So, the last few weeks have been a little busy but I managed to make pastry cream, choux pastry (or pâte à choux) and a simple chocolate cake and figured I'd make one post instead of two. They didn't turn out great but I'm posting my pics so I can look back and say to myself, "I've come a long way!" or it'll be a reminder to keep working at it!
The pastry cream recipe comes from Alice Medrich's new book Flavor Flours and uses rice flour and a slightly different method than the usual. The book uses a number of different types of flours other than wheat and a lot of the recipes look really good (do check it out if you're interested in gluten free baking or just wanted to try different kinds of flours). I'm also really liking how she writes her recipes as she gives very clear instructions and provides little tips as well. The pastry cream turned out okay but I made it a second time increasing the rice flour amount to 2 tbsp per cup of milk and the texture held better in the choux puffs, but it could be the brand of rice flour I used. The method is also very easy which was great!! But, my favourite recipe for pastry cream so far comes from the website The Delectable Hodgepodge which also provides great instructions and tips.
My choux puffs definitely need work! When I had made them several years back, they always turned out pretty decent, but the last time I made them, they didn't puff up and this time it wasn't crispy enough; most were on the flat side. So, I'm going to be making them a little more often and I found some good tips on how to make them a little better at this webpage (the photography is also very good). It also provides details on how to make the crumbly topping which I think I'm going to try at some point. I've always just cut open the top and filled them with pastry cream, but I think the crumbly top gives it a little bit extra something. I love cream puffs that are filled with pastry cream and have wanted to make eclairs as well, so I think I'll be making a lot more choux pastry (or pâte à choux) in the next bit.
And finally, the chocolate cake. It was a very quick recipe but what I've always struggled with is icing the cake. This is a skill I need much practice in as you can tell by the picture (ugly, isn't it?). It would be nice to bake and decorate one every week but really, what am I going to do with a whole cake every week and where am I going to find the time?! Anyway, I've also realized that I usually try to make a buttercream icing but, each time I find it too sweet. I think I may need to try more recipes for whipped cream icings which generally are less sweet.
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