Croquembouche Mountain
“I made it! Did you hear me? I made it!!!” I shouted out loud.
My husband, who was in the study, came down to see what the commotion was about.
“I made it! I climbed the croquembouche mountain.” I declared.
“The croquem-what?” He asked.
“The croquembouche mountain! I finished did my Daring Baker’s challenge. I made my creme patisserie, choux pastry, and caramel glaze all in one day… so tired!” I told him.
“So are you telling me you are the little angel on top of that cake?” he asked.
I hadn’t quite looked at it that way before… but…
“You betcha!” I told him.
That's me!
The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.
Equipment required:
• several baking sheets
• parchment paper
• a whisk
• a pastry brush (for the egg wash)
• a pastry bag and tip (a plain tip or no tip is best for piping the puff pastry; you can use a plain or star tip to fill the puff pastry with the cream)
• a flat surface such as a baking sheet or cake board/stand on which to assemble your piece montée
• some of the items you may want to use to decorate your piece montée include ribbons, Jordan almonds, fresh flowers, sugar cookie cut-outs, chocolates, etc.
Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)
- ¾ cup (175 ml.) water
- 6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
- ¼ Tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt
Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Preparing batter:
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly. Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny. As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes. It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.
Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide. Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top. Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).
Baking:
Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.
Choux Pastry
For the Vanilla Crème Patissiere (Half Batch)
- 1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
- 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
- 1 Tsp. Vanilla
Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat. Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook. Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking. Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.
Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.
Choux pastry and creme patisserie
Hard Caramel Glaze:
- 1 cup (225 g.) sugar
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.
Assembly of your Piece Montée:
You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.
Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up.
Croquembouche
Trissalicious 
Oh I love that little angel on top!! I felt the same way when I finished mine;)
Your “mountain” is indeed very pretty. That angel is queen of all that croquembouche she surveys. 🙂
This is beautiful, Trissa! I would have been screaming too. The little angel on top is fitting I must say for such a creation…
OMG, these were delicious! I cannot even count how many I ate! When I read Trissa’s blog, we all made a beeline for her place…. needless to say the croquembouche was delish! The vanilla flavour was superb – I loved it! Thanks Tris!
Trissa it looks amazing.
Wow that looks amazing! Everytime I see one of these it reminds me of an episode of Martha Stewart where she had Julia Child on and it was painful watching Julia’s Croquembouche come together lopsided and leaning to one side while Martha’s was perfect. Yours looks more like Martha’s than Julia’s:-)
Wow Gorgeous…. That’s the best Croq I’ve seen from the challenge. Bravo! Did you really eat the angel, or save it for another baking challenge? 😛
great job, I would have never attempted such a feat…simply stunning
sweetlife
Yum it looks heavenly Trissa.. (no pun intended!) I love the beautiful glaze. And LOVE that picture of the tray of choux.
It’s gorgeous! Bravo! I love this dessert because it was my wedding cake 🙂
Well done, Trissa! It’s not easy stacking the little puffs together, right! Look easy to me but it ain’t easy at all. Glad that you made it and those pictures just tell us all. Amazing out come. Hope you’re having a wonderful day!
Cheers, Kristy
A mountain of delicious decadence. This looks so nice!
Good work with the challenge 🙂
Dear Trissa : HATS OFF TO YOU! I’d go shout off the rooftops if I were you. What a labor of love!!!
Wish I were there to get a bite of one of those cream puffs 🙂
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
Trissa, so cute, love the way you decorated the cream puffs 🙂
That’s such a cute croquembouche Trissa! The angel and flowers make all the difference. My lower lip was sticking out a little bit recently when I ordered a croquembouche from Zumbo and there was no spun sugar or decorations.
That is very cute. I like your little angel.
It is veautiful ( a contraction of very and beautiful). You are beautiful too….as in the angel, which is a good proxy! I love it
I love it, so pretty! Congrats!
Trissa, that is one beautiful croquembouche..perfection in the way a croquembouche should be. I love the flowers and how it personifies you angelically 🙂
I am so impressed. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at making choux pastry, but a croquembouche??? Wow, stunning, but maybe out of my league a bit.
Awesome job.
*kisses* HH
Amazing job, Trissa on the mountain! Now you should lie down up there and have a little sleep 🙂
That is gorgeous Trissa!!
I am gonna be gone for a couple of weeks so if you miss me… that is why!
That’s a very pretty croquembouche with a cute angel 🙂
You’ve made the little angel-like desserts! It’ a lot of hard work of making the batter, baking and putting them together. I can feel your happiness and achievement.
