Chocolate Eclairs

For a long time now I have wanted to learn French, and this year I am making it happen. I've downloaded some great apps onto my iPad and they have been really helpful. My desire to learn French stems mostly from the fact that I really want to visit France one day and be able to communicate well there. I can't wait to experience a true French Patisserie and eat a fresh French baguette!

In the meantime, while I save for such a trip on an apprentice wage, I decided to make my own Chocolate Eclairs. I have made choux pastry before for profiteroles and found it very hard to get a consistent result. Sometimes they would be brilliant and sometimes they would crash and burn. I found a great recipe for choux pastry on Poh's Kitchen on ABC when she had Emmanuel Mollois on making his Chocolate Eclairs, they turned out perfect first go!

Chocolate Eclairs

(Recipe adapted from Poh's Kitchen)

What you will need

100g chocolate
1 egg

For the choux pastry
200ml milk
90g unsalted butter
1tsp salt
1tsp sugar
120g plain flour
3 eggs

For the chocolate cream
200ml cream
130ml milk
4 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
165g dark chocolate

What you will need to do

Preheat oven to 190*C and line two baking trays with baking paper. In a saucepan combine milk, butter, salt and sugar and bring to the boil. Take off heat and mix in flour. Place back on heat and cook stirring until mixture resembles a dry ball, about 5 minutes. Place dough into a bowl and add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition.

Place dough into a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle. Pipe thick lines of dough onto the baking trays whatever size you desire, leaving space between each. Lightly whisk the 1 egg and brush the tops of the eclairs. Place in oven for 30mins then turn down to 150*C and bake for a further 15mins. When done place on a wire rack to cool.

To make the chocolate cream place the milk and cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together until thick and pale. Add the cream mixture and cook gently, stirring without boiling, until mixture thickens. Take off heat and stir in chocolate, set aside to cool.

Place the chocolate cream in a piping bag with a small round nozzle. Poke a small hole in the end of an eclair and pipe in the chocolate. You may need to do it from both ends to get the chocolate throughout the whole eclair. Repeat with all the Eclairs.

Melt the extra chocolate and place in a container just longer than the Eclairs. Dip the top of the eclair into the chocolate to coat. Set aside to let chocolate set.

NOTE
I am still having some trouble adjusting to my oven though so when I thought it was time to turn the heat down, I opened up and rotated the trays too. This was a mistake as some of the Eclairs flopped. I think I may have also piped some a bit thin and this contributed to some not puffing up as much as I would have liked. I was also a little impatient with the chocolate cream filling I tried filling the Eclairs when the mixture was still a bit runny and hadn't cooled and thickened enough(this was a bit messy!).

Mango Weiss Bars

Summer to me means one thing...MANGOES!! They are the most delicious fruit and the best kind are grown up here, Bowen. Whilst at home over Christmas I raided my parents mango tree and came back with a bounty of beautiful fresh homegrown Bowen mangoes. Time to make the ultimate mango dessert, Mango Weiss Bars.

This sweet fresh dessert is so simple and the results are identical to the Mango Weiss Bars you buy. My mother used to make this when we had an abundant of mangoes and needed to use them up before they went off. These bars can be stored in the freezer for ages so its a great way to prolong the mango season :).

Mango Weiss Bars

(Adapted from Taste.com)

What you will need

3 Large mangoes
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups water
2 tbsp orange juice
600 ml cream

What you will need to do 

Peel mangoes and remove flesh. Place in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the orange juice and combine. Meanwhile in a saucepan heat the sugar and water on low heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring the mixture to the boil for 5 minutes, mixture will thicken slightly. Leave to cool to room temp. Once cooled, combine with mango mixture.

Place cream in a bowl and add 1 1/2 cup of mango mixture. Stir to combine then pour into a lamination tray lined with foil. Place in the freezer to set. Once firm, pour mango mixture on top and place back into freezer to set again. Once set, slice into bars.

Sparkling Rose` Layer Cake: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope everyone had a wonderful NYE, I found myself taking in the local fireworks at Reid Park a little sleep deprived and slightly cranky but I enjoyed it all the same. It was a good time to reflect upon the year that was and all the great things that happened. Highlights for me included:

               - Starting Sugarbuttacream!
               - Buying my first car
               - Starting my Bakers Apprenticeship

           
For this occasion I decided to bring out the big guns (ie my fancy piping skills and a layer cake!) and make this gorgeous Sparkling Rose` Layer Cake. I've seen this recipe at Whiskitforabiscuit and I knew I just had to try it and when I received a bottle of Sparkling Rose` from my boss around Christmas time I decided to save it for this very recipe. Sweetapolita gave me inspiration to decorate it with ruffles! I got the sides alright but I think I need to work on the top ruffles, it might be time to invest in a bigger petal tip!

Well I can't do a new year post without mentioning some goals for 2013. I plan to work harder on this blog to bring you more creative and adventurous recipes, at least once a week. I also want to learn more skills in baking and decorating wonderful cakes and sweets and how to photograph them beautifully.

