I was ridiculously excited when I opened April’s BakedIn Baking Club parcel. I absolutely LOVE eclairs, and in this box there were all the dry ingredients needed to make eclairs with 2 different toppings, caramel and chocolate.
Also included was the brilliantly detailed recipe card, butter measure, piping bags, baking paper, and an extra special treat… some delicious vanilla and chocolate gourmet marshmallows from Belinda Clark.
These were simply beautiful. Soft, light and fluffy just like a marshmallow should be, and then coated in yummy chocolate. Heaven! There must have been a marshmallow monster hiding in my house though as I only managed to have one and the rest mysteriously vanished! My son assured me he hadn’t seen anything suspicious but it was hard to get any sense out of him as his cheeks were all puffed out and he was unable to talk properly for some reason. His condition disappeared on its own after a few minutes but the marshmallow mystery remains unsolved.
As some of you may know, I had a major kitchen disaster a few weeks ago, and I don’t mean burning a cake! To cut a long story short there was a terrible leak from pipes under the kitchen which destroyed the floor and the base cupboards, so everything needed to be ripped out and a new kitchen fitted. This all took a lot longer than I was expecting, so obviously baking went out of the window for a while. The BakedIn kit arrived on the day the kitchen was completed so I couldn’t wait to get on with making the eclairs! I was a bit nervous as I wasn’t sure how the new oven would be but it went like a dream.
The recipe card said you could make 24 mini or 12 large eclairs. I opted for the large! I have made choux pastry several times before but this recipe had an extra instruction before putting them in the oven that I had never heard of in other recipes – an egg wash on the raw pastry. It is a tip I will be using every time I make any from now on though as they developed a gorgeous golden colour with a lovely sheen.
I left them in the oven a couple of minutes longer than the recipe said to make sure they were dry enough not to deflate, and then let them cool on a wire rack.
While they were cooling I made the toppings. The chocolate was easy as I have made ganache many times. Caramel scares me slightly as it can go wrong so easily. I thought mine had if I’m honest. I followed the instructions but it just didn’t want to thicken enough to use, so I popped it in the fridge for a bit. Luckily it thickened beautifully in there! After filling the eclairs with cream and spreading the chocolate and caramel on top, the final stage was to drizzle them with melted white chocolate for extra indulgence.
I have loved every single recipe that BakedIn Baking Club have sent, but this one disappeared faster than any of the others so far. The finished eclairs were the best I have ever made, and this is the only recipe I will use in the future.
The recipe cards you receive with the kits are so well-written and easy to follow, and each stage has a photograph so you can see you’re on the right track. To make them even better, they are all exclusively created for BakedIn by Michel Roux, and he includes a Top Tip on every recipe card to either enhance the recipe further or to make things easier during the bake. The fact they are created by such a world-renowned chef tells you they are going to be amazing!
The Baking Club subscription costs just £7.99 per month including delivery, and is perfect for yourself or to give as a gift. You can cancel at any time, but I highly doubt you will! If you would like to try it, click HERE to go to the BakedIn website and find out more.
Happy Baking!
DISCLAIMER: I do not work for BakedIn, nor do they ask me to write Baking Club reviews for them. I pay for my subscription and genuinely love it, so like to recommend it to others so they can find out more for themselves. All views and opinions are my own. My reviews are always honest and genuine, and I would NEVER recommend something I didn’t truly like. I receive no compensation for my reviews, except for the happiness they bring to me 🙂
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