Pas de Deux? No! Pate a Choux!

One Mod (semester) down and four more to go! Thanks to all of your support combined with hard work, I'm currently holding a 4.0 average! Our class size has dropped from 25 when we started down to 14 and possibly twelve before the end of the week! I personally look at it as the "thinning of the herd". (I was avoiding the typical "If you can't take the heat....").

Baking 2 is cause for my rejoicing! Why may you ask am I so excited? Two Words - CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS! Yes my dear friends, my days of buying a store bought eclair have ended as I can now make my own! At first there was great fear of working with Pate A Choux,otherwise known as "Eclair Dough". This dough is made on the stove top then finished in the standing mixer. My thought was, if this dough is hot, then needs to be handled with my hot hands, I might as well throw in my rolling pin! Much to my surprise, this dough is fogiving. It turns out, the dough needs to stay warm! MY HANDS ACTUALLY HELP!!!! Warm day?! No problem! Cold in the kitchen? Got it covered!!!! So, to make it more fun... this dough gets scooped into a pastry bag for use and I DON'T HAVE TO TOUCH IT WITH MY BARE HANDS! Pate A Choux is my new friend - the Gucci of doughs!

So, the pastry bag... if you've never used one, here's my advice... Fold the bag down by atleast HALF before filling and DO NOT over fill it. Once your filling is in and you roll up the bottom of the bag, you need to twist it to force the dough to the end of the bag where your pastry tip should be waiting. If you over fill it it comes out both ends! (No comment required) Next, cut a small hole at the end of the bag and watch it go! Truth be told, it looks like a pastry poop the way it comes out. (More embarrasingly, the first time I squeezed my "Pate a Choux" my inside voice called it "Pate A Poo" and thought it was hysterical. I ended up squeezing a huge amount out which made a poo noise which made me laugh out loud which I then had to explain to the Chef. Not as funny to him.. Moving on.)

So, squeeze the bag with the hand closest to the top and guide it with the hand closer to the tip. A nice plump line the length of your middle finger renders an almost perfect mini eclair! (I'm not sure why the middle finger, but that's what we were told... if you see an attractive male baker boasting mini eclairs the size of a yard stick, get his number). ANYHOO... the eclair dough goes in the oven and the steam causes it to poof up! Almost double in size. Take em' out and let them cool. Now, there are two steps left... the first is fun and naughty... you have to open up a hole and stuff it with your creme.. eh hem.. you want to use your pastry bag for this and not over stuff it or it will explode. (This is also fun but a waste of pastry creme.) Once you have sufficiently stuffed your eclairs, it's time for the best part... THE CHOCOLATE! In this case, we're talking Ganache... simply scald some milk/heavy cream and add about a pound of chocolate and let is sit.... My friends, it truly is that simple to make this absolutely delicious and sensuous treat. Once the Ganache has cooled and gotten to the consistency of icing, you can either dip the whole eclair in, pipe it on or just spread it with your fingers. Now, all that's left is to fine a nice little spot to relax in, lock the kids in the garage or broom closet, (the same should be done if your spouse is worse than your child) and just enjoy. Trust me, once you make your own eclair you will NEVER buy them again.

Check back tomorrow to read about my fun with the deep fryer!