Daring Bakers Challenge – August

It’s Daring Baker’s time again!  

I was so excited for this challenge.  So excited that I literally waited until 2 days before posting day to spend my day in the kitchen.  I really was stoked for this one though, because this month’s challenge was Eclairs.  I LOVE eclairs.  I adore eclairs.  If I didn’t have any self control, I could have eaten every last one before letting some other’s try them.  I actually only ended up eating 2. Yup, just 2.  I was pretty proud of myself.  My neighbor’s and my hubby’s co-workers got the rest. Lucky ducks, huh? You’ll just have to move next door if you want a piece of the action around here!  

This month’s challenge was brought to you by Tony Tahhan and Meetak.  The recipe was for Chocolate Eclairs by Pierre Herme.  This one was a goodie for sure.  I was so excited and a little nervous, only because there were so many different elements to this fancy dessert.  4 different elements to be exact.  And I added one, so a total of 5.  I wanted to stick to the basics for this challenge.  The dough was a lovely Pate a Choux, also known as Choux Pastry or Cream Puff Dough.  It was so simple and it turned out so light and fluffy.  I loved it! The recipe for the pastry cream was a rich chocolate.  Very rich.  So rich.  I decided to make a vanilla pastry cream as well, and I was sooo glad that I did because the chocolate was way to rich for my blood. Vanilla was the perfect balance to the light, delicate pastry and the rich glaze on the top.  I drizzled a little white chocolate on the top to make it extra special.
Overall, I really liked this one.  I am definitely going to try these again.  I’m sure I’ll make them with vanilla again.  If you want to brave this one, and I definitely say you should, you can find the recipe here.  Check back next month for a fabulous new recipe that is sure to be a hit!  Have a great Sunday everyone!

Baked on August 30, 2008 | Recipe Card: Dessert, daring bakers challenge | 23 Bites