“Honey, I think these are the best pancakes I’ve ever had”, said DH. Under other circumstances, I might have gotten all warm and fuzzy. He doesn’t give compliments lightly. However, I was (in theory) making éclairs for the August Daring Baker challenge, and so I must admit I was less than delighted.
Some things are meant to be, others not so much. I have been very lucky that I tend to have a knack for adapting recipes to be gluten free, vegan, sugar free and more. They’re usually not perfect first time around, but usually at least I’ve gotten them in the ballpark. The last DB challenges I did exceeded my expectations!! It’s pretty ironic that when I finally decide to follow a recipe fairly faithfully that I had so much difficulty.
The first time around, I followed the Daring Baker recipe and just switched to a GF flour blend and a pinch of 
ground chia as the binder. Those darlins’ are hubbies new fave pancakes. Then I tried a recipe from the GF Delphi forums. They puffed up, then fell. Despite still looking pretty (or at least prettier), they were a tad raw on the inside. At least I was on the right track with those.
My appetite for round 3 was non existent, largely because I can’t eat them due to allergies, DH doesn’t really care for cream puffs, and the rest of my GF tasting squad isn’t really into éclairs either. Aside from my pride, there didn’t seem to be a good reason to try them again. So éclairs2, Cheryl 0, and for the time being, puff pastry, I’ll let you claim this match. But next time…watch out!
I made a chocolate cherry filling, made of coconut milk, cocoa powder, cherries, powdered chia and agave. The filling was quite nice, and gluten, dairy, egg, corn, soy and sugar free (i.e. safe for me). I love using fruits as a sweetener, and the cherries paired quite yummily with the chocolate. Though it was tasty, the proportions still need more work, though if I get it down, I’d be happy to share the recipe in the future.
I wouldn’t call it a total loss. DH had a HUGE plate of pancakes to celebrate his 30th birthday. It wasn’t quite what I was going for, though. Please go see what other Daring bakers have done with their éclairs…I’m sure they look a lot better! Many thanks to this month’s hosts, Meeta of What’s for Lunch Honey? and Tony Tahhan.
Ah well. I can’t wait until next month!
Stumble It!
Kudos to you for BEING a Daring Baker!! I still think the treat looks great 🙂
I think you rock for trying it (again, and again…). This would have been a bear to do GF, luckily veganizing it wasn’t too tough. But hey, pancakes are good, right?
Aw, sorry things didn’t go as planned, but this one was a real challenge for us alternative bakers. You really did awesome just for trying though. 🙂
i applaud you for even attempting to make these in an alternative way. and i bet they still tasted good . . .
Well, if they tasted great, that’s really all that matters, isn’t it? And at least you ARE a DB–I’m still too scared to enter!!
I’m sorry yours weren’t happy I feel rather guilty now as mine worked really quite well and like you all I did was swap the flour for a gluten free mix and a binder. Perhaps the specific mix is important and I lucked out on a good one? I don’t know. I will be trying them again but with less egg as the one thing I found is they seemed overly eggy particularly after a few hours.
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Oh no! I’m sorry that they didn’t turn out the way you wanted them to. They look great regardless.
Must be extra difficult to be an alternative DB member. Sorry your attempt didn’t work out so well. At least they tasted great!
I know what you mean about not having an appetite for sweets- but I did have fun with this challenge. I did them soy and gluten-free and next time I think I’ll try them at least dairy free, and try to reduce the sweetness of the filling. They were delicious, though- although watching them deflate is no fun! haha.
-Sea
I’m sorry your eclairs didn’t work out so well, but kudos on the new pancake recipe 🙂