Sunday, August 31, 2008

Daring Bakers August 2008 Challenge -- Diary

Tuesday, August 12
9.30 am - I’ll be making the pastry cream first then the cream puff dough and then the chocolate glaze. I think I’ll make some caramel, too.

10.10 am - Pastry cream is finished. I just remembered how good it tastes!

10.28 am - Getting ready to make the dough.

10.41 am - Measured out the ingredients and it’s ready to go only I have not prepared any of the tools I’ll need.

Boiling the mixture before adding the flour.
10.55 am - Incorporating the eggs by hand. A Kitchenaid would be really nice right now.

The different stages of the dough while adding the eggs.

11.03 am - Arm exercise is finished, piping the dough.


11.16 am - Finished piping. It made 18 pieces total. Hmmm, I thought it would make a lot. Good thing I didn’t halve the recipe. Only 14 pieces could fit so I’m freezing the other four.


11.19 am - In the oven they go ― 7 minutes.

11.27 am - Inserting the wooden spoon. My oven is making a strange clicking sound it’s never made before. Goodness! I hope my cream puffs won’t explode.

11.30 am - Looking at the puffs ― they’re puffing! Yipee!

11.32 am - Flipping the pans now. I noticed that the tops are broken, not smooth. Is that normal? I don’t think so. Uh-oh, I hope they don’t fall apart.

11.35 am - SHRIEEEKKKK! I was just reading the recipe again and it says to bake the puffs at 375! I only set my oven to 350!!! Grrr, I don’t know how to read anymore.

11.40 am - Puffs are still pale and they do not look like they’re done. I’m giving them a few more minutes. Corrected the temperature, maybe it’s not yet too late.

11.43 am - Looking at the puffs again. About half of them caved in.

11.45 am - Not good.

11.50 am - Took the puffs out of the oven. They’re lightly browned. A lot of them caved in and have cracked on top.

The only one theat turned out well was the one in the botterm right corner. The round cream puffs look a little odd.


12.07 pm - Now for the chocolate sauce and glaze.

12.26 pm - Chocolate glaze covers a multitude of sins!

These puffs are ready to be filled!

1.07 pm - Cream puffs are done, am eating my second one now. They don’t look too good. The puffs did not rise very well. However, it tastes good. The pastry cream is too soft and the glaze could have been thicker. Overall, it’s not soo bad. Anyway my family does not know I messed it up. And I’m not telling!


Maybe I should have dipped the tops on the chocolate instead of pouring it over the puffs.

Things I Would Do Differently Next Time:

1. Read the recipe carefully and take note of the correct oven temperature.
2. Use 4 eggs instead of 3 for the pastry cream.
3. Use parchment paper to line the pans.
4. Allow the glaze to cool a little more to thicken, that way I could spread it on top of the cream puffs.
5. Practice piping!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

They look wonderful..yo did a great job on them. :)

Shelby said...

I love pastry cream too!!! Great job!

Oh my! Apple pie! said...

I too, found the glaze a little runny until it cooled down, but you did a great job they look delicious!

maybelles mom said...

i like your post format. And, I the chocolate sauce looks perfect, so even if only one rose as expected, at least you have chocolate.

Kirstynn Evans said...

Wow! I love the tips for next time. What a great idea. Looks like you had a successful challenge!

Unknown said...

Great job! That is a lot of chocolate.

Anonymous said...

So cool to see Daring Bakers from my hometown. Love the pictures and the step by step progression.

silverrock said...

Yum, your eclairs sure look tasty. I don't think you could ever put too much chocolate in an eclair :P well, not for me anyways... I would love to have it drowning in it's own chocolate sauce! Way to go on this month's challenge

imasize6 said...

marye, honeyb, oh my! apple pie! (that's such a cute name), maybelle's mom, kirstynn evans, claire, jude silverrock

---THANK YOU all for the encouraging words :)

Rebecca de Guzman said...

Aside from the additional eggs in your recipe, try mixing the ingredients for an extra 20-30 turns. :)