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croquembouche
A croquembouche consists of many choux pastry puffs that get stacked on top of each other in a cone like shape. The choux pastry has a soft crunch on the outside and are light and fluffy, as well as slightly hollow on the inside. The puffs are filled with a sweet cream, commonly custard, and are topped with many toppings that differentiate such as chocolate or toffee, and these are known as profiteroles. The croquembouche is then drizzled with more toffee.
History
The Croquembouche was first made towards the end of the 17th century. It was made by a French pastry chef, Antoine Careme. In the middle ages, it was traditional at marriages for guests to bring wheat cakes, and these turned into sweet buns later, which were stacked in a pyramid. This dessert was placed in between the bride and groom, and they had to kiss over the cake, and if they were successful without disturbing the cake, this was said to bring both of them a sense of peace. Antoine Careme, an architect, made this cake by stacking the choux buns and coating it fully in sugar frosting so that it stayed in shape and didn't fall. This became very popular in France and was known as the wedding cake.
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Reflection
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This croquembouche was really good. I know that making choux pastry can be quite hard to make, so I'm actually really happy with how they turned out, as they were golden brown on the outside, and light and hollow on the inside, keeping in mind this is my first attempt at choux. The profiterole filling was really creamy and sweet which was delicious. The feedback I got to improve on if I were to make this again would be to fix the toffee. The toffee turned out extremely bitter as I burnt it and it made half of the profiteroles that were dipped in it, quite unpleasant. Although I should have thought it through more logically, as I took the toffee off heat when it was golden brown,(the correct colour), although it continued to cook off heat in the saucepan, so i should have transferred it to a cool bowl. However half of the profiteroles, were really delicious as they were covered in chocolate and it was a really great pairing with the choux and the filling, although my brother would have preferred to have milk chocolate instead of dark.in the end the dessert looked really nice, for my standards knowing that it was my first time, but I think I should have invested in a cone shape for the center, to make it easier to assemble. We didn't finish the dessert and we had to throw the rest out as choux pastry isn't great in following days. Ultimately, I know that the dessert could have come out better, but overall I'm really happy with my attempt for the dessert.
This is why we rated the french croquembouche a 7/10
Croquembouche recipe
serves: 6 people total time : 3 hours
ingredients
Choux pastry buns
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245 g water
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120g unsalted butter,
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140 g plain flour
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4 large eggs
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½ tsp salt
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3 tsp white sugar
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1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Creme patissiere
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435ml (1 3/4 cups) milk
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1 vanilla bean split lengthways, seeds separated
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3 egg yolks
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70g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
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50g (1/3 cup) plain flour, sifted
Toffee
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860g (4 cups) caster sugar
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330ml (1 1/3 cups) water
method
1. Preheat oven to 190°C.
2. Place salt, water, sugar and butter in a saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the water is starting to boil, add the flour, off heat and mix. Return the pan to the stove (medium heat).
3. Cook the dough for 1 – 3 minutes (over medium heat) while you mix and move it around in the pan until you get a dough that pulls away from the sides of the pan.
4. Transfer the dough to a bowl, and let it cool down slightly for a few minutes. Add the vanilla extract and whisk, then mix the dough while adding the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Make sure the eggs are lightly beaten so that you can stop adding eggs immediately, when you reach the right consistency.
5. Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper and mist the surface with water.
6. Pipe the desired shape on to the baking sheet – either using a piping bag fitted with a large tip , or spoon it on to the tray, using a teaspoon. Then with a damp finger, flatten the apex and any points.
7. Bake in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes in the center of the oven, or until the choux pastry shells puff up and are golden brown on top. Do not open the oven door, at least until you have reached the 25 minute mark.
8. During the last 5 – 10 minutes of baking, prick each shell with a skewer or toothpick and let them dry out in the oven while baking.
9. Remove from the oven, and let the choux pastry cases cool completely in a draft-free area.
10. For the crème pâtissière, heat milk and vanilla seeds in a saucepan. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until thick then Whisk in flour. Pour the gg mixture into the saucepan. Whisk over low heat for 5 minutes or until thickened.
11. Spoon crème pâtissière into a piping bag with a 5mm plain nozzle. Push nozzle into base of each profiterole and fill with crème pâtissière.
12. Make toffee: Stir 3 cups of the sugar and 1 cup of the water in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Cook, without stirring, brushing down the side of the pan occasionally with a wet pastry brush, for 25 minutes or until light golden.
12. Chocolate sauce: Place 200g finely chopped dark chocolate, 1 cup thickened cream and 1 tbs brown sugar in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring with a metal spoon, for 5 minutes or until smooth.
13. Using a fork or tongs, alternate diffing the tips of the profiterole into the chocolate or toffee. Place the profiterole, topping side up, on the baking paper. Repeat with the remaining profiteroles.
14. Begin to Place on a round serving platter. It is helpful to have a cone or a cup in the middle to help assist with the assembling. Repeat with all of the remaining profiteroles to create layers until the cone/ cup is fully covered.
15.Dip 2 forks into the remaining toffee. Press the backs of the forks together and hold for 30 seconds. Quickly pull forks apart to make thin strands. Wrap the strands around the croquembouche