So here we go. A croquembouche I made. I definitely didn't master this on my first attempt, it took me 3 solid turns at practising. I couldn't find a way for the profiteroles (choux pastry) to stand up together. After a few failed attempts at trying numerous ways I found the perfect solution which I am going to share with you!
First I started off by using a mould made out of cardboard, stick the profiteroles to that and then remove the mould once the caramel has set. But because I was sticking them to the mould, none of the profiteroles were stuck together.
Here is the attempt. As you can see it is all stuck to the mould, but the profiteroles are not connected. That was my first mistake.
I needed the profiteroles to stand up by themselves. So I did tonnes of research and I attempted another croquembouche, but was still unsuccessful. Thank goodness my brothers are engineers and they suggested to me I didn't need a mould, I just needed to build a sturdy base so that it can support the above weight, like your building a house. This made total sense and I came up with the idea to have a pastry base and build the profiteroles upwards like your building a brick wall.
Here you can see, I cut out a circle pastry disc, about 2.5cm thick, so it has enough base and weight to hold everything down. I then began dipping my profiteroles in the caramel and laying the first ring on profiteroles. This was the first time I had tried this method and it worked like a gem!
I then made my spun sugar which is so much fun, but be careful to not get carried away with it, otherwise you will spend the rest of the day in the kitchen picking the hard caramel off everything.
I couldn't be anymore prouder of myself for accomplishing this dessert. It is not easy and that easily shows when you produce this master piece to people. Indulge in 3 fudgey flavours. Rich Dark Chocolate Fudge, Creamy White Chocolate Fudge and Rich Milk Chocolate Fudge.
As you can see from the photo of how it compares to the size of me. This dessert sure is big.
Lets begin!
Place butter, salt and water in a saucepan and melt gently over medium heat. Once the ingredients have melted, dump all the flour in the pot and mix fast to incorporate the flour with the butter mixture.
Remove from the heat and allow the dough to cool for a couple of minutes. Crack your eggs into a measuring cup. ( This makes it easier to add one egg at a time )
Mix one egg in at a time until well incorporated. Depending on your climate and humidity your dough may require more eggs or less eggs! That is why you need to watch for the consistency not count your eggs.
Keep mixing one egg at a time, checking the consistency after each egg.
You know when the right consistency is reached when the mixture falls off your spoon in a ribbon like the photo below.
Place the mixture in piping bags and pipe out your desired shape. Spritz the eclairs with water ( This allows them to puff up even more )
For the full recipe click out this blog entry,
Recipe:
Choux Pastry:
Stay tuned for recipes each week xx
