Since Mama 3 1/2 months ago, I sometimes get in something I call "baby lockdown." I'm in the chair with a sleeping baby sprawled on me after what can be a long section of napless-ness. I am desperate for him to stay asleep, but I am hungry or thirsty or needing to pee. is it worth the risk of displacement / wake him to take care of all I have at this time?
No. it's really not.
So- I just accept that I am on the "baby lockdown," and we hope to have the remote handy! I became good at check shows that are the perfect combination of entertainment and blind my general state of exhaustion. my new favorite is Martha Bakes on PBS did you see? There is a new theme every week and Martha demos few different designs every time. Last week was "classic French Pastries," and I am very inspired me to try my hand at one of them: Paris Brest.
Are you familiar? It is Pate Choux, which is the paste used to Cream Puffs, etc Eclairs, served as a crown filled with pastry cream and whipped cream. I liked the idea, but did not have the energy for the custard, so filled with lots of whipped cream and strawberries. It is a light and crispy shell filled with light and fluffy cream and berries. I devoured about a third of that, it's so light and not too sweet.
The hardest part of this was the plumbing in a Ring- and as you can see mine looks a bit like 7 cream puffs in a circle . Hindsight- and I may as well just have channeled the dough into rounds and made cream puffs, but I think the "crown" was pretty :)
I'm so lucky to have to go my first mother's day with my own mom who arrives later today! I'm never more sensitive to sound or all mothers after my first 3 months with a baby. How she had the patience to raise 5 children, I will never know! My mom would love dessert- I would not have eaten everything already ...;)
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 4 large eggs, plus 1 large egg for egg washing
- 2 cups heavy cream
- sugar '3 tablespoons confectioners, and more for dusting
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Use a 9-inch round pan to draw a circle on a sheet of parchment. Turn the parchment and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the butter, sugar, salt and 1 cup water. Bring to boil and immediately remove from heat. With a wooden spoon, stir quickly into the flour until combined.
- Return pan to medium-high heat and cook, stirring vigorously, until the mixture comes off the sides and a film forms on the bottom of the pan, just a minute or two.
- Remove from heat and transfer the contents into a bowl to cool slightly. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition, wait until each is completely incproarted before adding the next.
- Transfer dough choux pastry to a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip ½ inches. Pipe a little dough at each corner of the parchment to stick it on the hob. Then, the pipe paste arond the outline in mounds 1¾ inches *. If there are strange advice you can tap them gently down.
- Whip egg with a pinch of salt and brush on top of the remaining crown dough.
- Bake until the pastry just starts to swell, about 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake until the dough is completely puffed and golden, about 30 minutes.
- Turn off the oven, remove crown and the top hole and the sides about 8 times using the tip of a sharp knife to release steam. Return to oven and prop door open with a wooden spoon. Let stand for 1 hour to dry.
- crown pastry on parchment Transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely
- Beat the cream, icing sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. pastry crown separated into two upper and lower halves using a serrated knife.
- Spread or pipe whipped cream into the crown and layer with berries. Place the top of the crown on the cream.
- Cut and serve. (Refrigerate if you do not eat right away.)
* I halved the recipe in the version I was shooting, but I share any recipe. Either way works :)