Eclair Share (recipe included)

Sarah H here!

If you live anywhere near Centerville, Utah - you are probably aware of the eclairs from Dick's Bakery. Delish. Actually, "delish" is an understatement  I mean, they have a billboard on the side of I-15 northbound with a gigantic picture of a cut-open eclair, exposing the delicious vanilla cream filling, and my mouth literally starts to water when I pass it. It is all I can do from taking the next exit, dropping $20 on a box of eclairs, and cramming them into my face in the car - because I couldn't wait until I got home - resulting in pudding prints on my steering wheel and chocolate frosting on my chin....ANYWAY...they're good. A classic baby shower dessert spread item.

I have never really considered trying to recreate them in my home kitchen. It almost seemed impossible. A task too daunting to undertake. However, my hubby has a way of making daunting tasks seem do-able and yesterday he found me the recipe and commanded that I make it happen. Ha ha. I can't say no to his adorable face so we tried it. Guess what? They were easy....thanks to a simple recipe in one of my favorite dessert cookbooks: the Lion House Desserts cookbook. And the result was shockingly similar to the ones we crave. My husband dubbed it one of the best desserts I've ever made.

So, though our approach to this blog wasn't initially about posting baking processes or recipes, I think that may change so I can get everyone making their own eclairs at home!

Here they are....not perfect...but it was my first attempt.

Tips on the recipe - when you squirt the choux paste (which I learned from Baking with Julia is the proper term for the dough used to make an eclair) you force it through a pastry bag. Make sure to have a thick tip. Mine wasn't thick enough and I ended up adding an overlap squeeze and the dough didn't puff up as nicely.

Also, on the recipe it instructs you to cut of the top to fill the dough with pudding. I made holes on the ends and used a pastry bag and tip to fill. I found that this worked well and kept the eclair intact better.

Anyway: here it is. This is my first attempt at recipe posting so I don't have all the cool tricks to make it printable. Maybe someday we'll get there!

Eclairs
from Lion House Desserts

1 cup cold water
1/2 cup butter or margarine (I used butter)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 eggs, fresh, at room temperature
vanilla pudding

Preheat oven to 375. In a large saucepan, bring water and butter to a rolling boil (in Baking with Julia, Julia Child indicates to make sure it is actually a rolling boil, with the water boiling across the entire pot). While the water and butter are boiling and still on the stove, add flour and salt. Stire until the mixture clings together. Remove from stovev and place in a medium mixer. Add one egg at a time, mixing on low speed until each egg is incorporated. The batter should be shiny and smooth. Do not overwhip; too much air causes the shells to be bumpy and misshapen. Force dough through a decorating tupe onto paper-lined baking strips about 3 inches long. Bake for 25 minutes (I baked mine a little longer and have decided I might even add a little more time next time. It just depends on your oven).

(This is where I changed the filling method, but I'll put what is on the original recipe for your reference) When pastry is cool, slice off tops and scoop out any uncooked dough that may be remaining. Fill with vanilla pudding. Replace tops. Frost with Chocolate Ganache or Chocolate Frosting (I used my own chocolate frosting recipe, but the one from the original recipe is below). Chill until ready to serve. Makes approximately 36 eclairs.

Chocolate Frosting
4 Tbsp. cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. butter or margarine, softened
2 or 3 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix cocoa and powdered sugar in mixing bowl. Add butter, milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

We're not in the Keys, but we can imagine....

At first glance, they don't look like much. A cupcake with vanilla frosting, right? At second glance you might find yourself pondering the graham cracker garnish, but beyond that - just a cupcake, right? I am here to tell you that you are wrong. What you see above is the creation of a cupcake that tastes just like biting into a delicious piece of authentic Key Lime Pie. 

Did you know that real life, honest to goodness, authentic Key Lime Pie is yellow, NOT green. If you get a piece of key lime pie and its green....just send it back. The real stuff is yellow. Yellow, tangy, delectable. My Dad, the famous Craig, he is a Key Lime Pie aficionado. He knows where to get the good stuff. His seal of approval on this creation was indeed a necessity. What did he say when he bit into the graham cracker cake with tangy key lime curd filling and tart key lime frosting? He said..."It's good." Which, if you know my Dad, is REALLY saying something! 

After multiple other tastes tests, its official, Key Lime Pie Cupcakes are on the Menu. If you want it to taste more subtle, throw on some vanilla frosting (my 6 year old went beserk over this combo). If you want all of the tart "kapow" that is in a piece of key lime pie then keep the key lime/key lime combo. Either way, you're going to be craving a second helping.

Double the Deliciousness

What do you do when you are better at artistically decorating sugar cookies than you are at molding fondant? You top a cupcake with a cookie! When my attempts at fondant animals were sub-par for some zoo cupcakes, I decided to create a new cupcake concept - sugar cookie topped cupcakes.

My personal opinion is that these turned out Adorable with a capital "A." If you are having a zoo themed, carnival themed, or animal themed birthday party/baby shower any time soon, I would love to expand my concept to a full order.

Something very important that you should know is that Sarah M. has THE best sugar cookie recipe ever. We have people craving them all over the country! We have used this recipe for some really fun custom sugar cookies lately:

University of Utah cookies for the big rivalry game

Mustache cookies for a "Little Man" themed baby shower

I mean, really, the possibilities are endless. And the cookies and cupcakes are delicious separately. Oh, and it recently was pointed out that we didn't post a phone number to call us if you want to place an order so here it is: 801-923-4909. If you have an event coming up and want custom sugar cookies or sugar cookie topped cupcakes, let us know!

Pina Colada Cupcakes

Sarah H. here.....So on Sunday I was thinking it had been a long time since I whipped up a batch of coconut cupcakes (If you know the history of my cupcake obsession you will realize what a travesty this is). Anyway, I decided it was time they be made. I informed my husband of this decision and he suggested Pina Colada cupcakes. My mind whirred with ideas and my mouth literally watered at the idea of the forthcoming cupcake creation. I dreamt about it all week and today, we created it:

Isn't it a thing of beauty! Coconut Cake, Pineapple Curd filling, and Pineapple Buttercream frosting. I couldn't even wait for them to cool before I was digging in. The first bite took me back to the tastes of the islands and my trip to Oahu last year. I won't admit how many more I ate! One thing you should know about me is I get really excited when a baking idea works out. Today I was ecstatic!

A Wedding and An Office Party

Want to hear about our weekend? We baked. Can you believe it?

Sarah M's friend Min was celebrating her brother's wedding dinner and asked the Sugar Rush Bakers to be a part of it. After months of deliberation on the perfect dessert, it was decided that she would be serving:

Strawberry Chocolate and Mango Cupcakes. Let me just tell you, the Mango Cupcakes were the best batch we had every made. Melt in your mouth delectable. They are vanilla cupcakes, filled with mango curd and topped with mango frosting. One word: Yum.

We also made customized, personalized, amazingatized, yummifized sugar cookies. Nothing says love like a personalized sugar cookie. These can be made with your wedding colors and basically any words you would like that are hand-frosted gorgeousness. This batch allowed the wedding guests to spell out "Khai and Linda forever" and "Khai loves Linda"

The wedding guests must have been pleased because the mother of the groom called us up the next day to place an order for a work party. We had a crazy Monday getting them all ready, but are more than happy to spread some Sugar Rush scrumptiousness.