SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR AS AMANDA SHELTON
in Simply Irresistible

Director: Mark Tarlov. With Sean Patrick Flanery and Patricia Clarkson. A department store executive (Flanery) tries to resist falling in love with a young woman (Gellar). The fates are against him, though, in the form of a talking crab, and a supernatural cabbie. The scene where the couple floats above the floor while dancing is reminiscent of a similar scene with Tara and Willow in BTVS. Patricia Clarkson (Lois McNally) is great in this. Margaret Sophie Stein (Mrs. Meuller) was Corvina Lang on ALL MY CHILDREN.

Vanilla Orchids?

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CARAMEL ÉCLAIR RECIPE

Ingredients

Caramel Pastry Créme:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 Vanilla Bean scraped
4 egg yolks
3 TB Corn Starch
1 Cup Heavy Cream

Choux Paste:
1 cup Water
8 TB Unsalted Butter
Pinch of Salt
1 Cup Flour
1/2 tsp Ginger
4 large Eggs

Caramel Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 TB butter
Pinch of salt
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp Coriander

CARAMEL PASTRY CRÉME:
Place a large skillet over medium-high flame and add the sugar.
Once the sugar is uniformly dark amber, remove skillet from heat and pour onto a foil lined jelly roll pan and allow to cool to room temperature Combine milk, salt, vanilla seeds and the pod in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Break caramel into smaller pieces and blend it into a powder.
Pour onto a sheet of foil and let cool to room temperature.
Peel off foil and break caramel into chunks; put in a food processor or blender and whirl into a fine powder.
As the milk heats up, add small amounts of the caramel powder and stir until melted and smooth. Do not let the milk boil. Combine milk, salt, vanilla seeds and the pod in a medium saucepan over medium heat
Break caramel into smaller pieces and whirl it up in the food processor or blender, into a powder.
Pour onto a sheet of foil and let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
Peel off foil and break caramel into chunks; put in a food processor or blender and whirl into a fine powder.
As the milk heats up, add small amounts of the caramel powder and stir until melted and smooth.
Beat egg yolks and cornstarch together until egg yolks are thick and lemon in color.
Condition yolks with a couple ladles of the mixture, then add the eggs to the saucepan and whisk until thickened.
Remove from heat and strain.
Whip heavy cream in a chilled bowl until stiff peaks.
Fold whipped cream into pastry créme.

CARAMEL GLAZE:
Melt Sugar in a sauce pan over medium flame.
When liquid turns a dark amber, pour in the heavy cream
Stir with a whisk over low heat until smooth then add the salt and butter and stir.
Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and the coriander.

CHOUX PASTE:
Bring Water, butter and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium flame.
Once water reaches a boil, add flour and stir until the dough ball pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Continue to cook for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and let rest for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400
Add the first egg and stir briskly with a rubber spatula.
Repeat this with each of the other 3 eggs.
After the addition of the last egg, the dough will be a smooth and sticky paste.
Fit a large piping bag with a large round tip. Fill the bag with the choux paste.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper and pipe 3 inch long strips of paste at least 2 inches apart.
Place in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 10 minutes
Remove pans from oven; poke a hole in the end of each éclair.
Bake for an additional 10 minutes to ensure the insides are dried out.
Move éclairs to a cooling rack.

ASSEMBLY:
Dip the tops of warm éclairs into the caramel sauce and set on a rack to drip and cool.
Fill a pastry bag with injection tip 2/3 full with pastry créme.
Poke the tip through the steam hole of your éclair and fill with the pastry créme.

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The film played in 1,359 theatres in the US before being released on DVD. It grossed $4,298,989.

• PATRICIA CLARKSON
• SEAN PATRICK FLANNERY
• SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR
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