Friday, September 5, 2008

Dough'nt Ya Know?

When I was seven, I had a next door neighbor that would make homemade doughnuts once a week for the Bible Study they had at their house. She would generally give my sisters and me some of the doughnut holes that would inevitably come of it. I will never forget that. Homemade doughnuts are in a league of their own. Nothing like their commercial counterparts.

I always think about those doughnuts and how good they were. But I've never made my own. Never, that is, until now.

Making pâte a choux is rather fun and simple and while reading one of the blogs I subscribe too, I recalled a previous post the author, Michael Ruhlman, had written on the subject. So, I decided to take another whack at it, just for fun and because it was the weekend and there was nothing else I needed to do and because I like to bake things when it is interesting.

So. Most of the pâte a choux dough was donated to the cream puff cause and the remainder was used for doughnut making. I don't really know how to make actual round doughnuts, so my doughnuts were squeezed out of a makeshift pastry bag and turned out looking like terds, but they tasted great. Elliott really enjoyed them and I thought, maybe this can be my thing. You know, like the cinnamon rolls you remember your mom making every Christmas day. Maybe my traditional contribution could be homemade doughnuts...

My cream puffs were a real success as well. And although they look quite impressive, they are actually so very simple to make. I promise! The pâte a choux recipe is here and I used this recipe for the pastry cream with some lightly whipped cream folded in for a lighter, less dense filling. For the chocolate coating, I just made a simple ganache (remember my surprise of ganache discovery?) by heating cream and pouring and mixing it into an equal amount of chopped chocolate which I then drizzled onto the top of each one using a spoon.

If you're thinking about giving this a go, I promise you it is not hard. Making the puffs is the easiest part! Heat water and butter till boiling then stir in flour. Beat in 3 eggs, one by one and Voilá! Puffs! Check out the recipe for more explicit directions, of course...




Photos by David Escalante (except the sweet one of Elliott looking at the cream puffs, that one was all me)

5 comments:

allisonescalante said...

and another thing... i dont think its fare that you make all these outstandingly delicious desserts. i would be obese if i took up baking. it would definitely be the death of me.

allisonescalante said...

and another thing... on top of the other thing... i think the rapture is going to have to happen before elliott can get married because he is going to have such high expectations in a wife. she probably wont have time to make him these amazing treats.... cherish your time little one, cherish your time.

The Montgomerys said...

That is awesome...I'm totally going to try the cream puffs because they are my fav. I love the look of sheer joy on Elliott's face when looking at them...great pic!!!!

wrecklessgirl said...

oh my goodness! that looks so freakin delish!!!! it's funny how a lot of the time, you'll take a pic of elliot trying your creations, almost like saying "look! even my kid will eat it with a smile...so it must be good!!!"

Corynne Escalante said...

haha, you guys are all so funny...