Croquembouche (Cream Puff Tower) – The Ultimate French Dessert

Croquembouche

Croquembouche, also known as “Cream Puff Tower,” is a French dessert made with choux pastry balls filled with pastry cream and piled into a cone shape. It is usually decorated with spun sugar, caramel, or chocolate and often served at weddings, baptisms, and other special occasions.

History of Croquembouche

Croquembouche has been a French tradition since the 1700s. It was initially created by a French pastry chef named Marie-Antoine Carême, who is known as the “king of chefs and chef of kings.” He is the one who invented the concept of haute cuisine, and he is also responsible for creating many of the classic French dishes that we know and love today.

Ingredients for Croquembouche

The key ingredients for Croquembouche are choux pastry, pastry cream, and caramel. For the choux pastry, you will need flour, butter, sugar, water, and eggs. For the pastry cream, you will need milk, sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, and vanilla extract. For the caramel, you will need sugar and water.

How to Make Croquembouche?

Making Croquembouche can seem intimidating at first, but with a little patience and practice, it is relatively easy to make. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make it:

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. In a saucepan, combine water, butter, sugar, and salt. Heat until the butter is melted, and the mixture comes to a boil.
3. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously until the mixture forms a ball.
4. Remove the mixture from heat and transfer it to a mixing bowl.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, until the dough becomes smooth.
6. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip.
7. Pipe the dough onto a baking sheet in small mounds, leaving about 1 inch of space between each one.
8. Bake the pastries for about 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown and puffed up.
9. Remove the pastries from the oven and let them cool.
10. To make the pastry cream, combine milk, sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.
11. Remove the mixture from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
12. Let the pastry cream cool.
13. To assemble the Croquembouche, dip the bottom of each pastry ball into the caramel and stack them onto a plate or cake stand in a cone shape.
14. Drizzle the remaining caramel over the top of the Croquembouche, letting it drip down the sides.
15. Decorate with spun sugar, caramel, or chocolate as desired.

                                                                            ENJOY!😊