Eclairs – Daring Bakers | Beantown Baker

Monday, September 1, 2008

Eclairs – Daring Bakers

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to participate in a Daring Bakers Challenge. But I was excited to see this months challenge was eclairs. I’ve never made eclairs but really enjoyed eating them in the past. This month really flew by. I made these eclairs last weekend with plenty of time to write up my post. Then we had some family members in town and I just couldn’t find time to write this up until today. So I am a day late on posting, but better late than never!

I followed the recipe exactly for the dough and the chocolate glaze. For the pastry cream, I was worried that chocolate would make the eclair too chocolatey (is there such a thing? I say no, but hubby thinks there is).

I decided to do a raspberry pastry cream, but didn’t have raspberries on hand at the time I made it. Instead did vanilla pastry cream. For half of the pastry cream, I mixed in some mushed up raspberries after sending hubby to the store for me 🙂 The other half got the vanilla pastry cream.

I myself am not a huge fan of pastry cream. I much prefer whipped cream in the center of eclairs.

As I mentioned, I followed the recipe exactly for the dough. That includes the timing and the propping of the door with a wooden spoon. Based on what other Daring Bakers had said, I decided to cut slits into the eclairs immediately after baking and then letting them cool in the cooling oven. The ones that didn’t deflate were wonderfully hollow.

At first, I had the oven door entirely open but I did notice the eclairs were starting to deflate, so I closed the oven door and then propped it open to let them cool. The eclairs that were very close to the door did deflate while the others did not.

Thanks to our hosts (Tony Tahhan and Meeta) this month for choosing such a great recipe. I definitely enjoyed making the eclairs, although I doubt I’d make them again. It was a significant amount of work and hubby wasn’t crazy about them.

I’m not going to post the recipes here, click through to the hosts’ posts to see the recipe. The recipe I used for the pastry cream can be found here. As I mentioned, I didn’t have raspberries when I made it so I just left them out. Once it was completely cooled, I added 1 pint of smashed raspberries to 1/2 of the cream.

This chocolate glaze was amazing. I made 1/2 of the chocolate syrup recipe and it was perfect for the glaze. The leftover glaze was used on bread and then mixed with whipped cream for frosting.

Dessert, Other

5 comments »

27 Responses to “Chocolate Goat Cheese Mousse Tart”

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Eva @ Eva Bakes — June 7, 2013 at 8:27 am
What an awesome way to feature goat cheese in a dessert! I never thought of turning it into a chocolate mousse – sounds like I need to try this soon. 🙂
- beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:51 am
  
  You definitely should. I know goat cheese isn’t for everyone, but we really enjoyed the subtle flavor in the mousse.
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Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic — June 7, 2013 at 8:42 am
Jen, I love everything about this tart – from the chocolate crust to the mousse and the pretty strawberries on top. Yum! Enjoy your birthday month 🙂
- beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:52 am
  
  Thanks for humoring me on the whole birthday month thing 🙂
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Krystal R. — June 7, 2013 at 1:24 pm
Ohhh lalalalala, I totally dig this dessert even more because it has goat cheese and strawberries…some of my fave foods!! Happy Birthday month…you better party and eat like it’s your birthday!!
- beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 1:52 pm
  
  Oh I’m definitely going to party like it’s my birthday! All month long 🙂
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Shannon — June 10, 2013 at 10:24 am
oh yes to the goat cheese in this tart! fabulous. happy birthday month 🙂 you might need to make this a few more times to celebrate?!
- beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:09 pm
  
  Oh I have been baking plenty of deliciousness this month to celebrate 🙂 You know how hard it is to repeat recipes…
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Karen — June 10, 2013 at 11:50 pm
Love the idea of incorporating goat cheese in a dessert- I have never seen it down with chocolate before. I will definitely be trying this soon as I have some goat cheese in my fridge waiting to be used 🙂
- beantownbaker — June 11th, 2013 @ 7:20 am
  
  Oh yea, goat cheese and chocolate go really well together.
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Carolyn — June 11, 2013 at 8:26 am
Oh my, the use of goat cheese in this is phenomenal! I would love to try it!
- beantownbaker — June 11th, 2013 @ 8:46 am
  
  Definitely do! And you could top it with any fruit you like. I think raspberries would be good too.
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Consuelo @ Honey & Figs — June 11, 2013 at 9:39 am

Chocolate must work great with goat cheese since they’re both utterly delicious!! This recipe looks magnificent omg I think I would be able to eat the whole tart by myself *-*
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Justine @ Cooking and Beer — June 11, 2013 at 1:17 pm

Goat cheese is one of my favorite ingredients to use in desserts, and your tart looks soooo delicious! Thanks for sharing =) Definitely a must try this summer.
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Nutmeg Nanny — June 12, 2013 at 10:33 am

Oh wow this is gorgeous! I love this recipe, I bet it tastes heavenly!
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Beth — June 25, 2013 at 5:13 pm
I just finished making my second one for this week…we love it…it is so smooth and rich and well D E L I C I O U S!!!…my grandson requested the second one but truth be told I was gonna make it anyway…the bittersweet chocolate and the cocoa in the crust are what make it….if anyone out there hasn’t tried it do so you will be in love….
- beantownbaker — June 25th, 2013 @ 5:38 pm
  
  So glad you’ve enjoyed it! I definitely need to make this again. I have already made it with raspberries but want to try blackberries next.
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Beth — July 1, 2013 at 6:10 am
you wont believe it but I made this AGAIN yesterday…I did a play on bananas foster on the top…it was a hit with my company…and good recipes for sweets for the 4th?..lol….
- beantownbaker — July 3rd, 2013 @ 5:02 pm
  
  Wow – bananas foster on top. I would never have thought of that! I am making this tart and this strawberry shortcake for the 4th.
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Shashi @ http://runninsrilankan.com — July 15, 2013 at 11:48 am

So sinful and delicious looking 🙂
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NaturesComplete — July 17, 2013 at 1:27 pm

Holy yumminess. I never thought of putting goat cheese in. My mouth is watering at the thought. Strawberries are my absolute favorite berry of all time. I will have to for sure try this recipe, Got it saved to my personal file. thank you.
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Laura — August 3, 2013 at 12:07 am
I love chocolate mousse and I love goat cheese, so clearly I need to make this!

Also, there is strawberry picking (not sure it is organic though if that matters) up here near Oxford. I can get you the info for next year if driving up here is not a problem (I imagine it depends on what side of Cinci you live 🙂 ).
- beantownbaker — August 4th, 2013 @ 6:44 pm
  
  I definitely don’t mind driving for freshly picked strawberries!!
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Kelly Senyei | Just a Taste — September 20, 2013 at 6:17 am
I love absolutely EVERYTHING about this recipe! It’s hard to beat mixing tangy goat cheese with chocolate and berries. What a unique recipe!
- beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:11 pm
  
  It tastes as good as it sounds! I hope you try it.
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Lauren — June 1, 2015 at 5:49 pm

WOW! What a wonderful recipe! Definitely one of my new favorites! Happy birthday month!
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April — March 1, 2016 at 5:29 pm

Does this go in the fridge covered or uncovered and how long does it last? Thanks!