When I get on a kick, my thoughts and behavior border on compulsive, the topic of my current obsession permeating the far corners of my brain. Whether it’s food, travel, or a crazy notion to refinish our dining table with faux cement. An idea, when I get a good one, is like a splinter, so tiny you have a hard time finding it, but just irritating enough that you can’t relax until you’ve dealt with it. Although, I’d bet that my ideas, when fulfilled, are far more satisfying than splinters. So maybe that’s a bad metaphor. Take eclairs, for example. Ever since the Challenge last month (when I realized they really weren’t as hard as I had made them out to be), I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the pillowy pastries, about rich chocolate glazes and about bright fruit fillings like strawberry, peach, passionfruit (speaking of, if I could find the darn stuff I’d be living in a passionfruit world right now, alas, it eludes me). Which brings us back to the next best thing, strawberry.
As is often the case, I picked more berries than I had use for, and despite my grand ideas and lofty ambitions, I knew I wouldn’t be able to use them all before they turned. So, not willing to leave a single berry behind, I pureed what was left and froze the purée, with the clear intent on using them in an eclair filling when I had more time. Baking, to me, is more enjoyable when there is no deadline. When you really don’t feel like baking and would rather sit on your haunches and watch Game of Thrones all day, you can do so without the guilt of letting those things you bought or picked or ordered go bad. When it doesn’t affect the integrity of the recipe (the strawberries would have to be puréed anyhow so it didn’t affect the final product), being able to preserve amazing ingredients to be used later on, any day when the mood strikes you, is ideal.
The main difference between this batch and the first one is the ratio of shell to filling. I made the same quantity of pastry cream for half as many eclairs. That way, without fear of running out, you can fill them until almost bursting. I love the smell of freshly baked eclairs. The eggy, pancake like scent reminds me of one of my favorite breakfast dishes, German pancakes (or Dutch babies). Imagine a Dutch baby filled with strawberry pastry cream and dipped in chocolate ganache. That’s pretty much what these pastries smell (and taste) like.
A note about color: maybe we have an unrealistic expectation of what hue strawberry-flavored things should be, but I guarantee you it’s rarely natural. That pink milk your kids like? Or that neon pink cake mix? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a strawberry that color. Still, there’s something a bit fleshy about the color of cooked strawberries, especially in a recipe like this one where they are diluted with milk and eggs. The same is true of strawberry cakes and cupcakes. If the color bothers you (let’s call it pale mauve in lieu of other less appetizing descriptors), simply add a few drops of red food coloring. You’ll be so busy stuffing your face that you probably won’t even notice the color, so this addition is totally optional. Your call.
