Per Nana:
This past Sunday was a team effort for making our eclairs.
Since neither of our families needed 20 eclairs each, we
decided to share and make this recipe together. Having
Tricia's youngest son working with us was really lots of fun.
We were disappointed in the equipment we purchased
for the recipe, but mini eclairs are just as good as regular size.
Not too much guilt in two small ones. I should have taken
Dorie's advice and just used a plastic bag and
cut it to the correct size.
The recipe was relatively simple, the cream puff dough came
together well and the vanilla pastry creme was delicious.
We all loved the flavor of the baked eclair, but the fact that
they were so small led to trouble keeping them upright to fill.
After slaving over a hot stove all afternoon we decided
to treat ourselves to a pizza party and top it off with chilled eclairs.
Tomorrow we diet.....
Per Tricia:
While I always enjoy company in the kitchen,
additional help definitely made life easier with this one.
It was a fun experience but there were enough steps and
the results so decadent that I do not have to worry about
revisiting this one any time soon.
I don't recall having a Dorie recipe that has hit both
the "I liked it" and the "I will not be re-doing it"
categories in the same week.
After the recent stockpile of quick and easy standards,
it was actually a fun adventure to try something a bit
more challenging. And all the better to have a pizza
to wash down the efforts.
And those cute little "eclair papers" that I
got at Sur La Table ? Since they would have dwarfed
our eclairs (ours did not "magically" expand)
we did not end up using them.
Let's just say I am glad I kept the receipt.......
I added this photo of the eclair papers, since folks were curious.
Nana and I do love this store......
I think a pizza and eclair party sounds like heaven. And, by the way, I've definitely put 'I loved these' and 'never again' together for recipes...
ReplyDeleteYour pastries look great! Sorry you bought so much equipment for them. And, it was a really smart move to split the recipe between you two! I just halved everything and brought the extras to a small get together later. Great teamwork!
ReplyDeleteYou bought eclair papers?! I didn't even know they made those You are so lucky to have someone to split the work and results with!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm also intrigued by your mention of eclair papers until I realized that they're like those cupcake papers but longer, shaped like eclairs! I love your cute, lean eclairs, they certainly lessen the guilt factor ;-).
ReplyDeleteTricia and Nana, Kitchens are meant to bring people together! You both do it so well! Love your cooking adventures! Your eclairs look lovely!
ReplyDeleteLadies, another fun post. I can picture you all in the kitchen whipping these up together! I agree that these can not be a weekly occurence...too delicious to eat just one! Love all the photos and your eclairs are adorable!
ReplyDeleteI must disagree - I think every family needs to have 20 eclairs on hand :-) This was quite the project - many hands make light (lighter) work.
ReplyDeleteI used the "chop-off-the-corner-of-a-ziploc" approach and it did work pretty well. The baking cups are a cute idea, though.
Pizza and eclairs...perfect together! I have a few Dorie recipes that fit the "loved it but never again" bill...but isn't it fun to try these scary ones? I confess I didn't this week, despite planning to make them, because I just can't have eclairs in the house right now. Yours look great!
ReplyDeleteWell...I LOVE eclairs and will be making these again!!! (with a couple of adjustments) I can just picture all of you having a blast in your kitchen piping out the skinny eclairs, making the pastry cream, etc...it all sounds like so much fun. And a pizza/eclair party...what could be better?
ReplyDeleteGo teamwork! I'm glad you were able to return the eclair papers. I love Sur La Table, but have only been there a few times.
ReplyDeleteI could have used some extra hands for the cooking and the dish washing! Great post.
ReplyDeleteThis would have been a great teamwork recipe. You are lucky to have each other! They recently opened a Sur La Table at the mall near me. It's amazing! I didn't have time to find the right tip, but the ziplock bags worked well. I made the white glaze too, though it seems like most of FFwD did chocolate. They look great!
ReplyDeleteLove that you did this together. Really takes the fear out of it. You did an incredible job. I can't wait to make these again!
ReplyDeleteI like the image of eclairs being washed down with pizza, hey why not? Your eclairs look delicious. I forgot about those eclair papers, that's a cool idea. I'll pick some up if I make these again which is a distinct possibility because they were so good. Making these together sounds like fun and you guys look really organized in the pictures, I made a giant chocolatey mess in my kitchen, please no photos of that, keep the paparazzi out;-)
ReplyDeleteGreat results with teamwork! Nana: I had the same problem with filling my eclairettes - challenging. Tricia: I'm glad you had fun making these! I almost bought those very same eclair papers, but they would have dwarfed mine as well!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had someone to help me out with these! DH helped me when I filled out the pastry bag with the choux dough but that was about it. I love the picture of the pastry cream being prettily pipped in the eclairette. Great job, ladies!
ReplyDeleteI agree that filling the tiny eclairs is difficult, but the mistakes were delicious...
ReplyDeleteI love that three generations gathered to create these. That's a wonderful way to spend time together.
I love teamwork!
ReplyDeletePizza and Eclairs! What a perfect day!
Great photos.
The eclair papers are so cute! Thanks for posting the picture. They would be a good guide for me for shaping the dough :).
ReplyDeleteThe insides of the eclairs look like they were cooked perfectly. Mine were a little hard to fill, too...they were a little bit too skinny to hold the amount of pastry cream I wanted to put in.