Croquembouche
A traditional French celebration dessert of small cream puffs dipped in caramel syrup and stacked into a pyramid, filled with pastry cream.
Ingredients
choux pastry (see page 109)
nougat (see page 257)
sugar cooking and pulling (see page 265)
Bavarian cream (see page 194)
Chantilly cream (see page 189)
Instructions
1
Prepare small cream puffs
Make a number of small cream puffs. Vary the sizes slightly, making some very small and some a bit larger. Bake thoroughly, then fill with Chantilly cream once cooled.
2
Prepare molds
At the same time, prepare conical molds of the required sizes. They can be made of tin, or you can make temporary ones out of stiff cardboard. Grease evenly and place on a greased baking sheet.
3
Cook sugar and coat puffs
Cook the syrup to the hard crack stage at 310°F (154°C). Remove from heat, immerse the pot in cold water to stop the temperature from rising, then dip each small cream puff into the syrup one by one.
4
Stack the puffs
Stick the cream puffs side by side at the bottom of the mold. Once one ring is complete, start the next ring, stacking until you form a pyramid shape. Use the smallest puffs at the top and the largest at the bottom.
5
Remove molds
Once the structure is set, invert it and remove the molds and any paper liners.
6
Fill the center
The center of the cream puff tower can be filled in multiple ways: Genoise cake cubes soaked in liqueur syrup paired with Chantilly cream (sometimes with added fruit); or alternating layers of Bavarian cream and fruit.
7
Install the base
Place the cream puff tower on a decorative base made of nougat.
8
Top decoration
Decorate the top with pulled sugar balls or a custom pulled sugar shape.
