As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been making resolutions galore this year – cutting out soda (thanks to my dentist for that one), eating less fried food (sorry, Culver’s) and exercising more than never. These are going alright so far (could still be exercising more than once a week).
But not all resolutions or goals need to be boring or difficult or no fun like the ones I listed above. I decided to set a fun goal for myself as well. Inspired by The Great American Baking Show (and the original of course!), I decided to try a new baking skill or recipe every month. I figure if those bakers can try their hands at Battenburg cakes and petit fours, I can give those more challenging desserts a try.
One new recipe a month isn’t overly ambitious, but there’s nothing wrong with an achievable goal. The way I see it, by 2018, I’ll be confident making 12 new recipes. That’s bound to be more than if I just winged it all year, right?
I started this weekend with eclairs. I’m not confident enough in my execution to show off some sort of tutorial, but I was confident enough with the result to bring those (slightly misshapen) beauties to work. It was a good sweet to start with since it challenged me to make two things I’ve never attempted: pâte à choux and crème patisserie. I had always assumed those things would be ultra-complicated, but it turns out they’re really not too difficult. It was a good recipe to launch me into a sweet 2017.
I don’t have my 11 other recipes quite sorted out yet, but I’m planning on French macarons and another type of pastry to really keep me on my toes. If you have any suggestions for what I should bake next, I’d love to hear them!
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