Sunday, August 31, 2008

Daring Bakers..my 1st!



I've decided to join the fun that is the Daring Bakers! I however wasn't excited to see that my first challenge would be....



Coconut Cream "Eclairs"


Eclairs! I've never liked them. I've never eaten a vegan one let alone ever seen a vegan one. But I decided this would be a fun challenge. Like most things in my life I waited until the very last few day of the challenge. But I lucked out. Sorta.


I've decided to join the fun that is the Daring Bakers! I however wasn't excited to see that my first challenge would be Eclairs. I've never liked them. I've never eaten one let alone ever see a vegan one. But I decided this would be a fun challenge.



I used this recipe for the pate a choux but upped the amount of baking powder to I think 1/2 or 1 full teaspoon (eek. i can't find my notes on it). The pastry cream is the vegan pastry cream from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World with Coconut extract added because who doesn't like coconut.

The delicious chocolate ganache was just chocolate chips with a bit of soy milk melted to perfection.



One unfortunate thing about making them into eclairs was the misplacement of my pastry bag. I tried to do the old use a big ziplock bag trick but that ended up in total disaster. So I shaped my blobs of pate a choux into cream puff size instead.

I was nervous when I took them out of the oven because they didn't brown as much as I thought they would and I didn't think they would brown much at all at the same time. I also wasn't sure what the inside would look like when I cut them open. Would there be the hollow inside of this particular pastry? YES there would be, sorta! I was so happily surprised and thankful because I wouldn't have had another opportunity to make them again. One slight mishap was that the bottom of the pastry was a little undercooked and heavy. So the recipe needs some working on.



Thankfully when all put together..choux, coconut pastry cream, choux, ganache, dried coconut..it tasted and looked fantastic. I actually liked it! I've never liked an eclair. I even brought them over to a friends house and they seemed to go over well. I'm so happy that my first Daring Bakers challenge went well.



P.S. TODAY WAS RENO'S 1ST BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! SHE WAS BORN 1 YEAR AGO TODAY AT 11:32 A.M. AFTER BEING FORCED A.K.A. INDUCED TO COME OUT BECAUSE SHE WAS TWO WHOLE WEEKS LATE AND SHOWING NO SIGNS OF COMING OUT ON HER OWN. WE THREW A BIG PARTY FOR HER TODAY. SHE HAD A BLAST AND CHARMED EVERYONE. PICS TO COME. WAIT TIL YOU SEE THE DECORATIONS I MADE FOR HER VEGAN CUPCAKES!

28 comments:

aTxVegn said...

Happy Birthday, Reno! Can't wait for party pictures.

I'm very impressed with anyone who makes vegan pate a choux!

urban vegan said...

They look freakin' amazing.

Happy b'day, Reno XOXOX

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your first challenge. I love the picture of your cat with the cream puffs!

Unknown said...

I love how yours are kitty approved. Great photo!

JENNA said...

That photo of CB and the "elcair" was pure luck. She just happened to show up in the shot at the perfect moment. I love that picture so much.

Anonymous said...

congrats on completing your first challenge! They look great

Mary said...

Cheers on your first challenge. And I love the photo of your cat sniffing the eclair. My cat who refuses pretty much all human food/meat, loves to sneak cakes and desserts. :)

The Irreverent Cook said...

Welcome to the daring bakers! Gorgeous puffs, great first challenge =D

Alpineberry Mary said...

Welcome to the DBs! I'm glad you were able to make the eclairs vegan.

Anne said...

Congratulation on your first challenge! I love the cat picture :)

Marija said...

Congratulations on your first challenge! Love your coconut cream. And Happy Birthday Reno!

Arlene Delloro said...

I love your cat! Will come back to see your DD's photos. Great job with your cream puffs.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

"Eclairs! I've never liked them. I've never eaten a vegan one let alone ever seen a vegan one." You took the words right out of my mouth (err, keyboard, in this case) - I've only eaten one éclair in my life, and it was years ago (before I became a vegan) - I hated it.

I'm soooo glad that you joined the Daring Bakers!! Your Coconut version of the éclairs is FABULOUS!! They look perfect to me.

Oh my goodness, Reno is 1 already?!??!!??!?! My GOODNESS, time flies faster than I thought it did, haha :0) Happy birthday to Reno!

pixie said...

your cat gave it the thumbs up!!! congratulations!

Catherine Weber said...

COCONUT eclairs . . . why didn't I think of that????? Holy yum!

And, happy birthday Reno! Can't wait to see the pictures!

Vegan_Noodle said...

So glad to see you joined daring bakers!! Looks like you nailed the challenge :-)

Can't wait to see pics from Reno's birthday. Especially those cupcakes...

Unknown said...

Glad the challenge ended up better than you expected! They look great. I just love the cat pic.

silverrock said...

AAAHHH! Coconut cream! Such a brilliant idea :) Way to go on your first DB challenge, the eclairs look stellar... I might just have to steal a bite (heck, make it an entire eclair)

Dragon said...

This was also my first DB challenge and I'm so impressed with yours. The coconut pastry cream sounds amazing.

Animal-Friendly said...

Glad to see your first challenge was such a success! Your vegan cream puffs look delicious.

happy birthday to Reno!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your first successful DB challenge... and welcome to another Vegan DB. Your eclairs look wonderful!
Jane of VeganBits.com

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the Daring Bakers! Your cream puffs look wonderful :)

Nicole said...

Happy birthday, Reno!!

Your eclairs are SO CUTE! It was my first challenge too! I think we both did swell!

jessy said...

your eclairs look adorable and yummy and awesome and just perfect! i want to gobble each and every one up and then ask you to make me some more! mmmmmmmmmmm!

hooooooooray for Reno's 1st birthday! that rocks so hard! :D

VeganCowGirl said...

Happy Birthday to RENO!!! Whoop Whoop - who doesn't love being one?

Your eclairs look so amazing, I have a hard time believing that is your first time because they just look way too good.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Tonight's the night!! ANTM 2 hour season premiere!! :0)

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

I can't believe you made vegan pate-a-choux, that's amazing! I actually am a huuuuuge fan of eclairs, and seeing yours made me want to join the Daring Bakers (finally). I just did it! Your beautiful eclairs did it! :D

JENNA said...

Liz~ I'm so glad you joined the Daring Bakers. I'm so happy with my first challenge.