bread: October 2014

Friday, October 31, 2014

Chocolate Éclairs

Éclair essentially uses the same type of choux pastry used for the making of cream puff. It is supposed to be light, have a crispy outer skin but hollow internally. As per Wikipedia: “

“An éclair is an oblong pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with icing. The dough, which is the same as that used for profiterole, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a pastry bag and baked until it is crisp and hollow inside. Once cool, the pastry then is filled with a vanilla-, coffee- or chocolate-flavoured custard (crème patisserie), or with whipped cream, or chibouks cream; and then iced with fondant icing. Other fillings include pistachio- and rum-flavoured custard, fruit-flavoured fillings, or chestnut purée.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89clair)

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from Page 180, Essential Baking Book – Chocolate Éclairs

Servings : about 30 éclairs

Choux Pastry

4 eggs (please disregard one egg in the above picture)
125 grams of unsalted butter
125 grams of plain flour
250 grams of water

Chocolate coating and whipped cream

200 grams of dark chocolate
300 ml of cream, whipped

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Pre-heat oven to the hot 200 degree Celsius.

Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper or lightly grease the baking tray.

In a sauce pan, place water and butter. Bring to boil. Take away the sauce pan and add in flour. Stir until well mix. Put it back to the stove and continue stirring until the dough leaves the side of the pan and forms a ball.

Transfer to the whisking bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the dough for about 30 seconds. Add in one egg at a time and continue to whisk until the egg are well mixed. Repeat the same for the other 3 eggs. Do not add the eggs too quickly, otherwise, your dough will be very runny. If it is too runny, beat for several minutes or until thickened again. The end result of the dough should be glossy but not runny.

Transfer the dough to a large piping bag fitted with 1.5 cm plain nozzle. Pipe to your desired length (about 8-10 cm) into the baking trays leaving room for expansions. Bake at 200 degree Celsius for 10-15 minutes and reduce the oven temperature to 175 degree Celsius for another 15 minutes or until golden and firm. Do not open the door during the first 20 minutes as it will deflates the puff when temperature changes and it is unlikely you will need to open the door. You don’t need to open the door when you reduce the temperature.

Once ready, take out from the oven and use a toothpick to poke a small hole on both sides of the éclairs to let the trapped moisture to escape. Cool completely on a wire rack .

Meanwhile, whipped the cream until firm peak and set aside for later assembly.

In a microwavable bowl, put the dark chocolate and microwave using high or medium heat for 1 minute until the chocolate melted. Set aside for later assembly.

When cooled, split each éclair and pump in the whipped cream. Spread/dip with melted chocolate. If preferred, chilled for about half an hour before serving.

CONCLUSION

This is such a sinful indulgence. It is soft, light, creamy and full of chocolate fragrance. For purposes of serving my kids and family members, I have opted to cut it into one bite size.. it is addictive and one is definitely not enough for me..

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

short cut cinnamon roll

Here’s my secret! I use Pillsbury crescents for the dough. It’s a super quick shortcut, and I happen to think it makes the best cinnamon roll dough ever. These decadently light and fluffy rolls turn out so unbelievably soft and chewy. They’re everything I love in a hot, gooey cinnamon bun. I’ve tried so many homemade recipes for cinnamon roll dough, and for some reason I just can’t get mine to turn out soft the way I like them. And of course, using storebought crescent dough makes these cinnamon buns super quick and easy! No waiting around for the yeast to rise. :)

First you’ll need a stick of softened butter. I hardly ever remember to set butter out on the counter to soften in advance, so I almost always end up softening my butter in the microwave. Here’s how I do it: Leave the butter in the wrapper and place it on a plate. Microwave this, rotating the butter to a new side every five seconds until soft. It usually takes about 20-25 seconds, or one full rotation.

Now place half of that butter into the bottom of a pie plate.

And stick the plate back in the microwave to melt the butter. Then add 1/4 cup brown sugar.

And stir to combine.

This will give the cinnamon buns that incredibly gooey, buttery crust that I absolutely cannot resist!! :)

Now unroll the crescent roll dough…

And pinch together the little seams. Does anyone remember Pillsbury Recipe Creations? It was just like their crescent dough, except it was one big sheet so you didn’t have to pinch the seams together. I use to buy that darn stuff all the time, until my grocery store stopped carrying it. Does yours still have it? It seems like someone was telling me recently that their grocery store stopped carrying it as well, but they were able to find it somewhere else. Only now I can’t remember where that somewhere else was.

Anyway! Now you’re going to slather that puppy with the rest of the softened butter.

And sprinkle of a beautiful mixture of cinnamon sugar.

Tightly roll the dough back up, and cut into 8 perfect slices.

And place into that magnificent buttery and sugary pie plate.

If you had any leftover cinnamon sugar, just sprinkle it right onto the cinnamon buns. At this point you can cover tightly and place in the refrigerator until ready to bake.

When ready, bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, let’s make my absolute favorite powdered sugar glaze ever. You’ll need powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla. If you don’t have cream, don’t worry — you can just use butter and milk instead. It turns out fantastic, and it’s perfect if you don’t want to buy a whole thing of cream just to use a little in this recipe. Of course I am a bad, bad girl and I pretty much always have cream on hand. *blush* Anyway! I’ll tell you the exact amounts for the butter and milk in the recipe below.

Bad.

But oh, so good.

Now here they are, fresh out of the oven!

See that beautiful, gooey crust? I die.

Scoop one on a plate and you know what to do next. Top with that sweet vanilla glaze.

It seeps all down in there and gets even sweeter and gooeier.

Oh my gosh. These are the best cinnamon buns ever.

Warning. Do not leave yourself alone with these bad boys. Just take my word for it, okay? That’s all you need to know.

Baby Cinnamon Buns

1 can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter, divided
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the bottom of a pie plate. Add the brown sugar to the butter and stir to combine. Unroll crescent dough and pinch seams together to create one big sheet. Spread with remaining softened butter. Combine white sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the buttered dough. Roll the dough back up into a log, and cut into 8 cinnamon rolls. Place rolls in prepared pie plate. Sprinkle with any remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Top with vanilla glaze (recipe follows) and serve warm. Store leftover cinnamon buns (who am I kidding??) at room temperature.

Vanilla Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoons heavy cream (or 2 tablespoons milk + 1 tablespoon butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla

With a fork, stir together sugar, cream, and vanilla until smooth and pourable. Add one tablespoon of milk if needed to thin. If using milk and butter instead of cream, heat the milk and butter in the microwave to melt the butter, then add to the sugar and stir in vanilla.

You’re invited!

Read more at http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/breakfast/baby-cinnamon-buns.html#ixzz3HhgwZqvu
Read more at http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/breakfast/baby-cinnamon-buns.html#2CEsM4ZXoHogQft2.99