Saturday, 31 2010
contributed by guest food blogger Sugar Crawler
In my mind, other than a macaron, the Éclair is the ultimate Parisian pastry. Even better, Éclairs don’t give you the toothache you sometime get from a Macaron. They are really nice with the crunchy choux and sinfully silky pastry cream. I admit that Éclair is one of my favorite dessert and one of my big enemies when im on a diet. Its really hard to resist an Éclair. Imagine a foot-long éclair over the top filled with pastry cream and smothered with thick chocolate on top. Sometimes you just cant finish it, sometimes it gives you wave of regrets. But you just love it. But when you make your own Éclair the only pain you get is the waiting and stopping yourself from eating the pastry cream spoon by spoon. So, see for yourself what happens…
Éclair
via Paris Pastry
- Pâte à Choux (see recipe below)
- Pastry Cream (see recipe below)
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 ¼ cups heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. With a ruler and a pencil, mark lines about 3 ½ inches long on the parchment, spacing them 1 ½ inches apart. Turn parchment over, marked side down. Fill pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch plain tip with Pâte à Choux; pipe along the lines on the prepared baking sheets. Gently smooth tops with a moistened fingertip to ensure even rising.
- Bake for 10 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Continue to bake until pastries are golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. Transfer pastries and parchment to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Heat ¾ cup cream and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until bubbles begin to appear around the edges, about 5 minutes; pour mixture over chocolate. Let stand 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Let cool, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
- To fill the pastries, insert a wooden skewer into one end of each shell. (I cut the pastries side ways open and filled them using a teaspoon)
- In a medium bowl, stir the Pastry Cream to soften. In another bowl, whip the remaining 1 ½ cups heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the Pastry Cream in two batches to lighten. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a ¼-inch plain tip, and pipe to fill with the whipped Pastry Cream.
- Dip the top of each Éclair into the chocolate glaze; let excess drip off, and place, coated side up, on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. (I doll-upped the chocolate glaze with a teaspoon over the éclairs) Refrigerate Éclairs in a single layer in an airtight container until glaze is set, about 10 minutes or up to 1 day.
Pâte à Chouxvia Martha Stewart Baking Handbook
Ingredients:
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs, plus 1 large egg white
Instructions:
- Bring butter, sugar, salt, and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in flour. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture pulls away from sides and a film forms on bottom of pan, about 3 minutes.
- Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until slightly cooled, about 1 minute. Raise speed to medium; add whole eggs, 1 at a time, until a soft peak forms when batter is touched with your finger. If peak does not form, lightly beat remaining egg white, and mix it into batter a little at a time until it does.
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Friday, 30 2010
Ahh the allure and romance of handmade. Is there anything more precious? We highly doubt it. Especially when you come across the work of designers like Emma Cassi, who with patience and unmatched talent, blends the sweet sensibilities of her native France with her new adopted home of London. Both dainty yet rustic, the marriage of lace and embroidery are what leave us captivated. Every item in Emma’s collection has been stitched, beaded and embroidered by hand with vintage sequins, Japanese glass beads, semi-precious stones, crystals, Swarovski, and gemstones. We love how she describes her pieces are like modern antiques that never go out of style. We couldn’t have said it better! Plus, every girl needs timeless beauty in their Pandora’s box to play with. So go run free into the enchanted lands that is Emma’s collection. We dare you, scratch that…double dare you, not to be in awe after clicking here. She even has a blog encapsulating glimpses of her studio and inspirations; you’ll be sure to fall in love with.
