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Mother’s Day always reminds me of how my mother’s passions influenced me. She was the first gourmand in our family. One of her favorite treats were éclairs from Rose’s Bakery in Portland. I have such indulgent memories of those crisp and airy cream puffs filled with pastry cream and dipped in chocolate glaze. This éclair embraces those memories with a nod to Macrina’s Chocolate Raspberry Cake. The airy golden-brown éclair is layered with rich mocha mousse and fresh raspberries. A glaze of bittersweet chocolate ganache gives balance to the creamy mousse and sends chocolate lovers like me to the moon.

Ingredients
Makes 8 éclairs

Pâte à Choux
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 eggs

Mocha Mousse
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup brewed espresso
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Ganache
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Assembly
1 pint fresh raspberries
1/4 cup clear sparkling sugar
Edible flowers or petals (optional)

Preparation

Pâte à Choux
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 400°F. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, sugar and butter. When the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted, add the flour. With a wooden spoon, mix well and cook for 1-2 minutes. Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed for 1 minute to cool the mixture. Add the eggs one at a time, ensuring you’ve fully incorporated each before adding the next. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2″ tip. On the prepared baking sheet, pipe eight 4″ long éclairs. Leave about 1″ of space between each éclair. You can smooth out any irregularities by dipping your finger in water and brushing the dough into shape.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake for another 10 minutes. The éclairs should sound hollow when tapped at the base. Let cool 20-30 minutes.

Mocha Mousse
Heat a double boiler and add the chocolate chips, brewed espresso and butter. Stir until the chocolate melts and the mix is combined. Cool for 15 minutes.

Add the heavy cream to the bowl of a stand mixer. With the whisk attachment, whip the cream on medium speed. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Whip to medium stiff peaks.

Remove bowl from mixer. Fold the cooled chocolate mixture into the whipped cream until it’s well combined. Keep cool until you are ready to use it.

Ganache
Place the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the cream begins to bubble at the edges turn off the heat. Add the chocolate chips and whisk until they melt into the hot cream. Set aside.

Assembly
Cut the top 1/4″ from each éclair. Dip or brush chocolate ganache onto each top. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse (or use a spoon). Fill each éclair base with mousse (it should rise about 1/4″ above the edge). Cut 24 raspberries in half and place 6 halves on each éclair base. Cover with the ganache-glazed top and sprinkle with clear sparkling sugar. Garnish with any extra raspberries and the edible flowers.

Enjoy!

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Does “great taste” come to mind when you think of heritage grains? 

Many Americans consider heritage grains a health food—something they should eat, not something they want to eat. Fortunately, that appears to be on the cusp of change. Top chefs and bakers have been cooking with new heritage grain hybrids with thrilling results. 

One of my favorite events of the year is Grain Gathering, an annual three-day event held every July since 2011 at the Bread Lab. Expert bakers, millers, grain scientists, farmers and industry representatives gather in the Skagit Valley. Their goal is to break the dominance of commodity wheat and to find a way to sell America on the benefits of heritage grains. Flavor is the number one selling point. Nutrition is another along with environmental sustainability. Virtually every community in America used to grow wheat. More robust heritage wheat hybrids could again make this economically feasible, benefitting local economies.  

At a Grain Gathering a few years ago, I was introduced to two hybrids developed by Bread Lab. One is called Skagit Magic, which is grown in the Skagit Valley and milled at nearby Cairn Springs Mill. The other is called Expresso Wheat (or, in the lab, T-85). It is grown in Walla Walla and also milled at Cairn Springs Mill. When I started Macrina, flours like these just weren’t available. 

For Macrina’s twenty-fifth anniversary last year, I developed two new breads that utilized these new organic flours. I spent many hours playing around with various techniques and found the heritage flours work best with a slow fermentation. This helps develop subtle, bright flavors and hydrates the bran. I made our Skagit Sourdough with the Skagit Magic. This is one of our most grain-forward and flavorful loaves. The Whole Grain Baguette is our other new loaf, which we make with the Expresso.

Skagit Valley – The Best Grains in the World

At Macrina, our two latest breads feature heritage wheats—the primary reason being the astonishing flavor they add. Edouardo Jordan, the star chef and creator of JuneBaby, named America’s best new restaurant by the James Beard Foundation, recently opened Lucinda Grain Bar, a concept focused on ancient grains. “As Americans, we eat some of the most flavorless, unhealthy grain-based products in the world,” Jordan said. “Commercialization has stripped down all the nutritional value in our grain product. We are excited to explore the flavor and potential of ancient grains.” Jordan noted that some of the best grains in the world are grown in the Skagit Valley. 