The glossy syrup shining in your picture is very eye-catching.
Adorable! Love the little angel on top.
Oh Trissa!! That is simply the most adorable croquembouche tower I have seen!! LOVE LOVE the cute angel up top! So like you!!! :)))
What an adorable croquembouche!
And the little angel on top? A fantastic finishing touch. You have done an amazing job. I’ve not had the time for DB the last few month – regretablly – but had already promised my 9 year old niece to make this together in July. She’s been badgering me since seeing it on Master Chef last year.
So after completing this in a day…..hope you managed to get your energy back by munching on your own piece of art?
Absolutely gorgeous … I love it from head to toe Triss! Of course you are the angel on the top, the crowning glory! WOW!!
Good for you, Trissa! And you did the sugar too. I love the flowers and little angel decorating the top!
I made one years ago and had such fun. But have never repeated the experience.
bravo, trissa–it looks practically perfect in every way. for me, the adorable little angel is the pièce de résistance. 🙂
Yum! Do you watch masterchef? Despite the burns the contestants got from hot sticky caramels, I’m still determined to give croquembouche a go! The only problem is that I don’t have a good occasion to make a towering one, like that in the show. Love your idea to make a smaller (cf to Zumbo’s) one, which is more practical for a smaller family.
This must be one of the best croquembouche recipes I’ve come across. I wish I had some of this cake on a night like this!!
Oh Trissa, I have always wanted to participate in Daring Bakers… I registered long time ago but have not taken part. I applaud your effort. I will never be able to do something like this – I am not meticulous and detailed enough to pull this off… evenly remotely. Applause again.
grand and pretty!! Love the little angel avatar of yours and the pretty flowers 😀
aw you are definitely the little angel trissa! your croquembouche looks fabulous!
your crombe-thing- looks great trissa :O)
This is the first time in my life I look at a croquembouche and I smile! Wow! You made it technically perfect and added a touch of whimsy; love it!
Oh – your choux pastry puffs are so perfect!
Congratulations Trissa! Looks great and the little angel is very cute 🙂
How pretty with shiny caramel and the angel on the top. Love your croquembouche!
Yay!! Welcome back! Heehee you are definitely the little angel on top of Mt. Croquembouche, I can’t believe you managed it all one day, awesome job!
I am so glad you made it! I am the lazy one who didn’t attempt the real thing. Took the easy way out. Love the fairy on the top 🙂
This looks so cute! I love the decor 🙂
Your photos are gorgeous–you are definitely the croquembouche angel! I love the sugar flower decorations.
🙂
You certainly did tower over the croquembouche challenge! This is a beautiful assemblage of cream puffs, which I love! And I like that the tower is studded with Spring-like pastel flowers. I’m going to have to try that choux recipe, the puffs look so light and fluffy. Great job!
I am so impressed Tracy. This looks absolutely amazing and so difficult to make. Congrats!
Now all I need is to taste one of those cream puffs please 🙂
Magda
YAY! Congrats on tackling this monster. It looks magnificent Trissa
Oh my, what perfect cream puffs and your Croquembouche is gorgeous! Great job with the challenge!
Oohh well done on climbing this every-so-tasty mountain! It looks very pretty and delicious!
Haha – so cute 🙂
It looks awesome! I am always so inspired by the challenges that the Daring Bakers present… Now I want to make my own croquembouche!
It’s beautiful! The question I have is: would you do it all again?
Your Croquembouche looks great Trissa. I love the little character on the top. It’s a nice touch.
Phew what a feat! And a delicious one at that! I love your decorations Trissa!
Trissa, that is Brilliant! The view from the top of the croquembouche must be fantastic. I’ll trade you a cupcake for a taste of that lovely choux, hehe!
Charming Intro! 🙂 A whole pile of work… and it looks gorgeous – but, HOW DID IT TASTE? And, was it worth it?
(It looks really scrumptious!)
🙂
Valerie
It looks fantastic! Why never again?
Awesome! Just like an edible xmas tree! High 5!
Hi Trish, …you should join the Master Chef contest :)) It surely looks Trissalicious ! Have a pleasant week ahead… :))
Congratulations! Your croquembouche looks spectacular. The choux pastry puffs look so light and airy and yes, I think the angel looks just like you 🙂
YOU ARE A GENIUS! I can’t stop staring at the first photo Trissa! Oh my goodness… you’re my baking idol. This is just so beautiful!
One of the prettiest! And I like caramel especially.
Beautiful Trissa! It’s a hard work to bake and assembly all these croquembouche, but it’s so beautiful! Ca I take one? (love the little angel too…)