Daring Bakers August – Chocolate Chocolate Eclairs

I had made eclairs before, so I figured this would be an easy Daring Baker’s month.  I whipped up my first batch of eclairs (including the super bizarre baking directions) and ended up with flat pancakes for eclairs.  Into the trash!  For the second batch, I baked them at a higher temperature and nixed the stupid wooden spoon.  More flat pancakes!  At that point, I realized that it’s probably just the recipe and not me, and I was running out of eggs, so I just kept them.

The pastry cream came together fine and was very delicious.  I didn’t quite see the need to make the chocolate sauce, then promptly mix that into the chocolate glaze.  I would have rather seen a unified recipe for that, as now I have containers of both sauce and glaze in my fridge.

Overall, these were pretty good.  GiR and I are not huge chocolate fans, so it was a bit much chocolate for us.  However, for those chocolate lovers out there, this is the recipe for you!

Chocolate Chocoalte Eclairs

Recipe
“Chocolate Eclairs” from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme by Dorie Greenspan

Modifications
None

Rating
Good, but too time-consuming (and too chocolatey).  3 stars out of 5.

TWiB – Second trimester round-up

Here’s a round-up of all the recipes I’ve made for This Week in Baking during May, June, July and August of 2008.

19.  Galaktoboureko – 3.5 stars
20.  Lemon Yogurt Cake (with Splenda) – 2.5 stars
21.  Key Lime Pie – 4 stars
22.  Twilight Madness – 4 stars
23.  Chocolate Lime Souffle – 3.5 stars
24.  Gingerbread Cookies – 4.5 stars
25.  Fortune Cookies – 2.5 stars
26.  Flan – 3 stars
27.  Pecan Pie Bars – 4.5 stars
28.  Blueberry Lemon Pavlova – 2.5 stars
29.  Mango Cardamom Bread Pudding – 3 stars
30.  Hummingbird Cake – 3.5 stars
31.  Dorie cookies – 3 stars and 4 stars
32.  Raspberry Angel Food Cake – 3 stars
33.  Cottage Dill Bread – 4.5 stars
34.  Blueberry Muffins – 4 stars
35.  Crepe Cake – 2.5 stars

TWiB Birthday Edition

There weren’t any 5 stars recipes this trimester, but here are the top performers.

1. Gingerbread Cookies – 4.5 stars
2. Pecan Pie Bars – 4.5 stars
3. Cottage Dill Bread – 4.5 stars
4. Key Lime Pie – 4 stars
5. Twilight Madness – 4 stars
6. Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters – 4 stars
7. Blueberry Muffins – 4 stars

This is the overall list for all of 2008 so far.

1. Brownie Tart – 5 stars
2. Chocolate Creme Brulee – 4.5 stars
3. Cinnamon Pie – 4.5 stars
4. Cottage Dill Bread – 4.5 stars
5. Eclairs – 4.5 stars
6. Gingerbread Cookies – 4.5 stars
7. Pecan Pie Bars – 4.5 stars

TWiB #35 – Crepe Cake

I’ve had this crepe cake recipe saved for awhile, so I finally decided to try it out. While it’s certainly an eye-catching novelty, GiR and I agree: “If I had 20 crepes, I could think of much better things to do with them.”

Crepe Cake

Recipe
Crepe Cake

Modifications
none

Rating
Disappointing.  2.5 stars out of 5.

TWiB #34 – Blueberry Muffins

My husband GiR and I decided to bake something together. Hijinks ensue!

Blueberry Muffins

Recipe
Old-School Muffins from Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here for More Food

Modifications
We didn’t have any yogurt, so we pureed some cottage cheese to a similar consistency.  And of course, we chose 2 cups of blueberries as our mix-in.

Rating
Not the best muffin ever, but a solid 4 stars out of 5.

Sea Salt Ice Cream

For my friend SS’s birthday, he requested sea salt ice cream from the video game Kingdom Hearts. It’s quite the interesting combination of flavors, but very delicious.

Sea Salt Ice Cream

Recipe
Sea Salt Ice Cream

Modifications
I don’t have an ice cream maker, so I poured it into a baking pan and put it in the freezer, stirring every 1/2 hour or so.  It’s not as elegant as an ice cream maker, but it works fine.

Rating
Most couldn’t figure out whether they like it or not.  It’s just a basic frozen custard with sea salt mixed in.  3 stars out of 5.

TWiB #33 – Cottage Dill Bread

I don’t usually bake bread, but I had a free Sunday, so it seemed like a good time to try it out. My husband GiR loves dill and suggested I try to use that in a bread. The results were fantastic!

Cottage Dill Bread

Recipe
Cottage Dill Bread

Modifications
I used instant yeast instead of active dry. The comments also suggested that the amount of yeast was a typo, so I used 1 1/2 teaspoons instead of 1 1/2 tablespoons. I left out the onion and used dill weed instead of dill seed. I don’t have a bread machine, so I used Alton Brown’s straight dough method.

Rating
Soft, flavorful, delicious. 4.5 stars out of 5.

TWiB #32 – Raspberry Angel Food Cake

I had some leftover egg whites and raspberries, so this seemed like the perfect recipe to use it up. It was easy to put together, but it stuck to my pan. It looks like a mess, but tastes wonderful!

Raspberry Angel Food Cake

Recipe
Raspberry Angel Food Cake

Modifications
I only had 4 egg whites, so I scaled the recipe down to 6 servings.

Rating
Plain. The raspberries don’t add much. 3 stars out of 5.