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 »

23 Responses to “Raspberry Meringue Cookies”

#
1

Steph — January 16, 2009 at 1:09 am

These are so cute and perfect for Valentine’s Day!
#
2

bensbaby116 — January 16, 2009 at 1:43 am

They’re so pretty!! I love meringues, I love raspberry, and I love chocolate… I might have to try this recipe. Thanks for posting!
#
3

Linds — January 16, 2009 at 1:05 pm

Those looks absolutely lovely! Great job!
#
4

Melissa — January 16, 2009 at 1:34 pm

How pretty, pink & perfect!
#
5

Kristen616 — January 16, 2009 at 2:43 pm

Not only are they SO pretty but they look delicious! I love that flavor combination.
#
6

Erin — January 16, 2009 at 2:54 pm

I bet those would be great for a wedding or baby shower! They look lovely! And I bet the raspberry/dark chocolate combo tasted great!
#
7

Colleen — January 16, 2009 at 4:46 pm

These are BEAUTIFUL!
#
8

Jen — January 16, 2009 at 4:59 pm

These would be perfect for a baby shower. You could probably use any flavor jello in them.
#
9

Joelen — January 16, 2009 at 4:59 pm

gorgeous pic and the flavor of raspberry and chocolate is wonderful!
#
10

Lori — January 19, 2009 at 2:27 am

Those look amazing. I love that first photo, nicely done!
#
11

mooskietx — January 19, 2009 at 3:59 pm

Just looking at the picture makes me feel like i need to go to the gyms in Boston.
#
12

Katie — January 20, 2009 at 12:58 pm

Oh my gosh, these look INSANELY awesome!! I want one right now!!
#
13

Lucy — February 20, 2009 at 12:14 am

These looks simply gorgeous! and… I have a cookie tray to make for a baby shower… my yet to born grandson. Wonder how these would look in a light blue????
#
14

Jen — February 20, 2009 at 1:21 am

You could definitely use blue jello.
#
15

Alicia — February 20, 2009 at 3:43 am

These are so pretty! Im having a baby shower this weekend for a baby girl and these would be perfect. Which tip did you use for the star?
#
16

Jen — February 20, 2009 at 2:47 pm

I used the really big star tip. Not sure what # it is, but it’s the same one that I used for my peppermint meringues (there’s a picture in that post).
#
17

creativecarryout — February 20, 2009 at 3:05 pm

I saw this on tastespotting and wanted to comment on how gorgeous your photo is. I’ve bookmarked your recipe too – these are beautiful and I bet delicious with that flavor combination.
Thanks,
Michelle
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/
#
18

Jen — February 20, 2009 at 9:15 pm

Thanks for the compliments!
#
19

Jennifer — February 21, 2009 at 11:57 am

Those are so cute!!!!!!!!
#
20

Erin — March 3, 2009 at 2:03 pm

Ok, you’ve inspired me…

http://erinsfoodfiles.blogspot.com/2009/03/vanilla-bean-meringues.html
#
21

colleen — March 9, 2013 at 10:32 am
Very good meringues… have made them several times for church since I found this recipe… they evaporate instantly ! Great also for a non wheat gluten item.
- beantownbaker — March 9th, 2013 @ 3:01 pm
  
  Glad you enjoy them!
#
22

behance — October 12, 2018 at 5:06 pm

I feel useful from the sharing you bring. Thank you for the value you bring to the reader