I am late posting this month’s Daring Bakers challenge! I waited until yesterday to make the eclairs because we were supposed to meet Jon’s dad and brother for dinner, but it got canceled. Which is a good thing because I failed miserably making this challenge. My friend Jilly and I were talking about failed recipes when she interviewed me for The Great Cooks Community. This is a perfect example of one of those failures:
First I want to thank MeetaK and Tony for this challenge. When I read the instructions I thought it was going to be the easiest challenge yet. And it was, up to the point where I failed. Making the dough was really easy. For the filling I decided to make an orange flavored natilla (a kind of pudding my mom uses for empanadas) and top them with a chocolate glaze. I didn’t spend more than 2 hours in the whole process. So what happened?
First I had trouble piping the dough (pâte à choux). I know this was probably the easiest part for most, but I’ve always had trouble using pastry bags and the tips and all those tools to make pretty things. I somehow managed to pipe some weird looking strips of dough that puffed beautifully when they were baked. But then horror struck. 2 minutes after I took them out of the oven they collapsed! And to make mattes worse they stuck to the paper I used (my bad, I used the wrong kind of paper) so the the eclairs ended up bottomless. So instead of cutting them in half I used two of them for one eclair.
But that wasn’t it. My natilla was too runny. I tried to halve my mom’s natilla recipe and I think I didn’t use enough cornstarch and ended up runny, not too much but I couldn’t use much of it as a filling without making a mess. And my last mistake was the chocolate glaze. You can see in the picture it was too runny, too. At least they were pretty tasty. I just ate half of one because I haven’t been too hungry this past days. I will try to make them again. I don’t like it when I failed in the kitchen. I must conquer! Ha!
¡Buen provecho!
Visit Meeta’s blog for the recipe.
35 Replies
ooops!
Lol – I’m stubborn like that too. I will not fail dammit!
I hope they turn out better next time
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 11:10 am
Oh no, well at least you tried & that’s the important part
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 11:11 am
The natilla sounds delicious. Recipe for that coming? Too bad the eclairs didn’t turn out as you hoped, but they were definitely worth a shot. Perhaps another try???
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 11:19 am
They look good all covered in chocolate. I just spooned the dough onto the parchments paper as I was easier than piping.
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 11:22 am
For failed eclairs, you sure made them look yummy!
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 11:42 am
Sorry about your failed eclairs, but at least it wasn’t a total waste as they tasted good!
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
A mí también se me pegaron al papel!! pero hasta eso, si tuvieron fondo… algunos con agujero, pero si tuvieron! jeje!
Ni modo, a veces eso pasa…. no te preocupes!!!! acuérdate que dicen que hasta al mejor cocinero se le va un tomate entero!!
Saludos y ánimo!!!
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Well darno….
I’d say they still look pretty edible to me!!
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 12:58 pm
and i believe you will…
besides, it doesn’t look that bad…
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 1:02 pm
if they were good enough to eat – then there is no failed eclair! ben thanks for giving these a go!
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I had to double up on mine too, since they deflated. I am pretty sure it didn’t effect the flavor.
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Don’t be too hard on yourself…I’d eat them!…at least you had a go Ben…
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Tasting good is always a plus! I love the combination of orange and chocolate. Would you be willing to post the natilla recipe?
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Ben, you’ve got them smothered in chocolate don’t you? Then they’re fantastic.
I agree with meeta. If they’re good enough to eat, then there is no failure. Bien hecho mi amigo.
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Wow, Ben. Looks like great cooks make the same mistakes. I think I should have called my post True Confessions of a Daring Baker, but that would have made my normal veracity redundant, right.
We both know that in spite of what we learn in our kitchens that the product tastes great. Hand me a spoon and pass me a plate. I’m in.
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 4:13 pm
It wasn’t an easy challenge Ben. I tried to make them once and they failed as well
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 4:29 pm
But I’m sure they must have taste good
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Did you use wax papaer?Good salvage. I’m sorry. Nevertheless they look good. I bet you next time will be even better.
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Too bad! Did they still taste good? Mine looked like crap but tasted delicious!
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Oh my.
I bet they tasted great though.
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Um, Ben, these look good enough to devour. . .I’ll take these any day.
Posted on September 1st, 2008 at 11:02 pm
What a bummer Ben…they look pretty yummy to me though. I like the true DB spirt. This one is certainly worth trying again. I did some profiteroles too, with mango within. Thought of you while making them…the mango man!!! Cheers
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 at 1:16 am
I’m sure they tasted just fine dude. Good idea using two top halves for the eclair, I mean who wants the bottom anyways? I’d call them Ben’s Double Tops
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 at 7:05 am
Even if they didn’t quite turn out the way they should have, they tasted good, right?
Failure is supposed to eventually lead to success ( someone else said this, btw) so this month’s challenge will be much betetr, I’m sure.
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 at 7:43 am
I thought it was going to be an easy recipe, too.
Here’s to perseverance and September challenges!
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 at 8:53 am
sorry they didn’t turn out like you hoped Ben but they do look good & I’m sure they’ll turn out fine next time!
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 am
Pity they didn’t turn out so great. But it tasted good and that’s what really matters, right?
You know, I’ve never made eclairs but I have made cream puffs, and I lightly pierce the choux puffs to let out some of the hot air the minute I take them out of the oven. Supposedly, this prevents them from collapsing when cool. I’ve not seen any mention of this on any of the DB blogs, but it’s always worked for me.
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 at 11:06 am
They still look delicious and I bet they tasted good! The orange natila sounds really good!
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Aww Ben – that sux. Don’t you hate it when you invest 2 hours and it ends up being what you would consider a failure. That happened to Psychgrad and I this past weekend and although we had the best laugh ever, it was still disappointing. Each failure is a learning.
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Don’t feel too badly–it seems like lots of us had the same problem with collapsing eclairs. I also thought it was going to be a cinch! But not so.
Anyway, these still look really good, and i’ll bet they tasted even better!
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Hey, every experience in the kitchen is a learning experience!!! Better luck next time, right?
Posted on September 3rd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
You have already conquered Ben just by meeting this challenge. Our eclairs many have deflated but our confidence stayed intact:D
Posted on September 4th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Oh well Ben, you’ll do them again and they’ll be great! Choux pastry is as easy as tricky! I’m such the natillas were great and orange and chocolate is allways a winner!
Un besito!
Posted on September 5th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
But what a great looking failure!! So you lost the bottoms and your Natilla was a little runny…all put together they look great. And the flavor combo sounds wonderful to me. Great go at it even with the bumps in the road!
Posted on September 6th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Sorry, Ben.
It looks like we both were thinking the same things: I thought this was going to be really easy, too, and I made eclair sandwiches with my deflated shells!
Posted on September 6th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
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