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Friday, 30 2010
DIY via Concrete & Honey
Start with some pretty coloured muffin cases. Here, I have created both a 4-case and 6-case flower. Find pretty cases at the supermarket, party shops or Etsy (Bake it Pretty, Cute Cups or Layer Cake Shop
- Flatten the cases
- Take the first case and fold it in half and then halve twice more and scrunch and fold again to form the centre of the flower
- Take the second muffin case (use another colour or the reverse side of the same colour) and line the centre of the circle up with the pointed end of the core piece and scrunch it around
- Continue doing, alternating colours until your flower is the size you desire
- If you wish, secure by wrapping some cotton around the base or alternately stitch a small button into the centre and do with it whatever makes you happy
- Hang it from the ceiling, use as a place setting or thread on some string to create a flower garland
- Make a cup of tea and admire your handiwork
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Wednesday, 28 2010
I recently found this amazing vintage shop with a little french flair. Its called Teaspoon Vintage and it is filled with romantic notions and knick knacks. I especially love the empty, antique white frame sets available, since I am always on the look out for unique home decor items. I can just imagine filling up an entire wall with them.
What do you look for when searching for vintage?
Enjoy the rest of your week!
-Brittni of papernstitch
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Tuesday, 27 2010
A lot to look forward to this fall. Dying to know what? Well, no other than Aje’s fall/winter collection of course! This Aussie brand is like the soft ballerina meets Balenciaga kind of get-ups we love, and although surf and turf is fun, we are longing for fall now. If only to wear those sparkly laser cut mini skirts with lace leggings and tie up boots. Envy anyone?
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Monday, 26 2010
This rising Australian model was only rececntly snatched up by Pricila’s Model management earlier this year, and has already graced the rising supermodel issue of Bazaar Magazine. Surely its because of her ravaging thick ‘Brooke Shields’ eyebrows, those alluring brunette locks and and chill down-to-earth vibe. Russh Magazine loves her, Wildfox Couture Loves her, and we love her too! Do you?
PS- stay tuned tomorrow when we feature Bambi in Aje’s fall/winter lookbook!
then…
now…
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Sunday, 25 2010
post via gust food blogger Becoming Lola
Yellow Cupcakes with Pink Buttercream Frosting
via The Sweeter Side of Amy’s Bread
Ingredients
- Unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted 3 cups or 420g
- Baking powder 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon or 20g
- Kosher salt 3/4 teaspoon
- Milk 1 1/4 cups + 3 tablespoons or 340g
- Vanilla extract 2 teaspoons
- Unsalted butter, slightly softened 1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons or 320g
- Sugar 2 3/4 cups + 2 teaspoons or 560g
- Eggs 5 large or 260g
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease the cake pans. Line the bottoms with rounds of baking parchment then dust them lightly with fl our. Shake out the excess. Or use Baker’s Joy baking spray that contains both oil and flour, so you don’t have to flour the pan. With Baker’s Joy, put the parchment liner in after you spray the pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk them gently for even distribution. In a separate bowl combine the milk and vanilla.
- Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until it is light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs gradually, mixing well after each addition, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl often.
- Lower the mixing speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture to the butter in 3 parts, alternating with 2 parts of the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix just until it is evenly incorporated. This is a thick, fluffy batter, resembling whipped cream. There should not be any lumps or dry pockets of flour remaining. If the batter has a curdled appearance it has not been mixed enough. Increase the speed to medium and mix for another minute or until it is thick and fluffy.
- Divide the batter equally among baking cups. Place the pans on the center rack in the preheated oven. Bake them for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cake is almost ready to pull away from the side of the baking cups and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs. Be sure to rotate for even baking.
- Cool the pans on a rack for 10 minutes. I recommend an hour. Frost!
Ingredients
- Confectioner’s sugar 7 1/2 cups or 845g
- Butter 1 1/3 cups or 300g
- Poured fondant 1/3 generous cup or 138g
- Milk 1/4 cup or 62g
- Vanilla extract 1 tablespoon+1/4 teaspoon or 13g
- Salt 1/8 teaspoon
- Baker’s Rose Food Coloring 1-2 drops
In a bowl, beat 600g or 5 1/2 cups of sugar, as well as the butter, fondant, milk, vanilla and salt until creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Start on low speed then increase to medium speed when powdery texture becomes moistened. Gradually add remaining sugar 1 cup at a time. Add color and beat on med-low speed until mixed and still fluffy.
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