éclair al cioccolato / chocolate éclairs

After having to skip a month, I am back with the story of the Daring Bakers' challenge. This time I have no tragic tales of disaster to tell. I read the recipe, I followed it, and things worked out fine, in the sense that the end result of my efforts was appreciated at the table, the usual ultimate test of success. 

First of all, many thanks to this month's hosts, Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey? and Tony Tahhan. Their choice for the challenge, chocolate éclairs, was a little less intimidating than usual for me, because I had recently made cream puff dough for bignè con la crema (cream puffs). The chocolate part was welcome, considering my lifelong affection for cioccolato.

According to my Italian dictionary, éclair is a "specie di bigné di forma allungata ripieno di crema e glassato" (a sort of cream puff of elongated shape filled with pastry cream and glazed). Éclairs and bigné are referred to generically as paste, pastries. On Sunday, my father would often say: Vado a comprare le paste (I am going to buy some pastries) a sweet-sounding sentence that translated into the appearance, at the end of the Sunday lunch, of a tray (vassoio) of tempting delicacies. As far as favorite pastry, I would go through phases and it was important to communicate the results of my shifting taste to my father, so he could make an informed purchase. Making pastries brings me back to my emotions as a child. Hence, it was particularly nice for me that the evening I served my éclairs al cioccolato there was also a young person at the table: the sparkle in his eyes was my best reward.

My éclairs were not very innovative. I halved the original recipe (using 2 whole eggs and one egg yolk) and obtained 11 éclairs. For the filling, I made half of my recipe for crema, then added to it, when it was still warm, 50 g of extra-dark chocolate (70%), broken in small pieces (half of a 3.5 oz. bar). For the glaze, I melted the other half of the chocolate bar and added to it a tablespoon of my home-made mascarpone.

There was a small glitch, actually: I took no photographs. There was too much going on in my kitchen that day, plus my éclairs were not satisfactory in terms of aesthetic. Let me offer you a nice photo of something else instead: these two fawns have been visiting us often recently, together with their mother. Don't they look adorable? I hope you will take the time to go around and look at the gorgeous creations of my talented fellow Daring Bakers.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

éclair al cioccolato

or launch the éclair al cioccolato audio file [mp3].

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Comments

[Courtney]

your eclairs sound great, i enjoyed learning some information too, good post

[Bellini Valli]

It would be nice to be taking photos of the deer rather than our baking. I prepared mine only today so there was no room for error...I just crossed my fingers:D

[Lori Lynn @ Taste With The Eyes]

I saw the deer before I read the post and thought you were going to tell us that the deer ate the eclair. haha

[Elle (Dove)]

Parents and pastries. Seems a common theme. Fawns. I wish we had more deer here. My sheep scare them off.

[claire]

They sound wonderful! Great job...too bad about the pictures.

[Paz]

Your eclairs sound delicious. Okay, I'll take the photo of the fawns. They look adorable.

Paz

[Simona]

Thanks Courtney.

I kind of like this idea of taking photos of something unrelated. After spending time focused on a dish, often I don't feel inspired to photograph it.

They probably would have done so, had they been given a chance, Lori Lynn.

I like deer, provided my vegetables and other beloved plants are protected from them.

I'll try and make up for the non-pictures next time, Claire.

Glad you like the little fawns, Paz. They look really cute.

[Susan]

As much as I love to bake, I would have a hard time focusing on the kitchen if there was precious wildlife just outside the door.

Cream puffs and assorted other pastries don't have to be innovative; classic is classic for a reason. I can tell by your fond recollections, Simona, that this challenge was sweeter than your photos could have conveyed.

[Simona Carini]

Indeed, I love pastries, Susan and I hope to make more in the near future.