Daring Baker Chocolate Eclairs

This month's recipe was chosen by Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey? and her co-host, Tony of Olive Juice. A chocolate eclair recipe from the sugar daddy, Pierre Hermé!

I absolutely love eclairs, but I wasn't excited about making this challenge, because I knew it would be very hard to equal the eclairs we love from our favorite bakery. Not only that, but my husband makes a great eclair and I have never made them before, so I was afraid of the "they're not as good as ...." comments.

Nevertheless, I am a Daring Baker and needed to step up to the plate and swing away. Unfortunately, I think I struck out on this challenge.

Strike one: Yesterday I made the pastry cream. Of course we have a favorite pastry cream recipe we usually use in eclairs, but I decided to try the one in the recipe, without the chocolate - since we haven't enjoyed chocolate filled eclairs in the past. Unfortunately, like many others, my pastry cream became too thick, and was a big, thick blob.

Strike two: my eclairs were sadly flat and a little too soft/eggy in the middle.

Strike three: my glaze was runny and not sweet enough for me.

But I decided to just make the best of the situation. I added whipped cream to the pastry cream, added powdered sugar to the glaze and just cut the eclairs in half and filled them and served them.

What was the reaction? "Well they're not as good as Schmidts', but they're not bad". I guess you win some, you lose some!

Apple-Cherry Crumble Bars

This is another recipe from Martha Stewart's Cookies. I absolutely loved the apple filing in this recipe. It uses dried apples, which are simmered in apple cider and intensifies the apple flavor, as well as make preparing it much quicker.

The recipe calls for dried cherries, but I substituted craisins because I always have them on hand and they are much cheaper. They really added a nice contrast to the apples. I also cutted up the apples with kitchen shears before simmering in the cider.

I cooked the bars for the time recommended, but they were overcooked and slightly burnt around the edges. Next time I would cook them as much as 10 minutes less. I would also only put 3 cups of the oat mixture on the bottom so there is more for the top.

These definitely need to be completely cool before you cut them. They might even be better if left to sit over night and soften up a bit. I wouldn't know though because they were gone the first night. Enjoy!

Ingredients
3 cups dried apples, about 7 ounces
3/4 cup dried cherries, about 4 1/2 ounces
1 3/4 cups apple cider
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for dish

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Simmer apples, cherries, and cider in a covered saucepan, stirring occasionally, until fruits are softened and plump, about 5 minutes. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons liquid. Let cool.
2. Coarsely chop fruit. Combine with 2 tablespoons sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and reserved cooking liquid.
3. Whisk together oats, flour, baking soda, salt, remaining 3/4 cup sugar, and remaining 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until crumbs range in size from peas to gum balls. Press 4 cups of oat mixture into bottom of prepared dish. Spread fruit filling on top, leaving a 1/4-inch border on all sides. Sprinkle remaining oat mixture on top.
4. Bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes. Let cool in dish on a wire rack. Cut into 24 bars. Bars can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days

Chocolate Caramel Rolo Cookies

This is a family favorite cookie recipe that we have been making for years. It was a $2,000 winner in the 1990 Bake-off. How can you go wrong with the combination of chocolate and caramel. These cookies are better if slightly underbaked. I'm not a nut lover, and omit the nuts.

Chocolate Caramel Rolo Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose or Unbleached Flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
48 Rolo® Chewy Caramels in Milk Chocolate, unwrapped (from 13-oz. pkg.)
1 tablespoon sugar
4 oz. vanilla-flavored candy coating, if desired

DIRECTIONS
1. In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa and baking soda; mix well.
2. In large bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, brown sugar and margarine; beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; beat well. Add flour mixture; blend well. Stir in 1/2 cup of the pecans. If necessary, cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes for easier handling.
3. Heat oven to 375°F. For each cookie, with floured hands, shape about 1 tablespoon dough around 1 caramel candy, covering completely.
4. In small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar. Press one side of each ball into pecan mixture. Place, nut side up, 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake at 375°F. for 7 to 10 minutes or until set and slightly cracked. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes or until completely cooled.
6. Melt candy coating in small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Drizzle over cookies.

Easy Pesto

I went to the farmers market on Saturday and they had the most beautiful basil. I had seen a recipe on Allrecipes for a pesto made with almonds instead of pine nuts. This really appealed to me since I almost always have almonds on hand. So I brought home a big bunch of basil and made pesto for the first time. The kids didn't give it much of a try because of the color, but my husband and I loved it. I would definitely make this receipe again.



Easy Pesto
1/4 cup almonds
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1 pinch ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Place almonds on a cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted.
In a food processor, combine toasted almonds, garlic, basil, olive oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Process until a coarse paste is formed.

Brillante Weblog Award

HoneyB at The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch has given me the Brillante Weblog Award. Honey and I are on the same wavelength lately. We are both Daring Bakers, Cooking Light fans, and are both working our way through Martha Stewart's new Cookie Cookbook. Her posts are always fun to read and her blog is filled with great recipes. Be sure and visit her blog. Thanks HoneyB!

I am passing the award on to sixteen-year-old Priscilla at A Peek In Priscilla's Kitchen. Priscilla is a very creative and talented baker, and her blog is filled with great pictures and is alway fun to read. Definitely check it out!