Just venting but it's my husband's birthday tomorrow and as a surprise I wanted to make him gluten free chocolate eclairs. It's something he's really (as in REALLY) missed since being diagnosed with coeliacs a few years ago.
Honestly, I consider myself a pretty good baker but the 3rd attempt is in the oven now and I still don't think I've got the hang of it. Have tried 3 different choux pastry recipes and watched umpteen Youtube videos. Am now out of eggs, my hands and arms ache, and he's home soon so I'll have to hide all the evidence.
If this last batch of eclairs doesn't work out, I'll just hand him the bowl of 'pastry cream' I made and a spoon. I thought the pastry cream was going to be the hard bit. Sigh. Anyone made GF choux pastry before?
davidt4,
Dec 21, 4:19pm
Did you use a recipe specifically designed to be gluten free? I think it is a big ask as it's the gluten in the flour that gives the choux pastry its elasticity and enables the eclairs to expand.
You could instead make a gluten-free nut cake and sandwich it with the pastry cream. I have a recipe if you want one.
ed65,
Dec 21, 4:33pm
Thanks for your advice David. Yeah, the 3rd and last batch I made was from a GF cookbook. It was the simplest recipe (just butter, water, eggs & GF flour) so I tried other recipes first - with more ingredients - as they sounded more tasty. The last batch is just out of the oven and they actually don't look too bad.
I've got a pretty good repertoire of GF cakes and loaves but chocolate eclairs seem to be the thing he misses the most. Maybe my GF version will put him off eclairs forever!
awoftam,
Dec 21, 4:53pm
I think its awesome you tried so hard.
autumnwinds,
Dec 21, 7:20pm
top marks for trying, indeed. I'm sure he'll appreciate the effort.
joel14,
Dec 22, 5:11am
Ed65 I am doing exactly the same as you right down to running out of eggs lol. My attempts were more like pancakes! I am about to give it one more shot then thats it. Now should I be using self raising gf flour or plain flour and adding baking powder or no baking powder at all? Help please! Lol
ed65,
Dec 22, 5:51am
It was my second batch that was the flat one! Too much egg in my case. There's no raising agent in choux pastry so just use plain flour. Some of the recipes I saw recommended using bread-making flour.
The recipe that worked (the best) for me was the simplest one. Only makes around 6 eclairs though (I piped 8 smaller ones). 1/2 cup water, 60g butter, 1/2 cup GF flour (or normal plain flour), 2 eggs. I didn't need all of the egg but used the last dregs as an egg wash.
I cooked at 200 degrees for the first 10 minutes then dropped the temp down to 180 for the rest of the cooking time, until they were golden and sounded hollow on the bottom. One recipe suggested when you drop the temp to also prop the oven door open a couple of mm as it makes them a bit crisper. Worked for me. I used scrunched up aluminium foil.
ed65,
Dec 22, 5:54am
Thanks awoftam and autumnwinds! I've told him he needs to leave the house mid morning so I can assemble his birthday present. So now he seems to think he's getting a bike or a piece of furniture :-)
lythande1,
Dec 22, 5:59am
Forget the myths. Beat the eggs first and add like that a bit at a time untl the consistency is right. You don't need to do this by hand, put in your food processor and let it to the work.
And. bake them longer than you think - they don't burn fast and the longer in there, the dryer they get - which is what you want - too moist and they will collapse when removed.
I found these 2 techniques works every time.
unknowndisorder,
Dec 22, 7:37pm
Love it, and hope it goes well tomorrow :) Happy Birthday Mr Ed (65) lol ;)
joel14,
Mar 13, 9:04pm
Yay I have just had success! Now can these be frozen?
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.