I don't love chocolate.
If you haven't clicked away from my blog after that admission, let me explain. I don't hate chocolate either. I eat chocolate but it isn't my first choice for dessert. So, I felt fairly neutral when I learned that our challenge this month was chocolate eclairs. The hook for me was the originator of this specific recipe--Pierre Hermes. I frankly have never even considered attempting any of his recipes. After all, he is Pierre Hermes and I am a woman with Cherrios in her purse (Belle's, not mine.)
But, if we are going to play French pastry chef, choux pastry is the way to go. I have made cream puffs in the past. They are so incredibly easy (given it isn't a crazy humid day.) Frankly, I am always amazed at the miraculous way 1 cup of flour can become an almost endless number of puffy balls.
There was a lot of talk about the eggy nature of this dough. I made very strongly flavored fillings, so I didn't mind the tone of the puffs. As it is me, I made mini-eclairs (baked for 7 minutes). I then filled the 3 inch eclairs with: cardamom pastry cream and red currants, vanilla-lemon zest cream and blackberry, cinnamon pastry cream with pumpkin seeds, and of course, the Hermes chocolate cream. The fruit ones were the delicious, the pumpkin seed brilliant and as you might expect, I didn't taste the chocolate. But Maybelle's Dad says that Hermes' recipe was right on.
Thank you to Tony and Meeta who picked this month’s challenge--it was a nice change from the marathons of the past month. Check out their blogs for the recipe and don’t forget to look at what other fellow Daring Bakers came up with!
63 comments:
your eclairs came out beautiful...love the creativity on your work!!
Your eclairs are gorgeous! I haven't had an eclair with fruit. I'll have to give it a try!
Your flavor combinations sounds so creative and delicious! (And the presentation is wonderful, too.)
your eclairs look very pretty. i too am the same way about chocolate. glad i am not the only one!
Your eclairs look so tasty,I love your flavour combinations too.
love the varied fillings....
Oh! I liked the pastry creams you made: cardamom vanilla-lemon zest cream and cinnamon pastry cream with pumpkin seeds.
very pretty!
I really love the different touches all the DB's put on their desserts, I love the addition of fruit to yours. I have never made eclairs/cream puffs, you have me wanting to bake them.
They all look lovely!
These look so good with the fresh fruit..there would be enough chocolate to cure any chocoholic cravings I might have:D
I think your éclairs look gorgeous.
I love how youve decorated them too :D
Ooh! I would love these with fruits! I would have tried but I got lazy! Yours look great!!
I'm in awe. These look like miniature works of art.
Oh, the berries look wonderful! I really wish I had gotten my hands on some, but all I had was frozen raspberries...
Girl with Cherrios in your pocket, you rocked this one! Beautiful.
Great write-up, I especially love the comment about cheerios in your purse--but isn't that the indicator that you can do it all? :) Your eclairs look lovely, and I'm glad to hear another cardamom addict is out there.
Your beautiful eclairs look like they could be in a food magazine...so beautifully decorated and photographed. You'd never know that chocolate isn't your fave.
Lovely eclairs, and all of those different variations sound wonderful! Now I'm kicking myself for leaving fresh berries out of the picture.
Beautiful eclairs! Redcurrant one is my favorite!
Your pastry creams sound awesome and the eclairs are gorgeous!
Your eclairs are simply beautiful! I love your addition of the fruits. Well done.
So pretty! I love the decoration. Chocolate desserts are actually not my favorite either.;)
Berry berry delicious & utterly pretty. I love fruit in desserts & yours are mouth-watering! YUM!!
Nice job! Great variety!
Love the twist with berries.. Not only they look prettier but would taste lovelier too.. Great job!!
Your eclairs a just lovely! The fruits look like little jewels. I love all of your interesting flavor combinations too. Excellent job!
They're beautiful! I love all the decorations.
I love chocolate, but the cardamom pastry cream and the vanilla-lemon zest cream would definitely give it a run for its money.
Good idea to make minis; it's so easy to pretend you only had five.
The handpies look pretty good, too!
Your éclairs are gorgeous!
fantastic work of making the most of something even when you are not ecstatic about it. great job!
Picture perfect!
Stunning photos!
Thats ok that your not the biggest Chocolate fan..I will take your portion!! :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Your eclairs look to me to be just the right size, my kids would have wasted 1/2 an eclair if I would have made them regular size! Your picutures are so pretty!!
Very beautiful eclairs and the most interesting flavour combinations.
Bravo pour ce challenge réussi :)
a bientôt pour celui de septembre !!
aude
So you don't like chocolate eh? Oh well I guess I can forgive you sisnce you don't hate it either! You did a great job with these, I loved the way you incorporated fruit in them! Well done!
yum! those fruity decorations are a true charm. so glad you gave the recipe a go even if chocolate is not your favorite!
"I'm a woman with Cheerios in my purse..."
Ha! I had a flash back to being a kid and my mom's purse...if we needed it, it was there;
Great éclairs, by the way!
Maybell's mom,
You are so creative with the pastry creme. They're all sounded very good. Red currant decoration on one of your eclair looks so pretty.
Lovely Eclairs! I love them, but I have never attempted to make them. Now, I think I may have to! Thanks!
What great flavour combinations you came up with. The pastries look lovely, btw.
j
your flavor combinations sound delicious! you're so ambitious to have made 4 different creams!
way to get around the eggy flavored dough -- strong fillings and fresh fruits. Wish I could try out one of each!
Those are amazing looking ecalirs. Very pretty and just asking to be eaten!
They look fantastic! Love the photos too... very nice!
Your eclairs look great! I like all of the different toppings.
Wow, they are the cutest!
These are simply gorgeous eclairs. I had a blast making them but boy what a messy kitchen I was left with. :)
Your Eclairs are pretty and creative. I love the flavors of the filling you chose: especially, the cardamom and currants. Wow! Off to explore more of your blog... :-)
i love the way you did the eclairs in so many ways! I didn't have the time but yours are very pretty!
The fillings sound delicious! And the pastries look lovely!
Your Eclairs are very pretty and look gorgeously delicious! Very well done!
Cheers,
Rosa
Heh. I think the conversion from flour to puffy balls is pretty miraculous too. I love your different fillings. The pumpkin seed one in particular.
Love how your eclairs turned out! You are so creative too!
I would have taken one of each. They sound amazing!
Wow, beautiful. I especially love the redcurrant ones--the berries look so pretty and vibrant!
You did a great job with eclairs! They look do beautiful!
It's very creative to do éclairs with fruit. Congrats!
Beautiful eclairs! Love them! So cute!
Your eclairs are too cute! They look like they're ready to hit the beach, all glammed up! :) Very nice job!
How very pretty! Such a nice variety too.
I feel the same way as you about chocolate but I wasn't creative enough to come up with the brilliant alternative fillings. Cinnamon and pumpkin seed -- this is why I love your blog!
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