31 Aug
Daring Bakers do Chocolate Eclairs
Posted by Chelle as Chocolate, Custard Desserts, Daring Bakers, Pastries | 28 Comments
Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé.
Classic éclairs.
Chocolate pastry cream.
Chocolate glaze.
Hosted by Meeta of What’s for Lunch Honey? and Tony of Tony Tahhan, I was pretty excited when this month’s challenge was announced, as it wasn’t a layer cake and didn’t include a substantial amount of ground nuts. Score. I had made éclairs once previously and they were fabulous, so I was really looking forward to tackling these, especially since they included chocolate pastry cream instead of the traditional vanilla pastry cream that is usually found in the middle of éclairs. I bought a special piping tip to use to fill the middle of the eclairs (instead of slicing them open) and was ready to go.
Alas, don’t be fooled by the picture above; I would not consider this a successful challenge!
17 Jun
Eclairs and Cream Puffs
Posted by Chelle as Custard Desserts, Pastries | 21 Comments
You may notice that my post does not have a “TWD” header on it as you have come to find on most Tuesdays here at Sugar & Spice. Sadly, I have taken a break from Tuesdays With Dorie, as I have found recently that the commitment was getting to be a lot given some other things I have going on, and I wanted to free up some of my time and grocery budget (not to mention my waist line!) to ensure I had the opportunity to begin tackling things that have been on my “to make” list for quite some time. I still may bake along unofficially some weeks as well as use the recipes as inspiration to tackle those things that I’ve been dying to make.
That is exactly what I did this week - I have wanted to make éclairs and cream puffs for ages, but never made the time. After seeing that this week’s TWD pick was the Peppermint Cream Puff, I decided to roll up my sleeves and finally conquer a pastry!
Continue reading to find out how the pâte à choux went, the secret ingredient to the richest pastry cream ever, pictures of the cream puffs, and recipes of course!
08 Apr
TWD: Fresh Orange Cream Tart
Posted by Chelle as Custard Desserts, Pies/Tarts, Tuesdays with Dorie | 35 Comments
My first tart, hooray! I am in awe of the beauty of the fluted buttery crust!
This week’s Tuesday With Dorie recipe was chosen by Mary of Starting From Scratch. Her choice was The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart; however, with so many people not necessarily having a taste for lemons, we were given an alternate choice - the Fresh Orange Cream Tart. Since I am not a huge fan of lemon, I went for the Fresh Orange Cream Tart.
This tart can easily be described as a creamsicle wrapped up in a buttery shortbread crust. The first part of this tart involved making the cream. A number of people had noted problems with getting the cream up to 180 degrees, but I used a metal bowl and hit 180 degrees in just about 10 minutes, as the recipe indicated. After heating the cream, the butter is whirred in, in more of an emulsion type of procedure. A quick taste confirmed that this was a silky smooth and perfectly orange mixture.
The dough for this tart was nothing short of amazing. Using a food processor to combine it the key was to have patience. Some said that their dough turned out crumbly and dry. After adding the egg it did appear to be dry and course, but after about five of the 10 second pulses, the sound changed (as Dorie indicated it would) and the dough clumped up. It didn’t form a cohesive ball, but clumped together enough to be able to be rolled out very nicely.
The tart had a nice, light flavor to it, was nice and creamy, and I just can’t say enough about that crust! I typically prefer richer desserts over citrus ones, but this was a nice change of pace and I’d love to fill that tart crust with some luscious chocolate! 
I did try to brush the tart with the boiled down apple jelly, but it was just too much for my delicate cream. You can see some imperfections on the surface, and that’s where I tried to lightly brush it on, but I chose to just skip it as it seemed to be too much for the surface.
The Tuesdays With Dorie group is nearing 125 members, so be sure to head on over to the blog and check out everyone’s lemon and orange tarts!
