Finding new cooking or baking shows to watch are a pasttime of mind. Yes, I know, so shocking and surprising to all of you. I found a new one called Nadiya Bakes.
Nadiya was one of the hosts of another British cooking show called The Big Family Cooking Showdown. I liked her on that show and didn’t know she had gotten one of her own. Nadiya’ s show is pretty good and has some very practical tips for the kitchen.
On her second show of the season, she had a guest baker, Joakim Prat. He is a genius connoisseur of eclairs. Watching him doing his demo made me want to try making eclairs in a different way. If you get a chance, I highly recommend watching his pure joy in creating eclair pieces of art.
Joakim creations are motivating me to try some creativity of my own. My idea is this…
After making the shell of the eclair, I want to cut the top off, and hollow out the insides. In this hollowed out area, my idea is to place chopped nuts of some sort, peanuts are coming to mind first as they are the ones I actually like to some degree, on the bottom to add some crunch. The next layer of filling would be my homemade strawberry jelly (thank you Pampered Chef Deluxe Blender). I’m thinking, but still contemplating, placing banana cinnamon purée next, and putting the cut top back on it. The final touch would be piped banana butter cream frosting with cut strawberries on top.
Another idea is to use a chocolate filling of some sort instead of the banana cinnamon purée or a chocolate buttercream frosting topped with the cut strawberries. Kind of a twist of a banana split. Hmmm, maybe a couple of maraschino cherries should be the topper instead.
Maybe I’ll just go ahead and try both versions. My family and a few neighbors can be my taste testers of what worked or didn’t, and which one tastes best or doesn’t taste good at all. I’ll be sure to post pictures so your eyes can let me know what you think even if your taste buds are too far away.
I’m very much hoping Joakim’s Pâta à Choux recipe is out there on the Internet somewhere. His mix looked so smooth and silky being poured into the bowl. The dough also came out of the piping bag so effortlessly.
Watch for pictures and critiques sometime soon. Have to get the current baked goods eaten before starting on this new project.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 