Pastry Of The Week 10/03/13: The Results

Ta-daaaaah! Quite straightforward to make, although I need to work on my piping technique to get them as even as the boulanger does. Will update with taste results and recipe on Monday.

bob xx

PASTRY OF THE WEEK: IT'S BACK, BABY!

This week: Chocolate eclairs.  Here they are filled with a chocolate cream rather than whipped cream.  Nom. Of course I had to buy a sample from the boulangerie because I really needed to check what they taste like (Hey - they could have changed in the last couple of weeks since I had one, no?). I shan't be recreating them until tomorrow as I promised to wait until The Husband was back from his business trip.  The thing that most concerns me at this point is piping good, even eclair shapes and not blobby phallic shapes.  We shall see......

Mrs Beeton Likes To Sweeten

I have been making apple crumble since I was a kid and can't remember the last time I actually measured the ingredients.  For the general edification of The Internet I thought I would take the time to work out a recipe that was clear to others, rather than "keep adding flour until it feels right..." etc.  As it's such an old-fashioned classic, I thought I'd turn to my trusty Mrs Beeton (1961) for a standard recipe and go from there.

Evidently old Missus B likes her puddings SWEET! 110g brown sugar plus 85g castor sugar, mixed with 90g butter and only 180g of flour, even when toned down with my personal addition of 2 handfuls of oats was far too sweet, even for The Daughter.  Back to the drawing board.

Tomorrow: I shall be purchasing a sample for the long-awaited return of......PASTRY OF THE WEEK!

Isn't it exciting?

bob