Chocolate Eclairs – August’s Daring Baker’s Challenge August 31, 2008

Is it really September tomorrow!?!  I can’t believe how fast my summer went considering my husband and I haven’t had a whole lot going on.  Besides one wedding and two 80th birthday parties.  Oh yeah, and the hub studying for his CPA all summer…I guess that would make it fly.  The good news is we found out just last week he is officially a CPA!  Was that ever a long road to go through with someone! 

On to August’s challenge.  My favorite donut from Dunkin Donuts is the custard filled with chocolate glaze, which is very similar to a chocolate eclair, it may even be called that.  I actually made my first batch with more of a custard than a pastry cream, but not on purpose. 

My first batch of the Pate a Choux (don’t worry, I’m not sure how it’s pronounced either…) turned out ok.  Instead of piping them out like eclairs, I piped them so they were smaller and would be more of a puff.  I realized after  baking, filling and trying two of them why I was a little disappointed on how they turned out.  I piped the pate a choux in circles instead of just one pile…if that really makes any sense.  (See picture below)  My second batch I pipped longer strips, froze them, cut them into the size I wanted and then baked.  They turned out so much better and the pastry cream went into them wonderfully.  I also made the chocolate pastry cream given for this challenge for my second batch, loved it! 

Thanks to Tony Tahhan and MeetaK for hosting this month.  The Eclair recipe came from a book called Chocolate Desserts By Pierre Hermé.  Checkout the DB’s Blogroll to see all the different varieties of eclairs you can try!

Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé

Éclairs consist of 3 elements:

- Pâte à Choux, also known as Choux Pastry or Cream Puff Dough
- Pastry Cream
- Chocolate glaze

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with
waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.
Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.
Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.
The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the
handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the
oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue
baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking
time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:
1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the
bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40
degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of
the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the
bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms
with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream
and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:
1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,
stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create
bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the
boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very
quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You
need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough
will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your
handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time,
beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.
You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do
not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you
have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it
should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking
sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the
piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil.  In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled.  Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice-water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it  remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice-water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

1) The pastry cream can be made 2-3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze

I used a basic ganache recipe for the glaze.  The same one I used for the Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars. 

Spaghetti Pie August 20, 2008

I can’t remember the last time I made my husband and I the traditional spaghetti dinner.  I made this dish once and decided I would take it over the traditional spaghetti almost any night.  Love it!  So simple too.  It can be made the night before and baked the next day. 

Spaghetti Pie

(Recipe from:  Favorite Recipes by Bethel C.R.C. Mops)

8 oz cooked spaghetti

2 Tbsp margarine

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup grated parmesan

8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

1-32 oz jar spaghetti sauce (any kind)

1 lb. cooked-drained ground beef

Mix spaghetti, eggs, margarine and parmesan.  Put into buttered 12-inch pie plate or round casserole dish.  Form mixture into a crust and press down.  Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  Remove from oven and top with spaghettic sauce mixed with ground beef.  Cover with mozzarella chese and bake 35 more minutes.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars August 17, 2008

I’m going to warn you right now, these things are very rich, BUT extremely good!  So if you are not a huge fan of extremely rich desserts, I’d stay away from these things.  When I saw these bars on Peabody’s blog, the recipe went straight to my “To Bake” pile (probably about 6 months ago).  Peabody took parts of this recipe from Caprial’s Desserts.  I think I should put this recipe book on my “To Purchase” list.  Peabody has made many recipes from it and they all look so good!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Quarters

(Recipe from:  Peabody)

1 cup cold unsalted butter, diced

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup peanut butter

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9×13 pan and set aside.

Place the butter and both sugars in the bowl of a mixer and beat on high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs and vanilla, then add the peanut butter and mix well.  Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated.  Increase the speed to medium and mix just until the dough is smooth.

Spread the cookie dough evenly in the greased pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  If you want a less doughy cookie, bake for 10 minutes longer. 

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Layer

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

milk

In a mixer combine the cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar.  Mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes.  Add the milk slowly until it becomes a spreadable consistency.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Ganache

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup peanut butter

Place the chocolate chips and peanut butter in a bowl.  Heat the cream up to a boil.  Once it starts to boil, pour it over the chocolate chips and peanut butter.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Stir until smooth.

