Chocolate Eclairs

A good friend at work has been asking me to make my eclairs for awhile.  I really meant to make them in May...but my month was absolutely crazy.  Then she went on vacation...so when she came back to work, I was excited to bring her this treat. 

The pastry is a recipe from Cookshelf Chocolate by Jacqueline Bellefontaine.  (I bought this book on clearance at Michael's for $1.00...and it was a killer deal, I've found so many good recipes!)

Pastry

2/3 cup water
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup strong, all purpose flour, sifted
2 eggs

Lightly grease a cookie sheet (I actually like to use parchment paper, and spray it with cooking spray).  Place the water in a saucepan, add the butter, and heat gently until the butter melts.  Bring to a rolling boil, then remove the pan from the heat.  Add the flour all at once, beating constantly until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball.  Cool slightly (about 5 minutes) then gradually beat in the eggs to form a smooth, glossy mixture.  Spoon the mixture into a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch plain tip (I used the Wilton 1A). 
Sprinkle the cookie sheet with a little water.  Pipe eclairs 3 inches long, spaced well apart. 

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Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F for 20-30 minutes, or until crisp and golden.  Make a small slit in each one to let the steam escape.  Cool on a rack. 

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The filling is my own concoction...devised from a passing comment from a nurse I used to work with who was also a baker.  It is 1/2 whipped cream and 1/2 Bavarian Cream.  I don't have a recipe I like for Bavarian Cream, so I buy tubes at Orson Gygy in Salt Lake. 

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Whip your cream first, to desired sweetness (I use 1 cup sugar to every cup cream).
Then I fold the two mixtures together with a spatula til it is mostly mixed...

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Then I beat it together in the mixer until fully combined.  (that way, the whipped cream doesn't get over beaten). 
Slice the pastries open, and pipe in filling (I use a disposable pastry bag and my Wilton 1A tip)

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(I need to get better at taking pictures while working)
Then they look like this...

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Chocolate Glaze
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa (Ghiardelli is my favorite)
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Melt the butter with the milk in a pan over low heat.  Remove from the heat, and stir in cocoa and powdered sugar.  Let cool about 5 minutes.  Then, spoon over the tops of the eclairs. 

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These were DEVOURED at work.  I really thought they turned out yummy, but sometimes the best compliment is when there's nothing left.

Birthday Cakes...

I made my Husband a cake for his birthday.  I wanted to decorate it...but he's not a frosting person, so that left my options limited. 

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I was in a hurry, so after the cake was done, I quickly did a thin crumb coat, stuck it in the fridge for 10 minutes, did a thin outer coat, and was contemplating what color to do the writing when my daughter woke up from her nap.  She insisted on black, "because Daddy's favorite color is black". 

The black frosting actually tasted ok, and he got a kick out of it.  Inside is my personal adaptation of a yellow cake recipe that I found on Allrecipes.com.  Best yellow cake I've ever tasted...I could almost pick it over chocolate, it's THAT good.  One of these days I'll have to post the recipe. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I love cupcakes.  Doesn't everyone?  What's not to love...cake and frosting all wrapped up in it's own package.  Yum. 

I've been experimenting with a few recipies for Red Velvet cupcakes recently.  I found that most of the cake recipes didn't translate well to cupcakes.   I did, however recently find a recipe I liked...after tweaking it some.  I took some to my family's weekly summer barbeque....to rave reviews. 

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Red Velvet Cupcakes (adapted from a recipe in the Betty Crocker Holiday magazine from 2005)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa (I used Ghiardelli)
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 oz bottle of red food color
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk (I used the substitute of adding 1 Tbl lemon juice to 1 cup milk...it worked great).
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbl apple cider vinegar

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin cups with paper baking cups.  In a small bowl, mix flour, cocoa and salt; set aside.  In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter and sugar on medium speed until well mixed.  Add eggs, beat until light and fluffy.  Sir in food color and vanilla. 

Beat in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk on low speed until just blended.  Dissolve baking soda in apple cider vinegar, then add to the batter.  Beat until well blended.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.  Bake 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.  Cool completely. 

I frosted these with my favorite buttercream recipe...because I haven't yet attempted to make a cream cheese frosting (and besides, both my husband and sister in law are lactose intolerant, and the cream cheese tends to make both of them sick). 

I didn't hear any complaints, though!

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The blog is Live!

Welcome to my new blog, Jen's Creative Moments.  I've been working on it for a while now, and I think it's finally ready.  I wanted a place to showcase some of my creative endeavors that was not my "family" blog.  I will be doing posts about all the creative endeavors I am involved in. 

What better way to start than with cookies? 

I purchased a new toy with my birthday money. 

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My kids gave me the nice measuring cups and spoons for Mother's Day, and I found this little gem while buying my mother a Mother's Day gift...

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Inside is beautiful paper, and an heirloom quality recipe book.  I've been copying all my favorites, starting with desserts.  Of course, I'm always looking for a yummy recipe to become a family heirloom. 

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Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies was the first thing I made with my new KitchenAid Artesian mixer.  This recipe has been in our family for many years.  These are the best chocolate chip cookies around...the baking time can be tailored for softer or crispier cookies.  In our family, we like them on the doughy side, so we shorten the baking time.  Of course, in my house, we prefer to eat the dough (4/5 of us do, anyway :)) so this batch was never baked.  We just enjoyed the dough. 

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Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies (this is 1 1/2 the original recipe...but we never seem to have extra!)

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup shortening
1 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
3 tsp Vanilla
4 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 cups Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (you gotta go Tollhouse or Giardelli on these)

Mix sugar and brown sugar.  Cream in shortening and butter.  Mix in eggs one at a time. Mix in Vanilla.  Add flour while mixing.  Add baking soda and salt.  Mix well.  Add chocolate chips, mix until well incorporated.  Chill dough at least 6 hours. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 
Roll cookie dough into balls (size is up to you).  Place on cookie sheet, bake 8-10 minutes until they are as cooked as you want them (again, up to you).  Remove from oven, place on parchment paper to cool...or immediately put them on top of a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream for a little piece of heaven. 

I will be working in the next few weeks to create a list of links to the other things I've baked/created...the ones posted on my family blog.  I've also played a lot with my new toy lately...and have a few new recipes that deserve mention in this space.