Daring Bakers’ August Challenge

I am SOOO darn proud of myself for completing this challenge!!! I came home yesterday from spending EIGHT hours in the sun at a swim meet & then spent the next 3 hours whipping these eclairs together. They’re not as pretty as I would like them to be, but I did learn a lot and I enjoyed every bit of making them (except the clean-up!). We’re having company for dinner tonight & this was the perfect opportunity to try something new. I can’t wait for the final verdict. My family loved them – that’s what counts most!

LESSONS LEARNED: 1) Less is more – I thought if I squeezed out big “fingers” of dough that I would have big eclairs…. No. They just didn’t cook all the way through. 2) Do strain the mixture after tempering yolks the for the pastry cream even if you do not see any scrambled bits – they really only show up after you add the chocolate & by then it’s too late. 3) Break this recipe up over a couple of days – it would be easy enough to do if you have the foresight to think of it.

Thank you MeetaK and Tony Tahhan for challenging us with Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé. I can honestly say that I never would have thought to make these on my own. Merci!

To see some truly amazing Eclairs check out the other Daring Bakers.