Cream puffs, eclairs, and seven swans a-swimming

In our last Baking I lab, we made pate a choux (pronounced pot-uh-shoe). You know, cream puff dough. I love cream puffs. I love eclairs more. It's a chocolate thing. I can't help it. I have a problem. Don't judge me. I'm weak.

So, as luck would have it, pate a choux is ridiculously easy to make. You have everything you need on hand in your kitchen right now. Seriously. Water, butter, flour, sugar, eggs. No joke. The choux paste (as they say in the biz) that you use for cream puffs is the same stuff you use to make the cute savory ones with cheese and herbs that get served with wine. Yum!

Our lab assignment included choux paste, chocolate ganache, and pastry cream. We had to make cream puffs, eclairs and swans. Swans! So tiny! So cute! So delicious!

I had to take a picture of this handsome devil. My friend, S., made him. Isn't he perfect?

I brought home my stuff. I shared it with friends. It would be dangerous to keep all this in my kitchen. Especially since I had to "test" about five eclairs before class was over. What? They were small! Besides, I like to think of it was quality control. They would have technically been unsaleable. It's a service I provide. I'm that kind of girl.

Without further ado, my goods from the cream puff lab.

Cream puffy goodness!

Miniature eclairs!

Okay, fine. Five swans a-swimming.