I want to thank everyone who has helped me out this past year and supported me in everything i've done. My family, especially Mum, who follows my blog and tries out my recipes. My partner D who helps me eat all the sugar loaded foods I create so that my pants don't get too tight. And the whole blogging community who inspires me with their creations and stories. THANKS :)

Sparkling Rose` Layer Cake

(Adapted from Whiskitforabiscuit)

What you will need

3 cups plain flour, minus 3 tbsp
3 tbsp corn flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
170g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 egg whites
2 cups Sparkling Rose`
Red gel food colouring

For the buttercream filling (and crumb coat)
2 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp butter, softened
2 tbsp Sparkling Rose`

For the buttercream icing
750g icing sugar
400g butter
2 tsp vanilla
Red gel food colouring

What you will need to do

Preheat oven to 180*C and spray two cake tins (the same size) with oil and lightly flour. Beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy then add the red food colouring to reach desired tint. In a separate bowl sift together dry ingredients and set aside. Gradually add egg whites to butter and sugar mix and beat on medium. Don't be alarmed if the mixture looks curdled, it will be alright. Add to this the dry ingredients alternately with the Sparkling Rose` and mix until completely incorporated.

Divide mixture between the two cake tins evenly. Place in the oven and cook for 30-35 minutes or until set. Once cooked, remove from oven and cool in tins for about 10 minutes. Use a knife to loosen cakes around the edges and jiggle and tap tins on bench to make sure they are loose on the bottom. Turn cakes out onto wire rack and cool completely. Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place in freezer until frozen. I find cakes are easier to cut and ice when they are frozen.

To make the buttercream filling, place ingredients in a bowl and beat until creamy and light. Remove cakes from freezer and using a large serrated knife cut each into two layers. Place a blob of buttercream on a cake board or plate that cake will be presented on and place the first cake layer securely on top. Cover this layer in buttercream about 5mm thick. Place next layer of cake on top and repeat until all layers are filled. When you get to the top, use the remaining buttercream to cover the top and sides of the cake, this will be your crumb layer to hold all the crumbs in. Place cake in fridge to set.

To make the buttercream icing, place ingredients in a bowl and bet until creamy and light, use as much colouring as needed to achieve desired tint. Remove cake from fridge. Cover the cake in a thin layer of the pink buttercream using just using a palette knife or spatula. To create the ruffle effect, put a petal tip in the end of a piping bag and fill bag with buttercream. Place tip at the bottom edge of the cake with the thin end of the petal tip facing out and the fat end touching the cake. In a side to side motion pipe the buttercream from the bottom to the top of the cake. Repeat this all around the outside of the cake. For the top, start on the outer rim and put the fat side of the petal tip towards the outside and the thin side of the petal tip towards the middle of the cake and pipe in a forward and back motion around the edge in a big circle. Repeat with consecutive circles getting closer to the middle. For a great tutorial just hit up you tube :)

Post Christmas Wrap Up

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and got to spend time with the people they love and eat fabulous food! My Christmas consisted of a 4hr road trip to D's parents place and a lovely Christmas lunch at his sisters new house. Our furry child Izzy came with us and enjoyed getting into the Christmas spirit also.

In the end I brought chocolate rum balls, chocolate gingerbread macarons, chocolate sugar cookies filled with chocolate ganache and sticky gingerbread with royal icing. Wow so much chocolate!

The rum balls I made using a basic rum ball recipe of:
1 packet milk arrow roots, crushed
1 tin condensed milk
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tbsp rum essence
And I added:
375g dark choc melts
All you have to do is place the chocolate in the food processor and pulse until crushed. Add to a bowl with milk arrow roots, condensed milk, coconut, cocoa and rum essence. Mix until combined. Roll into balls and roll in extra coconut. Store in the fridge but serve at room temperature as they tend to set quite hard.

For the macarons, I made the shells as per Candy Cane Macaron recipe. I left the mixture plain white but added stripes of green and red food gel colouring to the piping bag before filling with the macaron mix. The result was a wonderful candy cane looking macaron shell once piped and baked. I had seen this done at whiskitforabiscuit and was super impressed!

To make the chocolate gingerbread ganache, you will need:
1 1/2 cups chocolate melts
1/2 cup cream
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp mixed spice
All you need to do is heat the cream in a microwave for 1.5 minutes then pour over chocolate. Stir until smooth. Add the golden syrup, ginger, cloves and mixed spice. You may need to adjust the amounts of spices to suit your own tastes. Leave mixture to set to a thick consistency. Place in a piping bag and pipe onto half the macaron shells. Sandwich shells together. Store in the freezer and serve at room temperature.

Christmas is over now and we are back to life as per usual. I am trying to plan what the year ahead will have in store for Sugabuttacream and all I know for sure is it is going to be full of learning (baking, writing, photography etc) on my behalf and of course fabulous sugary sweetness!