The August Daring Baker's Challenge
This month's challenge is hosted by Meeta and Tony. They choose the the Chocolate Eclair recipe from Pierre Herme. The recipe is from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme written by Dorie Greenspan. The complete recipe can be found on either Tony or Meeta's blog.
This recipe is composed of three parts: pate a choux or cream puff dough, pastry cream and chocolate glaze. I used a blend of chestnut flour and almond meal for the cream puff dough. While my eclairs puffed up beautifully, although the interior cavity didn't run the length of the eclair. I simply slit the side of the eclair, so I could fill it. For the pastry cream, I added a minced apricot and nectarine. It was a delicious and addictive cream, with most of it eaten before we stopped and filled a few of the eclairs. Lastly, I topped the eclair off with the chocolate glaze.
This is a great recipe and one my family thoroughly enjoyed. My daughter's favorite part was eating little scoops of the glaze, once it had cooled in the refrigerator. My husband preferred the complete eclair and my son liked the plain eclair without chocolate of cream filling. I found my caloric downfall in the apricot nectarine filling.
Happy Labor Day!
