Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Strawberry Cream Puffs and Eclairs



Made these for my boss' surprise baby shower.  He didn't show up to work because his wife is in labour today!  We are all excited for him, and everybody just came and grab the puffs.  No need to wait for the party time!

I baked the puffs last night with GB recipe.  Oh, I did replaced the shortening with butter.  They smell very good, look more yellowy too.  The original recipe was for 2 dozens regular size puffs and eclairs.  I find them a little too big.  So I made 36 little ones.  That's perfect size because, once you bite on to them, the cream will be squeezed out.  You can finish it in 2 bites.  You won't have too much cream on your face. :-)  I was surprised that they still need 30 mins to bake.

Look at them in the oven, so cute!







The eclairs without chocolate actually look like 油炸鬼.



They are perfectly baked with big hollow inside.



I couldn't find chocolate fondant in bulk barn.  So I called my baking 911 lifeline - Cherry.  Thank you!  I bought 1 block of bittersweet chocolate to coat them.  It does say "for coating" on the label.   The only thing is, I have to put them in the fridge to let it dry up more quickly.  I discovered a way to avoid the crumbs sticking on the chocolate while cutting the eclairs.  Just cut them on the cookie rack above the sink.  All the crumbs will fall into the sink.  Easy clean up, no crumbs on eclairs.



Strawberries on sale this week everywhere!  Found the cheapest at Food Basic at $1.97 for one big box.  They are so sweet that I don't even need to coat them with icing sugar.  Yet I did it anyway just to see the difference.  I find them very watery after one night in the fridge.  I drained the juice out, they mix well with the whipped topping.





At GB we were provided commercial whipped topping to fill the puffs.  I found this lactose free Nutriwhip at grocery store which taste very close to fresh whipping cream.  Lower fat and more people can enjoy the dessert.  Took me 1 1/2 mins to whip the cream this morning.  I filled the puffs and eclairs so quickly.  These are just the easiest desserts to be made in the shortest time.    I'm quite happy with the result.  I'll try to make a swan next time.

2 comments:

  1. Look how hollow they are in the inside! They look great!
    Chocolate coating looks good too! Must be yummy!
    I was going to get bread flour today to make puff as well but I got off work late so I didn't have a chance to go to the grocery store.
    Hopefully tomorrow!

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  2. Thanks for the chocolate tip. Otherwise I wouldn't know what to do. Yeah, they turned out quite well and some people were taking 2nd or even 3rd. BTW, I saw new layout of your site. I like this one so much better!

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