Making Croquembouche the Third
Today, I will share my experience making a croquembouche for the third time! It was super fun to make and so much different than the other two times! If you’ve been around for a bit, you might have heard me talking about it or have seen my previous posts. But, in case you haven’t, you may ask, what is a croquembouche?
I’m glad you asked! I like to explain that it’s a cream puff tower. It’s stacked cream puffs filled with pastry cream and dipped in caramel. Some can be very impressive, but I haven’t gotten there quite yet. I’ve been making this for the past couple of years, and I think I will keep on doing it. It seems to become more fun every year! Who knows, maybe I’ll make it again for the holiday season. So if this sounds interesting to you, come follow along!
Timeline:
I planned to serve the croquembouche on a Tuesday but ended up serving it on a Wednesday evening. I adjusted my plans, and it worked out just fine. The puffs were made the Thursday before and frozen till that Wednesday.
The pastry cream was made on a Friday before and stuck into the fridge till a few minutes before filling time on Wednesday. Google said pastry cream is good for up to 5 days in the fridge; mine was in six days and came out perfect. I wonder if the extra day helped to enhance the flavor.
The process:
There are three main components to making a croquembouche: Cream puffs, pastry cream, and assembly. The puffs and cream were pretty easy all the times I’ve made this, but assembly was always a bit tricky.
Cream Puffs
For the first two years, I made a croquembouche; I made the puffs gluten-free. This time though, I decided to make them normal to see if they made any difference. They did come out drier and puffier than the past ones, so I think it does make a difference.
I made a basic choux pastry (flour, milk, and eggs) and piped out about 2-inch circles. The first batch of puffs was completely flat, just because I added an extra egg. The second batch was perfect, with four eggs!
Once the puffs were all cooled, I bagged them up and stuffed them into the freezer. When it was time to take them out, I crisped them up in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Pastry Cream
Pastry cream is a kind of custard that is filling for the puffs. It’s light and delectable. I started off by adding some milk, butter, and two vanilla beans to a saucepan. It’s the beans that do the magic here; it makes the cream so flavorful! I also put the whole pod in as the milk mixture boils; I strained them out before adding the eggs.
In a separate bowl, I added just a little bit of milk to the eggs to temper them so that they don’t curdle, whisking it all together and then adding the rest of the milk. Add it back to the pan so it can thicken. Once it’s done thickening, you will have a very smooth, creamy custard.
I let it cool, then stuck it in the fridge.
To store in the fridge, add a layer of plastic wrap touching the custard, then add the cover. The plastic wrap will help the custard not get a layer of skin on top.
Assembly
Here comes the trickiest part! This time around was so much easier. I got the caramel perfect, and so it made assembly so much smoother. I did do a “test” tower with the flat-filling-less cream puffs, and it worked. I stuck it in the fridge and was in there till Friday afternoon.
I made my second batch of caramel in a different pan, and it did not work well. It was the same temperate (340 degrees), but it was crystallizing, and I had to toss it out. I started my 3rd and last batch of caramel, and it came out perfectly again! So, the kind of pan that you use really makes a huge difference!
I arranged about 8 cream puffs to get the right shape. Then dipped each puff on its side into the caramel, placing it on the plate to “glue it.” I also brushed a bit of caramel on the plate to make it extra secure. I built it up to about 6 or 7 rows of puffs. Some did start falling off because there wasn’t enough caramel, but that was an easy fix.
It survived the fridge and did not collapse or become soggy. It also survived transportation! I put it in a box, nice and cozy, and had a friend drive me as it sat in my lap. The tower was not going to go anywhere; it was literally glued to the plate. I probably could have turned it upside down, and it wouldn’t fall… but I did not try that.
In a traditional croquembouche, there are strings and strings of spun sugar surrounding the tower. I wasn’t planning on doing the spun sugar, but it ended up just happening. I was originally going to do a chocolate drizzle.
I used about 35-38 puffs, and it fed around 13 people.
In the end, it was the best croquembouche I’ve made! The flavor was right, the texture was right, and it stood! So, so happy about how it turned out!
Notes:
- Here are the recipes I referenced
- Bon Appétit Recipe (I used this as more of a reference to the other recipes. I found the instructions not so clear).
- Sally’s Baking Addiction for Choux Pastry (I will use this recipe next time, it was perfect!)
- Halicopter Away (I used this for the caramel, and again perfect!)
- If you want to read my other posts here!
- Having a large window of time helps make the process less stressful. I gave myself about 2.5 hours and used about 2. But I also did a lot of the prep work a couple of days before.
- For the puffs, use parchment paper and a cap to trace circles. Flip it over and use that as a guide to how big/small you want your puffs.
Mistakes:
- I should have sorted out the puff sizes; a lot of the bigger ones ended up on the top when they should have been on the bottom.
Things I would do differently and next time:
- This time, I only dipped the side of the puff in the caramel, but next time I want to try and dip the top too.
- I might try a chocolate pastry cream, but the balance of caramel and vanilla are delicious together
If you make this, I’d love to hear how it went!
~Becky 🙂
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