Sunday, August 31, 2008

Chocolate PH goodness - des Eclairs!!!

Thanks to the wonderful Meeta K. (my friend and sometimes partner in crime) of What's For Lunch Honey? and Tony Tahhan of Olive Juice, this month the Daring Bakers made Chocolate Eclairs by Pierre Hermé, one of the gurus of chocolate, my culinary boyfriend which I share with so many others (he's Meeta's sugar daddy, Hélène's bf before he was mine, and the list goes on...), and generally considered one of the best patissiers (pastry-makers) in the world. I am not short of praise about him because this isn't the first time I've made something by him on this blog.

FR: Remerciements à la fabuleuse Meeta K. (mon amie et complice de temps à autre) de What's For Lunch Honey? et Tony Tahhan de Olive Juice, ce mois-ci les Pâtissiers Téméraires ont fait les Eclairs au Chocolat de Pierre Hermé, un des seigneurs du chocolat, mon homme culinaire que je partage avec tant d'autres (c'est le papa sucre de Meeta, l'homme culinaire d'Hélène bien avant d'être le mien, et ainsi de suite...) et généralement considéré être l'un des meilleurs pâtissiers au monde. Je ne taris pas d'éloges à son égard car ce n'est pas la première fois que je fais une de ses recettes sur ce blog.

But more to the point people, chocolate eclairs: puff pastry, chocolate pastry cream, and chocolate glaze (fondant, ganache, etc...) on top.
Side Note: although I own the Tartine cookbook, I must take exception to Elizabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson's statement that "[f]or some people, an eclair must have a chocolate filling" at the very beginning of their recipe for eclairs. Listen you two, many of your recipes are great, but don't pretend you practice French pastry-making -and learned it in France no less- if you think only some people think chocolate eclairs should have chocolate fillings, I've got a whole nation of French people including myself who've grown up with chocolate and coffee eclairs, and if it's called a chocolate eclair it has chocolate in it, and if it's called a coffee eclair it has coffee in it, capisce? I never saw an "eclair" with the appropriately matched glaze filled with anything other than those two things in my life until I moved to the U.S..
Now if one is talking about puff pastry specifically and not eclairs, well you can fill that with anything you want, so there, thus cream puffs, or cream puffs built into a pyramid known as a piece montee for weddings, or profiteroles, and so on and so forth. Now, Meeta and Tony, in the name of culinary freedom, allowed us to make any flavoring of pastry cream we wanted to put inside. As I am dogmatic I made chocolate because anyway that's my favorite flavor of eclair.

FR: Mais venons-en au faît bonnes gens, des éclairs au chocolat: des choux pâtissiers, de la crème pâtissière au chocolat, et une couverture au chocolat par dessus (fondant, ganache, etc...)
Je ne traduis pas la note que j'ai écrit en Anglais ci-dessus parce qu'elle réfère à un livre de cuisine connu par probablement personne en France, mais j'insiste que si on dit qu'un éclair est au chocolat, il doit contenir de la crème au chocolat, et de même pour un éclair au café, il doit contenir de la crème au café. Maintenant si on parle de choux à la crème ou de pièce montée ou de profiteroles, et bah on met ce qu'on veut dedans, mais un éclair à quelque chose est un éclair avec de la crème à quelque chose dedans. Or, au nom de la liberté de chacun dans sa propre cuisine, Meeta et Tony nous ont permit de mettre n'importe quel parfum de crème pâtissière dans ces éclairs, et étant légèrement psychorigide, j'ai fait des éclairs au chocolat parce que c'est mon parfum préferé de toute manière.

I didn't do a step by step this time, I've been feeling a little out of it for the last few weeks, and considering that my oven imploded the next day, that was probably a good thing because I didn't spend any more time in the kitchen than I needed to.
They don't look fabulous, but they did taste awesome, as could be expected with Pierre my middle name is butter and sugar Herme. I also apologize for the pictures, they could have been better.

FR: Je n'ai pas fait de pas à pas cette fois, ça fait quelques semaines que je ne me sens pas au top de ma forme, et en sachant que le four a implosé le jour suivant, c'était probablement mieux de passer le moins de temps possible dans la cuisine à ce moment-là.
Ils n'ont pas l'air fantastiques mais ils étaient très bon, comme on peut s'attendre avec Pierre mon autre prénom est beurre et sucre Hermé. Je m'excuse aussi pour la qualité des photos, elles auraient pu être mieux.

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18 comments:

Dragon said...

There is no need to apologize for the photos. I think they are gorgeous. Well done!

Karen Baking Soda said...

But they do look scrumptious Hilda! (don't get me started on coffee éclairs...Yum!)

Anne said...

They look wonderful!! :)

Lauren said...

BEAUTIFUL!

Mcwhisky said...

Very tempting-looking eclairs you have there! Pretty shots and luscious eclairs altogether! ;)

Anonymous said...

Lovely job!

Amy J. said...

Your eclairs look wonderful! Great job.

Anonymous said...

c'est ça que tu appelles des éclairs pas très réussis ??? tu te fous de moi ??????
avec un four versatile en plus ???
naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan t'as la pâtisserie dans la peau, c'est tout :) Bravo Hilda !!!!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

oh they look grand! partner in crime - it's time we did a challenge together again! glad you managed this! love n kisses!

Anonymous said...

My stomach growled when I saw this. Great job!

We'd like to invite you to participate in our September apple and peach recipe contest (the recipe can be sweet or savory). All competitors will be eligible to win one of three prizes :)! Please email me, haleyglasco@gmail.com, if you're interested. Feel free to check out our blog for more details: http://blog.keyingredient.com/2008/08/29/september-kick-contest/

Thanks :),
Haley
KI Blogger

Helene said...

c'est juste avant le nouveau defi que j'ai le temps de venir te dire, bravo!! Ils sont fabuleux!!

Anonymous said...

These are amazing!

Anonymous said...

Pas beau ? Pfff je crèverais d'envie d'en manger des éclairs...et vegan...trop dur !
Tes photos sont si jolies, waouw !

Pat said...

I've never had an eclair filled with chocolate but it sure looks yummy!

Unknown said...

Ha! I enjoyed the eclair rant.

Jeanne said...

Chocolate eclairs like this were always my favourite as a child - especially ones filled with chocolate cream! Haven't had one in years though. Trust PH to make the ultimate example!

Kat said...

Those look super tasty

Anonymous said...

comment comment. thanks for the good work.

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