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I have always admired a croquembouche for its structure, beauty and ease of eating. I have been wanting to try it for a long time and I finally had the perfect opportunity to stretch myself and make it for my best friend's 21st birthday.
I did a lot of research on different methods and recipes and finally asked my aunt for her choux pastry and it was perfect! (She makes killer eclairs) I spent about 3 days completing the recipe, about 3 hours each day. I decided to bake the choux pastry on the coolest day of the week so that heat wouldn't affect the puffing up of the choux pastry. After I baked them, I put them in a bag and froze them tilI I needed to assemble the croquembouche.
I made the custard the day before the party and kept it in the fridge covered with cling wrap till I was ready to assemble and I made the caramel right before assembly.
The croquembouche was devoured over a couple hours by all the party guests. We left it out for people to walk past and just grab as they wanted...and they came back for seconds and thirds... They are definately quite moreish!
When making a croquembouche, I do suggest making enough for each guest to have at least 3 or 4.
So I tripled the recipe and ended up with 150 pastries.
So the recipe for the choux pastry will make about 50 small pastries, but the custard and caramel makes for 150.
Choux Pastry
Ingredients
125ml of Oil
1 cup flour
1 cup boiling water
4 large eggs
1 egg for egg wash
What I did:
325ml of oil
3 cups flour
3 cups boiling water
12 large eggs
2 eggs of egg wash
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°
Place oil and boiling water into a pot and bring to a boil.
Using a wooden spoon, add flour into the mix all at once and stir until it's a tight ball.
Take off heat and leave to cool.
Put into a mixer and mix one egg in at a time until it's glossy.
Place into a piping bag with a normal circular nozzle.
Grease a flat baking tray and pipe each choux pastry. Start out wider and then pipe up into a cone shape.
Wet the tip of your finger with water to flatten the tip.
Egg wash each one.
Bake for 10min at 220°
Then turn heat down and bake for 20min at 190°. It's important not to open the oven in this time AT ALL until the time is up.
Custard
Ingredients
6 cups of milk
2 vanilla beans or vanilla paste
18 egg yolks
2 1/4 cups of castor sugar
3/4 cup corn starch
3 tbsp butter
Method
Add milk and vanilla beans to a pot and bring to a boil. Don't forget to mix constantly so the milk doesn't burn.
Take the pot off the heat and leave to cool for 15min and then remove the vanilla beans. You can pour into a jug to cool as you need to use the milk in two batches.
In another bowl beat the 18 egg yolks and castor sugar until a pale yellow colour.
Add the corn starch and beat until combined.
Mix in half of the milk into the batter first and then add the rest of milk
Return the pot to the stove with the batter and on a medium heat whisk for 7-10min until the mixture begins to thicken.
Add butter in small blocks and mix in.
Place in a bowl and lay cling wrap onto the surface of the mixture to prevent a skin forming.
Place in fridge for at least 2 hours. (I left it in over night)
Caramel
Ingredients
2 cups of brown sugar
2 tbsp of butter
splash of cream
Method
Melt sugar in a pan, mix to ensure it doesn't burn.
Once all the sugar is dissolved, add in the butter slowly.
Splash in cream and mix.
Take off heat.
Assembly
Place custard in a piping bag with a long nozzle.
Make a hole in the bottom of each pastry, big enough to fit the nozzle.
Fill each one with custard and dip the top in caramel.
Place on a plate or cake tier starting with a big circle and slowly layering up into a cone shape.
Drizzle the left over caramel over the croquembouche.
Store in fridge until ready to eat. (I left it in the fridge for about 6 hours).
and remember to love yourself first,
Love Amber
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