Monday, September 1, 2008
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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
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12 Responses to “Power of Pink Roundup”

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    1
    Soli Deo Gloria — November 3, 2008 at 1:29 pm

    Thank you for a lovely and informative round-up! With the number of entries, I think we have successfully raised awareness regarding breast cancer.

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    2
    Ivy — November 3, 2008 at 1:52 pm

    Thanks for the lovely round up and all the information given about breast cancer.

  3. #
    3
    Priya — November 3, 2008 at 1:56 pm

    Wonderful roundup..lovely entries, very informative about breast cancer..

  4. #
    4
    Susan — November 3, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    Thanks for the great roundup. What a great event…thanks for allowing me to participate. I hope we have helped to make other more aware!

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    5
    Lubna Karim — November 3, 2008 at 4:39 pm

    Awesome roundup. Iam very happy to be part of this event. Thanks a lot for the event and info on breast cancer and everything. Three cheers to your energy dear.

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    6
    Nazarina A — November 3, 2008 at 6:15 pm

    Thank you!
    This is such an informative and a beautiful array of culinary beauties! You have put so much effort into this for such an imperative cause!

  7. #
    7
    Ricki — November 3, 2008 at 8:20 pm

    Fabulous roundup–and so glad I could be part of it! Everything looks amazingly scrumptious and I can’t wait to try some of these recipes! (Maybe I missed something, but didn’t the event say make “anything” pink? Or did it have to be baked goods? I’m guessing there must be SOME other pink foods out there. . . ?!!). Well, more dessert for me!

    Thanks for hosting this! 🙂

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    8
    CB — November 3, 2008 at 8:53 pm

    Awesome roundup! I love that it had such a diverse group of bloggers. Great personal touch with the facts and myths. Thanks for hosting! I hope you make it an annual event 🙂
    /Clara

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    John — November 4, 2008 at 10:27 am

    The National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) program is dedicated to increasing awareness about the importance of the early detection of breast cancer through a nationwide campaign. A mammogram is an X-ray of the breast. Mammograms are the best method to detect breast cancer early when it is easier to treat and before it is big enough to feel or cause symptoms. Having regular mammograms can lower the risk of dying from breast cancer.
    ——————
    Bobwilliams
    social bookmarking

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    Susan from Food Blogga — November 4, 2008 at 12:59 pm

    This was a terrific event, Jen. Thank you for hosting it.

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    11
    Jen — November 4, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    Thanks everyone. I hope you all had as much fun as I did. The entries are all great.

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    Julie — November 6, 2008 at 8:12 pm

    Thanks for hosting this Jen! As everyone else said, lovely roundup. I’m so glad that I could participate, especially as one of my first blog events!

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