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Croquembouche

This dessert, in my opinion, is the  French dessert masterpiece. It is something that I absolutely adore. Although it is made for special occasions like weddings and baptisms in France and Italy, you can make it whenever you want, just have in mind that it is a bit time-consuming.  

Ingredients for the cake:

  • Pate a choux
    • 250 ml water
    • 100 gr butter
    • 5 gr salt
    • 155 gr all-purpose flour
    • 5 eggs
       
    Creme Patissiere
    • 3 egg yolks
    • 650 ml milk
    • 85 gr granulated sugar
    • 70 gr all-purpose flour
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
       
    Caramel
    • 250 gr granulated sugar
    • 100 ml water
       
    Strawberries for decoration 

Instructions:

Start by preparing the choux pastry. In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil the water, butter, salt, and sugar. Remove from heat, and while mixing with a wooden spoon, slowly add the flour. Let the mixture cool a little bit, and add the eggs one by one while mixing (you can use the wooden spoon or an electric mixer). 

Place the mixture into a piping bag with a 1 cm round opening and pipe the choux pastry onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper; carefully pipe small circles 4 cm diameter. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 220 for 15 minutes.

While the puffs are baking, start with the creme patissiere. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk on medium heat and whisk the egg yolks with the sugar. Slowly add the milk to the yolks mixture and whisk. Return the mixture to the milk and sieve the flour. Whisk constantly until the creme thickens on medium heat, making sure that lumps do not form. Strain the creme through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic, pressing directly onto the surface, and chill until cold, at least 2 hours. Spoon it into a piping bag with a star tip and fill in the puff pastries with the creme patisserie. 

Prepare the caramel by placing the sugar in a medium saucepan and add the water over medium heat and bring to a boil. Let the caramel boil until it turns golden brown for about 15-20 minutes, the caramel is ready.

Assemble the croquembouche by dipping the filled puffs into the caramel into a circle. Continue by dipping and gluing the puffs on top of each other. Decorate with strawberries. 

This should look like your masterpiece.   

Bon Appétit