... well one with huge jaws anyway. It's true! Exhibit A:
I know you might only be able to see one "bite mark" here, but there are two. Filling an eclair is one of the funnest things ever, I've decided. After making your dual holes in the bottom of your eclair, and filling your pastry bag with thick, creamy pastry cream (and an 801 tip!) you get to fill your eclair. You stick that little tip into one of the little holes, pipe to the end first, then when you feel the cream starting to push back toward you, you flip the tip around and start piping to the middle. (You do this on both ends, obviously, so your eclair is stuffed full of cream). What was once an empty shell is now a stuffed, sweet treat, just waiting to be dipped in chocolate fondant. :)
In addition to these eclairs, today I made Bavarian cream, cream puffs, Paris Brest (not a typo), swans, and Napoleons.
First, the swans... which are legit. Pate a choux can be used to make awesome things... like swan heads/necks. By piping an "S" shape (don't forget the little beak), and a "body" (kind of like a teardrop) onto some parchment paper, then popping it in the oven, you can make a swan too!
The swan bodies are filled with chantilly, as are the cream puffs. All of the pate a choux products (if done correctly) essentially are hollow, so after shredding the little bits of webbing, they are quite easy to fill.
(cream puffs)
Paris Brest (named after the beginning and ending cities for a France bike race), is essentially a pate a choux donut cut in half and filled with diplomat cream (which is pastry cream with chantilly folded in).
The Napoleans were my second favorite (to make and taste), because they are just so beautiful and yummy. The design on top (done in fondant and chocolate) requires a go-getter, no hesitations kind of attitude. Once you spread the fondant on with a small offset palette knife, you line the chocolate, and go straight into the up and down knife pulls to finalize the design. If you wait too long, the fondant sets, and you are left with a goopy mess of chunks of chocolate and fondant. (As a perfectionist, this work quickly, don't look back, you-couldn't-fix-it-even-if-you-wanted-to, kind of production is a bit difficult for me to master). ;)
When everything was made, assembled, plated and graded, I had the super fun job of delivering all of my pastries next door for dinner service! There is something so awesome about seeing people enjoy the things that you have worked so hard to perfect.
P.S. sorry about the tardiness of this post!!! :)
