Holiday Baking Part II

So. Onward. Continuing the previous post I show you some of my holiday work. 

I present to you: the Choux Pastry swans. 

In making these I found it surprisingly easy. My previous escapade with choux paste proved to be a little sad. It never puffed properly, for whatever reason. For the body of the swan you simply pipe whatever shape you deem similar to a swan's then on a separate sheet you pipe the necks of the swans. I used a stretched S shape for mine. Then for the center I made a simple creme patisserie from the Le Cordon Bleu dessert book. 

This is my favorite recipe for custards. I've found many custards to be too thin. One thing I must admit is that I didn't have enough corn starch and had to substitute the remaining measurement or corn starch with flour. When doing this you must add twice the amount of flour than the original given amount for the corn starch. Because of this, the custard this time came out a little thicker that normal, which turned out to be a good thing for the Choux Swans. 

When assembling the swans you must cut the choux in half horizontally. Then you must cut the top half into half again vertically this time. Pipe some creme patisserie onto the bottom half, add the neck (Carefully! I won't tell you how many I broke!) then add the top halves on the sides as wings. I added eyes by dotting them with chocolate so my dad wouldn't thing they are mice again. 

After the swans I moved onto some eclairs using the choux pastries I deemed as "un-swanable". You just stick the piping tip into the back of the choux and squeeze until the custard is coming back out at you. So you can keep them like that, or if you're like me and think that chocolate makes everything just right...You can melt some chocolate and butter to make a nice top for the eclair and just dip in the top. 

I'd suggest when melting chocolate to always use the double broiling technique of having hot water in a pot over the stove, and a bowl or another pot hanging over it, but not in it. This makes sure the chocolate is evenly melted and you can constantly stir it to facilitate the melting and making sure it's not burning. That is something you can't do in a microwave. 

It's getting late again. It seems that I am forming a bit of a habit writing here late at night. I'll continue this list another time. Oh, and if anyone actually would like these recipes, just let me know and I'll post them. 

Till next time then.