Next week: Marshmallows
Last week: Gooey Chocolate Cakes
25 Mar
TWD: Caramel-Topped Flan
Posted by Chelle as Custard Desserts, Tuesdays with Dorie | 52 Comments
Confession #1: Before this week’s recipe, I had never had flan.
Confession #2: After this week’s recipe, I officially do not like flan.
Perhaps it is an acquired taste? I had heard rumors that there existed a love/hate relationship between most people and flan. I thought for sure I would love it. I love pudding, custard, creme brulee, etc. In the end, I had a real problem with the texture and the fact that it was cold. It also tasted a little eggy to me, which may not have come across so much if it wasn’t cold (I’m only guessing). I really didn’t care for it, which was a shame, because it’s such a pretty and elegant-looking dessert!
Thank you to Steph from A Whisk and a Spoon for choosing this week’s recipe because even if I did not necessarily find myself head over heels with the flan, I have conquered yet another first in my kitchen and can now say that I have successfully made flan. I just personally didn’t care for it, but it’s hard to believe that we’ll love every single thing that we ever make! I’m just happy for the opportunity to try out new flavors and techniques.
Next week: Gooey Chocolate Cakes
Last week: Brioche Raisin Snails
29 Oct
October Daring Bakers: Bostini Cream Pie
Posted by Chelle as Cakes, Chocolate, Custard Desserts, Daring Bakers | 44 Comments
Having successfully completed my first Daring Bakers challenge in September, I was eagerly awaiting my next; however, when the new challenge was announced for October, I was afraid… very afraid. Custard. The dreaded custard. I fear baked goods with eggs and have never attempted anything like a custard or pastry cream because I always feared that I would end up with either raw eggs or scrambled eggs. However, after procrastinating for nearly the entire month I finally faced my fear because, well, that’s what being a Daring Baker is all about, isn’t it?
A little background… this month’s challenge, Bostini Cream Pies, was chosen by Mary at Alpineberry. Bostini Cream Pie, like the name implies, is a twist on the traditional Boston cream pie. This dessert is vanilla custard topped with an orange chiffon cake and then drizzled with a chocolate glaze. The recipe that was used was heralded as the Top Recipe of 1996 by the San Francisco Chronicle, and was a creation of Donna Scala and Kurtis L. Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni.
And now, my experience. Let me start by saying that I cut this recipe into 1/3 for the cake and custard, and 1/2 for the chocolate. There was still a ton of custard and cake, as this recipe makes quite a bit! As I mentioned, I was terrified of the custard. I finally threw caution to the wind and dove right in. Since I didn’t end up with scrambled eggs and the custard didn’t TASTE like eggs, I deem my first try as a success! The mixture thickened very quickly and so I feared that perhaps the eggs would not have been cooked thoroughly, however my fellow Daring Bakers calmed my fears and I set the custard in the fridge to chill. A quick taste later revealed a thick, smooth and vanilla-flavored custard. Ahhh, no more egg fears!
The cake… I had never made a chiffon cake before, although I have made a classic sponge cake and the methods were very similar. I followed the advice of those who had gone before me in this challenge and made sure to be gentle when folding the egg whites and ensure that they were COMPLETELY incorporated into the rest of the batter. Since I scaled down this recipe I made the cake into 8 cupcakes in my muffin tin. They came out perfectly springy, light and airy. Success #2!
We were allowed creativity in the way we plated our Bostini Cream Pies, so I chose to finally put those oversized wine goblets that I got on clearance at Williams Sonoma to good use 
I layered the custard, then a piece of cake, and topped it with the chocolate sauce. A number of Daring Bakers said that their desserts tasted even better after sitting in the fridge, so I let ours chill all day. When we went to eat them, however, the chocolate had hardened too much and we popped them in the microwave for about 30 seconds. In retrospect, I would serve this dessert with warm chocolate sauce, but it still tasted absolutely fantastic.
I am thrilled to have accomplished my second challenge! Bring on November!