Assemble:  Once the cookie dough layer is out of the oven, let it cool completely.  Spread the cream cheese layer.  Then follow up with the ganache layer.

Enjoy!

Zucchini-Carrot Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing August 11, 2008

It’s zucchini season!  Besides homemade banana bread, Zucchini bread is another one of my favorites!  Probably the mixture of the shredded zucchini along with the spices make my mouth water.  Check back for a good Zucchini Bread recipe, but for now, some carrot-zucchini muffins.

This recipe is from Martha Stewart.  It got mixed reviews on her website, but I really like ‘em and would make them again.  They are healthier then your normal zucchini bread/muffin so of course not as sweet, but a good replacement.  Carrots are one of the vegetables that I can not make myself start liking (raw or cooked) but I can handle them in breads/cakes, so this is a good recipe to get the nutrition from carrots in my diet.

I think my food photography could use some work…

Carrot-Zucchini Yogurt Muffins

(Recipe from Martha Stewart)

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 large carrots, peeled and grated (1 1/2 cups)

1 medium zucchini, grated (1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 large eggs, separated

2 Tbsp unsulfured molasses

1 tsp finely grated orange zest (omitted)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.  Whisk together flours, pecans, wheat germ, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Stir together carrots, zucchini, yogurt, egg yolks, molasses, and orange zest in a large bowl.  Fold flour mixture into carrot mixture until just combined.  With a whisk or a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until shiny, stiff peaks form.  Gently fold egg whites into the carrot mixture.

Spoon batter into prepared tin, filling to the brims.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of 1 comes out clean, about 25 minutes.  Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.  (Muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

If desired, frost with cream cheese frosting.

Granola Bars August 6, 2008

The recipe for these granola bars came from Elizabeth from Kitchen Wench .  I would have to admit I over-baked mine.  I do like them crunchy, but my dried fruit did not like how much time they spent in the oven.  These things were kind of like the crunchy granola bar Kashi sells.

Besides over-baking, a couple of my problems were:

• Size of pan, mine was a bit larger, therefore my bars were thinner then Kitchen Wench’s. (that should have made a light go off in my head that I didn’t need to bake them as long) 
• Conversions, I did my best with the grams…(I should at least get credit for attempting this recipe!)

Check out Kitchen Wench’s blog for some great pictures of these ‘muesli’ bars. 

Granola Bars

(Recipe from:  Kitchen Wench)

11.24 oz (320 g) rolled oats

1/3 cup plain flour (I used whole wheat)

3.25 oz (100 mL) vegtable oil (I used evoo)

5.27 oz (150 g) mild honey

3.5 Tbsp (50 g) brown sugar

2-3 Tbsp smooth peanut butter

2.81 Tbsp (40 g) desiccated (dry) coconut

5-6 oz (150-200 g) assorted nuts/seeds

5-6 oz (150-200 g) assorted dried fruit

1. Preheat oven to 160, line an 35×25cm (or close) tin with baking paper.

2. Roughly chop the nuts and larger pieces of dried fruit into smaller pieces (about the same size as a sultana/golden raisin). Then place the chopped nuts into a bowl with the oats, seeds, coconut and flour and stir together with a wooden spoon till well combined.

3.Heat the honey in the microwave or on your stovetop (in a pan, of course!!) till it is liquid, then add the sugar, peanut butter and oil and whisk together till everything has melted.

4. Pour together the wet and dry mixture and stir together till evenly combined, then place into your lined tin. Wet your hands with some cold water, and using both the wooden spoon and your hands, pack the mixture down flat, making sure to get it into the corners.

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes if you prefer a softer, chewier muesli bar, and up to 50-60 minutes if you prefer a crunchier one. During the baking process, to help hold it together, use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to squish down/compact the baking mixture every 10-15 minutes or so (not sure if it actually helps, but I did it anyway)

6. Once baked, remove from the oven and use a hot oiled knife to mark the bars in the tin (the mixture will fall apart if you remove it from the tin while hot!). Allow to cool for about 15-20 minutes, then carefully remove from the tin to your chopping board and cut the bars apart.

7. These can be stored in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 2 weeks – and taste FAR superior to supermarket varieties! Just make sure you layer nonstick baking paper between the layers as they do have a tendency to stick! (**unless they are crunchy b/c you baked them longer**)