Sunday, August 31, 2008

Éclair Nightmare: Daring Bakers’ August Challenge

The selected challenge for August was Éclairs, specifically a recipe by Pierre Hermé from a cookbook written by Dorie Greenspan called Chocolate Desserts By Pierre Hermé. Initially I was excited for this challenge. I have never made an éclair and I thought it would be fun. My schedule has been completely crazy with the return of law school classes two weeks ago. So, I do not have time to try multiple batches.

I made a raspberry pastry cream with fresh raspberry puree and folded in a little whipped cream to lighten it up. I glazed the top of the éclair with a white chocolate ganache. (I was going to make semi-sweet chocolate ganache, but with all the disappointment, I did not want to open a new package of chocolate to use such a small amount. I used white chocolate from a package already opened.) Also, if you have been paying attention you realize that I have been using éclair in the singular. That was deliberate and on purpose. Out of the two batches of chox pastry dough that I made, I only had ONE éclair shell that did not deflate. So, I filled and glazed that one shell and claimed completion of the challenge on a technicality.

Challenge #2 technically complete. I give my self a C+ for completion, but always an A for effort!


Photos of both batches of deflated shells.


One successful shell full and sliced in half.

16 comments:

  1. Congrats on ur lone eclair creation! ;)

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  2. Mine deflated as well for the first batch. Like the idea of fusing raspberry cream though! ;)

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  3. Some of mine deflated too, so I know how you feel! That one that did stay puffed looks lovely.

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  4. Choux can be tricky! Kudos to you for sticking with it. Your eclair looks great and the white chocolate-raspberry combo sounds amazing! Hope classes are going well for you.

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  5. Good for you for sticking it out. I like the combination of white chocolate and raspberry. Gald to know that I'm not the only lawyer/baker around:)

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  6. choux can be a difficult dough- just keep trying. i love the flavor combination- I bet it tasted fantastic!

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  7. One??? Oh that sucks!
    I bet that one was yummy!

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  8. It's at least a B for completion. You had one turn out perfect. :) I love the raspberry cream. YUM!

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  9. I love to hear that I am not the only one that has issues! You did a great job on what you had available! Keep going, and I will be sure to check in on next months challenge.

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  10. But you finished it! Great job..and the white chocolate raspberry sounds fantastic
    marye
    http://www.bakingdelights.com/2008/08/31/daring-bakers-august-challengeeclairs

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  11. At least there was the loner in that crowd.:)
    I always have issues and this was the first time the challenge worked for me, though it was "eggy". But If there was a grade higher than and A+ you desrve it for the effort. You're not a DB for nothing.:)

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  12. I had problems with mine deflating as well. Great try, though!

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  13. Mine were pretty deflated, too. I just cut them in half anyway and used them flat as they were! Your puffy one looks great!

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  14. Oh no! Only one puffed? Well, after all of that, it must have been the best éclair ever! You definitely get an A+ for effort.

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  15. Don't worry u will get A+ next time.Just carry on..

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