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Danubian Waves Eclairs

Hey there, has the sun tickled your nose yet? Yep, spring is on the way. And I have got something springlike for you right here… Spring is the time of love – and I fell in love with these:

Eclairs. Damn. I love European treats. Now, pate à choux has always been interesting to me. So puffy, light, airy… So I decided to try it.

I wanted to combine it with something German and chose the cherry-chocolate-cream combination from Danubian Waves Cake. I bet if the Danube flew through France, the French would have made this treat.

There are many myths I have heard about pate à choux. In fact, it is very easy. You just have to follow the instuctions EXACTLY. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN TO LOOK – the air in the dough will shrink and it won’t rise again. So please be patient with it. Make sure your oven has the exact temperature before you put the pastry in. If you do so, everything should go to plan.
If you are searching for airy, Euopean, low-carb, low-fat treats, give this recie a chance to tickle your taste buds. :)

éclairs recipe adapted from “Mmmh… Erdbeeren”
pastry cream adapted from Sprinkle Bakes book

(makes about 20 éclairs)

Pate à Choux

50 g (1 2/3 oz.) butter/margarine
250 ml (1 cup + 1 tbsp) water
1 pinch salt
150 g (1 1/4 cup) flour
4 large or 5 medium-sized eggs
1 tsp baking powder

Chocolate Pastry Cream:

2 tbsp cornstarch
250 ml (1 cup) whole milk
1 egg
2 egg yolks
6 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
45 g (1 1/2 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate

40 cherries
120 ml (1/2 cup) heavy cream

100 g (3 1/3 oz.) chocolate, for coating

Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
Bring water, butter and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add all the flour at once and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball and detaches from the edges of the bowl.

Remove the pan from heat and stir in 1 egg at once, using kneading hooks.

Let the dough cool for 3 minutes. Stir in one egg after the other, incorporate each one very well before you add the next one. Stir in the baking powder in the end.

Fill a piping bag with a large star tip with dough and pipe 10 cm (4´´) long stripes onto a baking sheet covered with wax paper.

Bake for exactly 30 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN TO LOOK!

Let cool after baking. Then cut into halves with clean scissors.

Let cherries drain in a sieve. Beat heavy cream until stiff. Set aside.

To prepare the pastry cream, dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of the milk. Add the egg, then the egg yolks one at a time to the milk mixture.
Combine 3/4 cup milk and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil while whisking.

Whisk the egg mixture and add 1/3 of the hot milk. Return the remaining milk to medium-low heat. SLOWLY add the egg mixture to the saucepan, whisking constantly. You do not want to boil the eggs. While whisking, bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and combine with butter and vanilla. Melt semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave and stir in.
Transfer the cream into a bowl and let cool to room temperature.

To avoid askin on top of the cream, press a sheet of plastic wram directly on its surface.

Spread heavy cream at the bottom of the inside of the éclairs. Cut the cerries into halves and put 4 halves into each éclair. Spreag pastry cream on top of the cerries and close the éclairs.

Melt chocolate in the microwave and sptread in zigzag with a teaspoon over the éclairs.

Let chocolate dry and have a bite! You won’t regret it.

Many Happy Returns of Grandma Martha//Baked Oatmeal

It is a holiday in Bulgaria today. Every year, on March 1st all you can see is red and white. This tradition has been preserved for many years and is one of the oldest rites in BG.

On this day, people give a so-called “martenitsa” to their beloved, which consists of twisted white and red threads. They symbolize the end of the winter and the beginning of spring. The white colour signifies long life, and the red one – health and strength. Typical forms of martenitsas are woolen poppets and bracelets. Traditionally you wear them until you see a stork, swallows or cuckoos appear as a sign of spring. Then you tie your martenitsa on a tree or hide it under a stone.

As this is a day you wish health and strength to everybody – what I do to you, of course – I will present you a healthy pinterest recipe from So, How’s It Taste? I stumbled upon. Baked oatmeal is just so good. Try this with your favorite fruit – and you have a healthy breakfast, snack, whatever.

Baked Oatmeal
(makes about 6 servings)

1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
1/4 cup liquid honey
1 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract or fresh ground vanilla beans
2-3 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
1 cup berries, fresh or frozen

Slightly oil a baking dish. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).

Whisk together the oats, the hazelnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Combine honey, milk, egg, butter, and vanilla in another bowl.
Spread the bananas at the bottom of the baking dish. Spread the dry mixture on top. Pour the liquid mixture into the dish and top with the berries.
bake for abour 35 minutes until the top of the oatmeal turns a light amber brown. Let cool before serving.

Striped Muffins

…because calling them “Zebra Muffins” would be too much. What my brother wanted, was a simple white and chocolate cake muffin. What I wanted was something with a little twist in outer appearence, yet delicious.

This uffin recipe is probably the most European I have ever tried. It is light, fluffy, not too sweet. This is the thing about European cakes. They make you want more. These muffins make a perfect sweet sunday breakfast with a tall glass of milk an a spoon of nutella.

Our winter holiday here is almost over and afterspending the first 5 days of it in bed with a fever I guess… it is time to relax :D. Therefore the muffins. They possess stimulating force.

Check this one out, chillers

Striped Muffins

(makes 12 muffins)

150 g (1 1/4 cup) flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 pckt. vanilla pudding powder
125 g (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
150 g (1 stick + 1 tbsp) butter, softened

1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Line a muffin pan with paper molds.
Mix flour, baking powder and vanilla pudding powder in a bowl. Set aside.

Put butter, sugar, eggs and dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat with mixer until the dough becomes even.

Pour half of the dough into a bowl and set aside. Add cocoa powder and milk to the leftover dough and incorporate these ingredients.

To make striped muffins, place 1 tsp white dough, then dark dough on top in the middle of the muffin molds. Continue like this until the molds are about 2/3 full.

Bake for 25 minutes and then, have a bite :)