Strawberry Matcha Éclairs

Well, since my Totoro puffs didn't turn out the way I imagined them to, I thought I would work on some éclairs instead. The good thing is, the choux dough recipe is the same (so refer back to the Totoro post), the only thing you do differently is how you pipe them out.

And you know what? You're supposed to use a star tip, but I couldn't find mine. It's probably at my parent's house - all my baking supplies are now split apart because my condo can't fit everything. But the éclairs turned out just fine with a round piping tip.

After the éclairs cool, cut them in half so that you have your elongated boats. If you made the choux dough correctly, the interiors should be semi-hollow.

It's strawberry season again (yay) so I chopped them up into tiny little cubes. Then sprinkled a teaspoon of sugar on it, gave it a toss, and had it macerate for a bit. It's sitting in a sieve so that any excess liquids can drain off.

Using tiny dessert spoons, I filled the with the strawberries I so painstakingly sliced.

Then came the fun part, decorating with matcha buttercream! I was originally going to make matcha pastry cream, but realized I finished using all the milk on the choux dough. Oops! Oh well, it worked out in the end as buttercream is so much easier to make and also pipes out beautifully.

Doesn't the smooth matcha buttercream look like avocado? In fact, these éclairs remind me of sub sandwiches or avocado toast. I know you're supposed to put the tops back on the éclairs . . . but they're so much prettier when they're like an open-faced sandwich!

You can also pipe the buttercream in first and then top it with strawberries. Don't forget to decorate! I had sprinkles and milk chocolate crispearls on hand. You can also switch out your piping tip for different designs.

Howard's colleagues are going to have a happy Monday eating these (I hope)! There's too many for Howard and I to finish. There's also a key lime pie in the freezer, but more about that later.

Payard Patisserie and Bistro

Payard Patisserie and Bistro

Caesars Palace Hotel

3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South

Las Vegas, NV 89109

(702) 731-7849

Even though we've been to many Payard locations, we couldn't help taking a look at what the display cases offered.

Each piece of dessert looks like a work of art!

Let's just say we made plenty of visit to Payard during our stay in Vegas.

Hot days call for mango and raspberry gelato. And smoothies.

And my favourite one of all, the macaron ice cream sandwich!

Isn't the box cute?

The coconut mango was so good and refreshing. The macaron shells were the perfect texture and held the frozen treat nicely. I was worried the macaron might be too soggy or too crisp and crumb away, but it wasn't. This is a treat I'll crave every summer, luckily they serve it in New York as well!

Nadege Patisserie

The final place we stopped by on our pre-Valentine's Day weekend was recommended to me by Monica Kulling. Exactly one year ago, she gave me 4 little macarons from Nadege Patisserie, I even kept the card it came with (it's still on my fridge) just so I would remember to visit.

Nadege Patisserie
780 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M6J 1G2
(416) 368-2009

They offer lots of pastries, desserts, sandwiches, and macarons. They also have seating room if you ever want to take a break and watch chefs in the back make wonderful treats.

Honestly, I wanted to try more than one of their cakes, but having just purchased a bunch of cupcakes from the three previous bakeries, I had to behave and limit my sugar intake.

Since it was a weekend of looove, Howard and I decided on the pink fuzzy heart cake named Elle. "It's so FUZZY!" (say it in Agnes' voice from Despicable Me)

Cute box!!! By the way, the service was great. They greet you when you come in and are very attentive to help while you hem and haw over which dessert you're going to finally pick.

Hello Elle! This was by far our favourite dessert from the whole day. Inside, there is a layer of light sponge cake, lichee mousse with raspberry filling. We don't know what the pink fuzzy covering is over the white chocolate mold, but it was all edible and tasty. Great flavour combination!

And of course we're back for the macarons!

What can I say? It was fun! And if you have an eagle eye, you'll notice in the photo of our sweet haul that the macarons are sitting on top of another Nadege bag. Howard couldn't resist and also got a chocolate almond croissant.

Click here to read about our previous stops: OMG Baked Goodness, the Wedding Cake Shoppe, and Dlish Cupcakes.

Payard

Payard
at Caesars Palace
3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89109-8924
(702) 731-7849

They're on facebook and twitter too!

Has breakfast ever looked so good? Since we were staying at Caesars Palace, we had breakfast at Payard. François Payard is a French Pastry Chef with locations in New York, Japan, and Korea. He also has three cookbooks (Chocolate Epiphany, Simply Sensational Desserts, and Bite Size) with delicious looking covers that I want to have a look at.

But let's go back to breakfast. I ordered the brioche French toast with sauteed berries and whipped cream. At this location for breakfast, you sit around the buffet and cooking area. I got to watch the Chef make my French toast and sauté the berries and top the dish with whipped cream. When it was ready, I was eagerly waiting for our server, who fondly chuckled at my anticipation.

It was quite good. The lip smacking kind of good. I neatly sliced my French toast and dipped it in the berry juice and for good measure, whisked the whipped cream onto it. Mmm!

Howard went for the continental breakfast buffet and would come back with low fat yogurt with berries and granola, flaky croissants, smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels. Howard's not a fan of breakfast like I am, but he was captivated by the croissants (which I sadly didn't have a bite of). And anywhere that serves good smoked salmon gets a nod of approval by Howard. =)

Besides the dining room, Payard also has a storefront where you can get meals to go.

There was also this construction, I see the chocolate showpieces and the moving gears, but what does it do? Does chocolate pop out into the tray?