August Challenge from Daring Bakers

ECLAIRS! I love eclairs but never thought I'd attempt them, they just seemed so difficult. It was a great first challenge for me with this excellent bunch of bakers. Since we moved here to Seattle we don't have most of our stuff, which meant I had to make this recipe (like all of our others :( ) with hardly any kitchen equipment. I didn't even have measuring spoons.
Well, the first attempt at the pastry itself failed miserably. I'm pretty sure it was because I didn't beat the dough properly while and after cooking it. I tried a different recipe (had to find something vegan and gluten free online) but it didn't work either. It seemed like that failed because the recipe itself was too buttery (dripping butter oil, ugh) so I was back to square one. I retried the first recipe but beat the dough longer and more thoroughly than before, and also cooked the eclairs only in the center rack instead of rotating top to center. It worked wonderfully, although I didn't get as many eclairs out of the recipe as most people.
For the pastry cream I used a veganized recipe for a plain cream, and added melted chocolate and maple syrup. Unfortunately it turned out more like pudding than pastry cream so I shan't be using it the next time I attempt eclairs. It tasted yummy though. :)
The dark chocolate glaze was awesome. I just melted some Earth Balance with chocolate chips, maple syrup, and a bit of brown sugar. It really saved the whole experiment. I will definitely be making it in the future.

Now, finally, pics!






















































Recipes forthcoming...

Banana almond muffins

As you can see these were so delicious we ate half of them before I could even get around to taking a picture. They come out sweet enough already so try to use unsweetened or no sugar added ingredients. That also helps make it a bit healthier. It has bananas in it so it has to be healthy, right?:) It was a modification of a recipe I found on http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/01/banana-date-walnut-muffins.html

1 3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten free baking flour
1/2 cup organic dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

3 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1-1/4 cups)
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/3 cup natural apple sauce (sugar free kind if you can find it)
2 tbsp. agave nectar
1/4 cup chopped almonds

Preheat the oven to 400 and spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In another bowl, mash the banana with the almond milk, apple sauce, and agave nectar.

Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Add in the almonds and pour into 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy.