Chocolate Eclairs

My book club met last night, and we decided to do pot-luck 2011 book clubs, and I provided a healthy dish (see quinoa post below) and a not-so-healthy dish.  Chocolate Eclairs. 

My mom used to make chocolate eclairs and it was beyond a treat when she did.  She had a different recipe that I couldn't find, so I used a dessert cookbook that I got as a gift. 

Dough in pastry tube. Holy mess batman. And those are my legs.

In the oven!

Out of the oven. I think I made them too small.

I learned my lesson with the dough debacle. This is how I filled the pastry tube with the filling.

Stuffed with filling.

The final result...

I am so proud of myself for how they turned out, and they were actually not as sweet as my mom's which enabled my guests to consume them all.  Good thing I made such a mess making them and filling them that I was able to taste-test as I went along...though I didn't get to eat a full complete eclair!  That is totally awesome with me though--my favorite part of the evening was when I refilled the dish of eclairs when they got low and hearing from my friends "There's more!? Good!! I can have a second!"

The process was intense. And messy. But SO worth it.  I love cooking for others--especially when I do a good job and people love what I make.  And they LOVED these eclairs! YAY!