Friday, April 13, 2012

Whole Wheat Chocolate Éclair Dessert


This week I will be attending Shelf Reliance Convention.  I’m so excited to interact with other consultants, attend awesome workshops and find out what new products will be launched. To find out more about being a consultant go here.    

While I am gone I have asked Sueann from Suzie’s Sweet Wheat to share some of her favorite recipes.   

As we were talking about what she wanted to share with you she brought up this chocolate eclair dessert.  Oh be still my heart.  Eclair dessert is one of my all-time favorite foods ever!  I have never tried it with wheat flour but Sueann told me that when done right you can’t even tell there is whole wheat in it.  That is my kind of dessert.  

Here is Sueann.
 

This recipe is a guaranteed success for many reasons. It is easy, made with ingredients commonly found at home. I’ve NEVER not had it turn out...just follow these directions and you can’t go wrong. It makes an entire cookie sheet full of dessert, so you can serve many people with just one dessert. 

It has never failed to create a stir at social gatherings. Every single time I’ve made it, I’ve had many requests for the recipe. It has a whole wheat pastry crust, but the whole wheat is completely undetectable. When I mention that it is whole wheat, people are shocked! I’ve even auctioned it off for $45 dollars at an auction for Boy Scouts. This is a winner recipe through and through. If you want to make the dessert that gets the whole party talking’ this is the one to make!

Before you begin making pastries with whole wheat flour, there are a few items that I need to address to increase your chance of success.
      
      1.     I ALWAYS use hard white wheat for my desserts.
Hard white wheat has a more subtle flavor than hard red wheat and has a much nicer texture. Many people believe that hard red wheat is more nutritious than hard white wheat, but actually, hard white wheat is slightly more nutritious, making it my very favorite wheat to use in baking.

      2.      Always use either freshly ground whole wheat flour that was ground on the finest setting, or sift your previously-ground flour, or your pastries will be too dry. Start with the amount of flour mentioned in the recipe and then decrease it by two tablespoons.

If your pastries seem too flat, you may need to increase the flour by a couple of tablespoons.

If they seem too dry, decrease the flour by one or two tablespoons.

If you are making cream puffs or eclairs, try baking just one to determine if you want to add another 1-2 T of flour.

I’ve made whole wheat eclairs, eclair desserts and cream puffs and if you get your measurements right; no one can tell there is wheat in them!
  
            If you have recipes of your own that you would like to convert to whole wheat, use these guidelines: When converting white to wheat...1 cup minus 2 T (tablespoons) is the conversion I generally use, or 3/4 C plus 2 T, unless it is freshly ground and then I can usually substitute straight across. If you are using soft white wheat it can be substituted straight across.



Whole Wheat Chocolate Eclair Dessert
1 C water
1⁄2 C butter
3⁄4 C + 2 T sifted whole wheat flour (sift 2 times)
4 eggs

About an hour before making this dessert, get the cream cheese out and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour to soften. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring water and butter to a boil in a sauce pan. Remove from heat and add whole wheat flour and stir until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.

Spoon mixture onto a greased cookie sheet and spread very thin and evenly throughout the surface of the cookie sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes, watching carefully, until crust is golden brown. Cool.

Mix the following:
8 oz. cream cheese (beat this until smooth then add the rest)
2 small (3.4 oz.)pkgs. instant vanilla pudding
3 C cold milk

Beat cream cheese/pudding mixture until the mixture thickens (about 2 minutes) and spread over cooled pastry crust.

Top with: 12 oz. whipped topping chocolate syrup (drizzle over the whole surface...over the whipped topping.) Refrigerate this dessert until ready to eat.

Note: If you want the crust slightly puffier, add 1-2 more T of sifted or freshly-ground whole wheat flour.

Sueann is an average American mom, just trying to make it from day to day with four small children. Due to health concerns, she had to get her children on a high-fiber diet.  She began experimenting with wheat about three years ago and has completely removed white flour from her family’s diet.  Her children are no longer on medicine and my whole family is living a happier, healthier lifestyle.  You can read more about Sueann on her blog:  Suzie’s Sweet Wheat. You can check out her book which contain 250 whole wheat recipes:  Suzie’s Sweet Wheat