ones you would by in a pastry shop. Crisp edges with a creamy inside and not to mention the chocolate to top it all off.

This recipe was very time consuming but on the other hand can be made in steps and stored until ready to assemble the next day. That is a fabulous option!

Being in this baking club convinced me to buy and standing mixer and am so glad I did. It is wonderful in every way. Now I am wondering if I should buy a food processor. There have been a number of recipes that call for this baking appliance. As you can see it wasn't fun trying to get the pastry dough off my blender blade.

We were instructed to use our pastry bag again for this recipe. I was not excited about this because, if you remember, last time when I used my pastry bag it was a complete disaster, mess, and bad baking results all together. We all learn from our mistakes. This time it was clean and came out of the oven looking just as good.

When it came time to mix the chocolate topping mine turned out to have tinny lumps in it. Didn't change the taste but I think my chocolate should of been hotter before I mixed my confectionery sugar in.

I finished them about 9:30 that night and called most of the family to the kitchen!

Even my little girl who had already been in bed for over an hour. She was thrilled to enjoy the treat I had been slaving over all day.

A beautiful looking desert! I bet you could make smaller ones, half the size to serve on a platter for a dinner party! Click HERE to bake this fancy desert.

A Tip & A Question:

1. It's always worth the work when your loved ones enjoy the result.
2. Any tips for smooth chocolate?