Recipes

Christmas Croquembouche

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Christmas Croquembouche

Christmas Croquembouche

amanda

Equipment

  • Silicone Baking Mat - Non-stick, easy to clean, withstand high temperatures; ideal for rolling out dough or chilling pastry bases.

  • Pastry/Baking Rolling Pin - Used for flattening, shaping, and cutting pie crusts, cookies, and pastries.

  • Digital Kitchen Scale - Accurate measuring tools essential for baking to ensure precise ingredient measurements.

  • Pastry Blender - Handheld tool used to incorporate fat into flour until it resembles coarse crumbs; perfect for making pie dough and pastry bases.

  • Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment - Efficiently mixes ingredients, including dough preparation.

  • Pastry Bag - Used for piping cream, buttercream, or filling in pastries like Croquembouche.

  • Parchment Paper Sheets - Non-stick baking paper used to line pans, facilitating easier removal of finished goods without sticking.

  • Dowel Rod (for assembling) - Cylindrical rod supporting the structure of a Croquembouche during assembly and setting.

  • Cake Stand - Used as a display stand for presenting finished desserts, including completed Croquembouche structures.

  • 10. Pastry Brush - For brushing melted butter or sugary syrup on pastries to add flavor and glaze.

  • 11. Spatula - Essential for folding ingredients, transferring doughs, or managing the final assembly of a Croquembouche.

Ingredients

  • 1 recipe pâte à chou

  • About 1 cup pastry cream

  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

  • 1 recipe chocolate sauce

  • s, Red Hots, licorice balls, and silver dragées",

Instructions

1

Instruction 1

Preheat oven to 425°F. and butter and flour 2 baking sheets. Spoon pâte à chou into a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip and pipe about 55 mounds onto baking sheets, each about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, leaving 1 1/2 inches between mounds. With a finger dipped in water gently smooth pointed tip of each mound to round puffs. Bake puffs in upper third of oven 10 minutes, switching position of sheets in oven halfway through baking if necessary. Reduce temperature to 400°F. and bake puffs 20 minutes more, or until puffed and golden. Let puffs stand in turned-off oven 30 minutes. Transfer puffs to racks to cool. With a skewer poke a 1/4-inch hole in bottom of each puff. Puffs may be made 2 days ahead and kept in an airtight container. Recrisp puffs in 400°F. oven 5 minutes and cool before filling.
2

Instruction 2

In bowl of a standing electric mixer beat pastry cream until just smooth and soft enough to fold in heavy cream (do not overbeat). In a chilled bowl with cleaned beaters beat heavy cream until it holds soft peaks. Fold whipped cream into pastry cream. Chill filling, covered, about 1 hour, or until cold.
3

Instruction 3

Transfer filling to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain top and barely fill each puff (do not overfill), putting filled puffs in a shallow baking pan.
4

Instruction 4

Using tape, cover cone with parchment paper. Place cone on turntable if using.
5

Instruction 5

Line a tray with wax paper. Working with 1 cream puff at a time, dip bottom in chocolate sauce, leaving top 1/3 inch uncoated and letting excess drip off, then arrange 1 ring of puffs around base of cone, placing as closely together as possible. Insert toothpick through each puff into cone to attach puff to cone, leaving end of toothpick sticking out (you'll push it in later with thimble).
6

Instruction 6

Attach second ring of puffs above first, again packing tightly and staggering so puffs in second ring are not directly above puffs in first ring. Continue in same manner to dip and attach remaining puffs. Finish covering cone with 1 puff attached to top of cone.
7

Instruction 7

Using thimble, push in toothpicks until not visible.
8

Instruction 8

Decorate by pushing candies and leaves into gaps between doughnut holes.
9

Instruction 9

To serve croquembouche, dismantle, 1 puff at a time.
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