The Bread Lab, located in the Skagit Valley, deserves no small amount of credit for this. Part science lab, part high-end bakery, this extension of Washington State University occupies a 12,000 square foot space in Mount Vernon that includes a research and baking kitchen, a cytology lab, the King Arthur Flour Baking School, a milling laboratory and a professional kitchen. The director of the Bread Lab, Dr. Stephen Jones, is currently one of the most influential voices in the food world. Jones is determined to bring diversity to the range of flours widely available. Currently, the bland, chalky white flour born of industrial agriculture is found in almost all the bread sold in America. You won’t find much else at your local supermarket either. By breeding heritage grains that have both taste and nutritional benefits, but that also have the robustness that farmers need to produce high yield crops, Jones hopes to make regional grain farming viable again. 

The flour available in most grocery stores comes from wheat that has been bred to be optimal for a fast-food hamburger bun. A hundred years ago that wasn’t the case. A diverse range of heritage wheats were grown and milled in communities across America. Between 1890 and 1930 America went from over 22,000 flour mills to less than 200. The State of Washington had 160. Now there are two. The widespread use of new roller mills that could efficiently strip the grain of both the bran and the germ created a flour that had an almost indefinite shelf life ushered in this change. This coincided with the rise of the industrial production of food. We got sliced bread in plastic bags and the phrase, “The greatest thing since sliced bread.” However, we lost a wide range of regional flours milled from an incredible range of wheats, many of which had much better flavor than what worked best for industrial bakeries. Not to mention nutrition. Jones writes, “By using only the white portion of the seed, wheat is reduced from a nutrient-dense food to one that lacks basic nutrition.” 

When I started Macrina in 1993, it was thrilling to be part of the artisan bread movement that brought French and Italian-style breads to many cities in America. I’m even more excited about the heritage grain movement—so much so that I’m growing heritage wheat on my Vashon Island farm this year! Seeing grain scientists, farmers and bakers unite around the idea of building a better tasting and healthier bread may just be the greatest thing since sliced bread.  

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Macrina Bakery & Cafe Fried Egg Sandwich

The hens on my Vashon Island farm provide me with so many lovely eggs that I’m always looking for new ways to use them. One easy favorite of mine is a fried egg sandwich. This recipe is the one we use on our brunch menu at Macrina — our best-selling brunch item for years! I sampled fried egg sandwiches in San Francisco, Portland, Bainbridge Island and Seattle, before settling on this delicious combination. Add a few slices of your favorite bacon to this sandwich and it takes it to the moon!

Ingredients:

Fried Egg Sandwiches:

Makes 4

1 medium red onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 loaf Rustic Potato bread, sliced
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
4 slices Muenster cheese
8 eggs
1 cup spicy tomato sauce

Spicy Tomato Sauce:

Makes 1 cup

1 dried pasilla pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
6 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Fried Egg Sandwiches:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel onion and cut lengthwise into 8 wedges. Place the wedges on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20–25 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Set aside to cool.

Cut eight 1/2″ slices of our Rustic Potato bread and lightly butter one side of each slice, using approximately 4 tablespoons.

Place two slices of bread, buttered side down, in a nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Spread one slice with 1-1/2 teaspoon of Dijon and top the other with a slice of cheese.

While the bread is sautéing, add 1/2 tablespoon of the remaining butter to another nonstick pan over medium heat. Add two eggs, season to taste with salt and pepper, and fry each side to desired preference (for over-medium eggs about 1.5 minutes on each side). On the slice of bread that was spread with mustard, layer the eggs, a quarter of the roasted onions and 1/4 cup of warm spicy tomato sauce. Top with the other slice of bread, transfer to a plate and cut in half to eat more easily. Repeat to make the remaining three sandwiches.

Spicy Tomato Sauce

Place the dried pasilla pepper in a small bowl, cover with boiling water and soak for 10 minutes. Drain well and let cool, then remove the core and seeds from the pepper. Coarsely chop and set aside.

Place the olive oil in a medium saucepan and heat to medium –low. Add the onions. Cook covered for 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent. Stir in the garlic, cumin and coriander. Cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and pasilla pepper. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper. This sauce is best used warm.

Enjoy!