If you missed Sara Rose's cooking demonstration (which was awesome!!) Don't worry. Her amazing recipes are on here. You can also enjoy some great recipes from the talented amateur chefs in our group. (click on image to enlarge).
More from Sara (about Eclairs)
I love cream puffs. I love how each small, crisp, hollow round of choux pastry is split in half, filled with lots of sweet cream (or custard), and then dusted with a thick coating of powdered sugar. Some say the choux pastry shells look like small cabbages which is probably where the name "choux" came from as "choux" in French means "cabbage". Catherine de Medici's (an Italian who married France's Henry II) pastry chef is credited with inventing choux pastry in the 1540s and it has been the springboard for many desserts ever since. Besides cream puffs, the two other desserts that are quite popular are the eclair (long finger-shaped pastry that is filled with cream and glazed with chocolate) and the Profiterole (small puffs of choux pastry split and filled with cream or ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce). They can also be filled with savory things and served like miniature sandwiches.
Cream puffs begin with a baked puffed shell of choux pastry. Choux pastry or pate choux is an unusual pastry in that flour is added to a boiled mixture of butter and water (like a roux) and then this mixture is cooked until it forms a smooth ball of dough. After cooling the dough to lukewarm, eggs are slowly added and the dough is beaten until it becomes a smooth thick paste. This paste can either be piped or dropped into mounds onto a baking sheet and then they are baked, first at a high temperature and then at a slightly lower temperature. The high temperature is needed so the dough will rise quickly (leaving a hollow center) and to set the structure of the shells. The temperature is then reduced to allow the outsides of the shells to become firm, while at the same time allowing the insides of the pastry to dry out. Always cut one of the shells in half at the end of baking to make sure they have dried out because if the inside dough is still very wet, the choux pastry will deflate upon cooling. But don't worry if the shells have just a small amount of moist dough in them as this can simply be removed before filling the shells.
Cream puffs begin with a baked puffed shell of choux pastry. Choux pastry or pate choux is an unusual pastry in that flour is added to a boiled mixture of butter and water (like a roux) and then this mixture is cooked until it forms a smooth ball of dough. After cooling the dough to lukewarm, eggs are slowly added and the dough is beaten until it becomes a smooth thick paste. This paste can either be piped or dropped into mounds onto a baking sheet and then they are baked, first at a high temperature and then at a slightly lower temperature. The high temperature is needed so the dough will rise quickly (leaving a hollow center) and to set the structure of the shells. The temperature is then reduced to allow the outsides of the shells to become firm, while at the same time allowing the insides of the pastry to dry out. Always cut one of the shells in half at the end of baking to make sure they have dried out because if the inside dough is still very wet, the choux pastry will deflate upon cooling. But don't worry if the shells have just a small amount of moist dough in them as this can simply be removed before filling the shells.
