Eclair Cake

 I don't know where this delicousness has been for my entire life or why I'd never heard of it until stumbling upon a recipe a few years ago. Shortly after that, we began hearing "choux pastry" and "creme pat" on the British Baking Show, and our new favorite dessert was born. This recipe is a mix of two that I found online, an eclair cake at allrecipes and Paul Hollywood's creme pat recipe.

ECLAIR CAKE

Pastry:

1 c. water

1/2 c. butter

1/4 t. salt

120 grams all purpose flour (this is ~ 1 cup, but precision by weight is mandatory!)

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. 

Combine water, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over med high heat. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the flour. Cook and stir until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball (165-175 degrees F). Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl, let cool for 2-3 minutes, and beat in the eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated. (I use a hand mixer, but this can be done by hand.) Spread the dough evenly in the bottom of the baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, 25-30 mins.  The dough will rise, but then as it cools, will drop and form a boat shape. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Science behind choux pastry.

Creme Patissiere:

750 ml (27 oz.) whole milk

150 grams  (3/4 c.) white sugar

6 eggs, yolks only

60 grams (1/2 c.) cornstarch

60 grams (4 T.) butter

2 t. vanilla

Pour milk into a pan, bring barely to a boil, and remove from heat. Whisk sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch together in a large bowl. Pour a little of the hot milk onto the egg mixture, whisking continuously (to avoid cooking the egg in chunks!). I use a hand mixer. In batches, whisk in the rest of the milk until well combined, and then return to pan.

Cook the mixture over gentle heat (med low), stirring continuously until thick. It will just come to a boil (watch for that first bubble!). Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla until well combined. Let cool down for quite a bit. If it's hot when poured into chilled choux pastry boat, it will compromise the pastry. Fill the pastry boat with as much creme pat as it will hold. You may have a bit leftover; you don't want it spilling outside the confines of the boat and over the sides. Refrigerate for an hour or two until well chilled before topping with ganache (below).

Ganache:

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1 c. heavy cream

Place chocolate in a bowl. Bring cream almost to boiling in saucepan over medium heat. (I accidentally boiled it in the microwave, which seemed to have no ill effect.) Pour hot cream over chocolate and let soften for 1 minute. Whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool for 10 mins. or so to thicken, and then pour over cream filling, spreading to cover entire surface. 

Chill at least two to three hours before serving.

If you have leftovers, go ahead and cover with plastic or foil. Will keep in fridge for a few days (as if!).

 

Lisa's Broccoli Cheese Soup (Panera Copycat)

Ten years ago (I remember specifically that we were at the beach), in one of those amazing Six Degrees of Separation connections, Lisa saw and recognized my name on a Colorado Springs friend's Facebook page. Lisa and I were childhood friends, neighbors, and our moms together were Brownie leaders. Lisa's brother was in my class. 

It's always interesting to reconnect with people from the past; this was a good reconnection. Lisa has some pretty strong views, and sometimes she and I have disagreed vehemently to the point where we stopped being friends for a few years. Earlier this year, we reconnected yet again. She was leery, adamantly anti C-vax, sick of people arguing for lockdowns, mandates. And I was like, yep, we'll get along just fine! 

Then she shared this soup recipe, sealing our friendship for life. 

LISA'S BROCCOLI SOUP

2 T. butter 

1/2 chopped onion 

2 T. flour 

3 c. chicken broth 

1 c. shredded carrot 

2 c. chopped broccoli * 

12 oz. evaporated milk or half and half, etc. 

1/4 t. seasoned salt 

1/4 t. cayenne (my own touch!)

4 oz. shredded cheddar 

1/2 c. shredded parmesan 

*I use a 10 oz. bag of frozen broccoli crowns/florets, thawed, and pulsed in the food processor to appropriate soup size. 

Melt butter on med high heat in large pan. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and saute until onion starts to soften. Whisk in flour and cook a minute or so to blend well and cook flour. Whisk in chicken broth and stir well. Soup should begin to thicken just a bit. Turn down heat, add carrot and broccoli, milk, seasoned salt. Cook until heated through and broccoli and carrot are cooked. Soup will still be a bit thin but should thicken up when cheeses are added. 

Freezes well; reheats well; any leftovers don't last long here!