I was thrilled when I saw May’s Daring Bakers challenge: a croquembouche. The name means “crunch in the mouth” — small cream-filled choux pastries, or profiteroles, stacked into a cone and held together with caramel. I had admired them before but never made one myself, and I couldn’t wait to try.
These bite-sized puffs are delicious.
The project combines three components: pâte à choux for the puffs, pastry cream for the filling, and a caramel glaze to assemble the tower. Making the choux dough was surprisingly fun. The unbaked rounds look flat and unimpressive — my husband expected round balls — but once baked they puff up dramatically.
I chose an almond theme and flavored the pastry cream with almond extract. It was so good I had trouble piping it into the puffs without sampling along the way.
Although the croquembouche looks elegant and refined, it wasn’t as intimidating as I expected. The process has several steps, but each one is manageable. My only real difficulty was the caramel: it hardened in the pan before I finished assembling the tower. A short second batch solved that problem and I continued building.
The finished croquembouche was both beautiful and delicious. As satisfying as the assembly was, taking it apart and popping the filled puffs into my mouth was even better — the almond pastry cream combined with a subtle crunch from the caramel made each bite a treat.
The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Participants made a pièce montée, or croquembouche, using recipes adapted from Peter Kump’s Baking School and Nick Malgieri.
Almond Croquembouche
Ingredients
For the pate a choux:
- ¾ cup water
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- Egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten)
For the almond pastry cream:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
For the caramel glaze:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
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To make the pâte à choux, preheat the oven to 425°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
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In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the butter, water and salt to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add the flour and stir until combined. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture pulls away from the pan and leaves a film on the bottom. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
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Add the eggs one at a time, stirring after each. The dough will seem loose and shiny at first, then come together and look drier. Transfer to a pastry bag and pipe one-inch circles onto the prepared sheet. Wet your fingers and smooth any peaks, then brush with egg wash.
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Bake about 10 minutes until well puffed and just beginning to color. Lower the oven to 350°F and bake another 20 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
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For the almond pastry cream, bring 3/4 cup milk and the sugar to a boil over medium heat. In a separate bowl whisk 1/4 cup milk with the cornstarch. In another bowl whisk the whole egg and the yolks, then add the cornstarch mixture.
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When the milk and sugar boil, temper the egg mixture by slowly whisking in a small steady stream of the hot milk. Return the combined mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and almond extract until smooth. Pour into a shallow dish, cover with plastic wrap and chill completely.
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Fill a piping bag with the chilled pastry cream and pipe into the puffs. Using a small tip, pierce the bottom of each puff and fill gently — avoid overfilling to prevent bursting.
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When you’re ready to assemble, make the caramel glaze and have your filled puffs and display dish at hand. Practicing a dry pyramid helps visualize the final arrangement before using hot caramel.
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For the caramel, combine the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and stir until the mixture looks like wet sand. Heat over medium until the sugar turns amber. Avoid stirring; gently swirl the pan for even cooking. Reduce heat if it browns too quickly. When amber, remove from heat and begin assembling immediately.
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Work quickly: dip the bottom of each filled puff into the caramel and place it on your dish, stacking to form the croquembouche. Hold puffs briefly in place until the caramel sets. Once assembled, you can wrap spun sugar or sugar strands around the tower and decorate as you like.