Paris Brest & eclair

I almost never planned for what pastry I'd like to make for the day. Mostly, if not all is because one of the ingredients is meeting the expiry date soon. In this case, was the whipping cream. At first I thought of doing the Fresh Fraisier as raised by The Daring Baker (I just got approved there yay!) but Mr. F would prefer eclair much more than that one. So i had to give in, 'cos he'd be the only supporter of my pastry at the end of the day.

So without further ado... presenting to you my eclair and Paris Brest! I've been meaning to make Paris Brest for the longest time and it finally came true. My Paris Brest isn't proportionally sized though because I don't have the proper piping bag and nozzles. Boo.

Recipe (adapted from Le Cordon Bleu Dessert Techniques book)

Choux paste:
11/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 cup water or 1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup milk
4 beaten eggs

Heat up butter and water (+ milk) until butter melts then quickly bring it to full boil.
Mix in all the dry ingredients and stir it to form a smooth paste (this is what that got my body sore!)
Let it cool down for about 15 mins.
Gradually stir in eggs and keep beating the dough until it's very shiny and smooth.
And ready to use!
The baking part is a little bit tricky and differs from oven to oven. But for me it worked well at 220 celcius for the first 10 mins and then 210 for the rest 20 mins.

For the pastry cream, because I ran out of ingredients to use, my last resort was only the whipping cream mixed with icing sugar and vanilla essence. Tasted better actually! :)