I'm taking the
Pro Baking 1 series at the
New School of Cooking in Culver City (Los Angeles) this fall/winter. For Class 3, it was all about the
Soufflés, Pate a Choux and Pastry Cream.I just love how a relatively easy dough, the Pate a Choix, can magically becomes eclairs and cream puffs. Awesome! Here, I made the dough, put it in a pastry bag (the toughest part! :), and piped out several logs. They baked in the oven until brown from the top to bottom and cooled.
We filled our eclairs with vanilla pastry cream (be sure to wipe off any excess). We made Chocolate Pudding last week, and it was a similar process. Thou shall not be afraid of the pastry cream anymore! :)
Half the eclairs were covered with a SHINY (think
Earl Scheib car paint!) chocolate glaze (includes corn syrup and cocoa), and the other half with a chocolate ganache. I like the ganache, but the shiny glaze would also be good on a donut.
Left: Chocolate ganache; Right: Chocolate glaze
These were pretty filled...some of my other ones were "lightly" filled. Need to work on squirting enough filling in each one!
We also made a chocolate souffle. I completely messed up the "sandy roux" the first time...I had to make it again! I also learned that I probably completely overbeat my eggs! We beat 3 egg whites by hand (for two ramekins). When the instructor said, "most people overbeat their eggs..." and showed us how much to whip them during the demo. My classmate Jennie and I looked and each other and said, OMG. I overbeat!
Next week: Pies. Oh dear. Now that I'm older, I don't think monsters are under my bed. I think pie crusts are down there. They frighten me terribly. I have a lot of learn in this class! I'll let you know how it goes! ;)
I'm going to try to make cream puffs tonight for a party with vanilla and green tea pastry cream. Wish me luck! I'll post about it later!
Have a great weekend! To my East Coast friends...sorry you are being pelted by a snow storm. Um, it's going to be close to 80 degrees today in Los Angeles...if I didn't have to go to work, I'd walk to the beach.
(Dear Racheal, Come back!!!)Recaps of the New School of Cooking, Pro Baking 1 course:
Baking TherapyClass 1: Quick BreadsClass 2: Custards
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14 comments:
Don't be afraid of pie crusts! They can be annoying but definitely not evil hehe My dad loves eclairs... next time I'm home for a visit perhaps I'll attempt making him some!
ha ha don't be afraid of pie crusts! I love reading along, thanks for sharing.
I like making pâte à choux and éclairs! I prefer the chocolate ganache as well. I agree with Dawn. Don't be afraid of pie crust. If you're afraid of it, the process will seem more daunting than it really is. Pie crust really isn't that hard to make. You can do it! :D
Thanks for sharing, with such gorgeous pictures! I've always been intimidated by eclairs, but you make it seem...do-able, at least :-P Maybe I need to take one of these pastry courses too!
Wow, everything here looks so delicious. I'm with Dawn and want to thank you for sharing you class adventures. So neat!
Holy crap! This looks delicious... I love eclairs, but they look so intimidating to make. Your look beautiful—great job!
I never thought to take a baking class just for fun, but it sounds like a great idea. Your eclairs are so pretty!
Those eclairs look fabulous! I love the shiny glaze. And I had to laugh at the "pie crusts under the bed."
oh gosh, those look so good! i'm not normally a fan but you make them look so tasty!!
How exciting! I've always wanted to take cooking classes. We used to live just down the street from Le Cordon Bleu in Las Vegas, and I never took advantage of it!! My brother lives in Culver City and eats horribly. I should give you his address and you can drop off leftover school projects at his house. ;)
You're like a real life daring baker! So are you ready to open your own bakery yet?
Beautiful eclairs! I'm with you on the pie crusts, I almost never have 100% success when making pie crusts, ugh. Good luck!
Oh, I love eclairs, but I've never made them myself. These look so fantastic!
OMG These look fabulous! Im hungry now :)
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