One of my favorite desserts to make is this wonderful “cake” called a croquembouche. It was created by chef Antoine Carême in the 1700s and is the traditional French wedding cake. This wonderful cake is made from cream-filled puff pastry that are dipped in caramel and stacked into a cone shape. It is then covered in thin threads of caramel and often decorated in various beautiful manners. 

Each guest at the wedding takes 4-5 caramel covered cream puffs to enjoy, which means for 100 guests the tower of a cake would be made up of 500 cream puffs. The name translates to; “crunch in the mouth.” I like to compare it to the satisfying crunch you get from eating crème brulee. 

I remember the first time I made this cake. I was working at Incredibly Delicious. Somebody had requested it as their wedding cake, and Patrick used the opportunity to teach me how to make it. It was a genuine pleasure to create, as I knew all the foundational pieces, it was just a matter of putting it all together. If I remember correctly, they wanted a smaller one for each table to pull apart and enjoy. We covered them in spun sugar and sugar flower accents. 

Later when I went to school, we made some that were towers of sugar reaching four or five feet. I have had a couple of opportunities to make this dessert professionally, each time flavoring the cream puff filling differently and pushing the decorations further and more playfully. But unfortunately, it is still not a commonly used dessert as it is best when freshly made and assembled just a couple of hours before being served. 

Pate a choux

• 210 g water
• 112 g butter
• 5 g sugar
• 2 g salt
• 212 g ap flour
• 250 g eggs

1. Preheat convection oven to 375 degrees.
2. Bring water, butter, sugar, and salt to a boil.
3. Add flour. Use a wooden spoon to stir on medium/high for 3 minutes.
4. Move to mixer with paddle, don’t scrape pan at all. 
5. Beat on speed 1 for 1 minute.
6. Mixer to speed 4. Add one egg. Mix until completely combined.
7. Add each egg one at a time. Scrape thoroughly and often.
8. Use a 1cm piping tip in a pastry bag.
9. Pipe into small rounds, 1-1 ½ inch diameter.
10. Dip your finger in cold water and gently press any points flat. 
11. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. 
12. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 10 minutes longer.
13. DO NOT OPEN OVEN AT ALL UNTIL 25 MINUTES OF COOKING.
14. May need a minute or two longer depending on the size. 
15. Cool uncovered overnight. 

Diplomat cream

• 250 ml whole milk
• 250 ml heavy cream
• 1 t vanilla paste, or extract
• 100g eggs, about 2
• 100 g sugar
• 35 g cornstarch
• Pinch of salt
• 50 g butter
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream

1. Bring milk, cream, and vanilla to a boil.
2. Whisk eggs and sugar together thoroughly. 
3. Whisk in cornstarch and salt to egg and sugar mixture.
4. Slowly temper boiled milk mixture into egg mixture. 
5. Over medium/high heat, whisk constantly until it starts to bubble.
6. Still whisking constantly, cook 1 minute longer.
7. Immediately transfer to a clean bowl. 
8. Whisk in butter until melted.
9. Place over a bowl of ice and whisk until significantly cooled.
10. Whip heavy cream to stiff peaks.
11. Fold into pastry cream.

Assembly

• 2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water

1. Poke a hole in the bottom of the choux.
2. Using a pastry bag, fill the choux with diplomat cream.
3. Combine the sugar and water. Do not stir, maybe swirl a little. If you stir, the sugar will crystallize and not be usable. 
4. Let the sugar boil on high until it starts to turn a very light caramel. Caramel reaches upwards of 320 degrees, be VERY careful. NEVER TASTE HOT CARAMEL. It will burn you severely. 
5. Carefully place the bottom of the pan in some warm water. This will dramatically slow down the caramelization and keep the sugar workable.
6. Place three or four layers of vinyl gloves on your hand, and very carefully dip the tops of the filled choux in the caramel. The gloves are a barrier for the caramel which is not kind to bare skin. If you feel too much heat, quickly pull the gloves off and put a new set on.
7. Place the caramel dipped choux on a cake base or platter.
8. Repeat this and make a circle with the tops facing outward.
9. Then continue making circular layers that get smaller each layer to form a cone. 
10. If your caramel gets too firm in the pan to dip into, place it on low heat to soften. 
11. You might have to make caramel more than once depending on the size of the finished cake.
12. Once the cone is formed, you can carefully drip a little caramel in places that might need a little more crunch or structural support. 
13. Add candies, edible flowers, or any other edible decoration you desire. 
14. Serve immediately. Each guest should start from the top and break off a couple filled choux to place on a plate to enjoy. 
15. This dessert is a little ambitious, but well worth the challenge. Just take your time and be careful when handling the caramel. Never taste hot caramel. Let it cool first. 

About

Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Baking/Pastry, and non-credit cooking and food classes through LLCC Community Education.

Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.