Christmas Croquembouche Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt, and sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring, 30 seconds to evaporate some of the moisture.
• Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer). Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, and working 1 egg at a time, add 6 of the eggs, stopping after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add 1 or 2 more eggs, and mix until incorporated.
• Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe the dough in big kisses onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Whisk 2 eggs with 3 teaspoons of water. Brush the surface of the dough with the egg wash to knock down the points (do not use all the egg wash.) Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375-degrees and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, about 20 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking. Let cool on the baking sheet. The recipe can be made up to this point and frozen in plastic bags. Filling: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the empty saucepan.
• Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and any flavorings if you want to make a different flavor like chocolate or coffee. Let cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. The custard can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Poke a hole with a plain pastry tip in the bottom of each cream puff and pipe it full of the custard.
• Caramel: Dissolve the sugar in a saucepan with the water, making an "X" through the sugar with your finger to allow the water to slowly soak into the sugar. Boil to make a light golden caramel then dip the bottom of the pan in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Dip the sides of the puffs in the caramel and stick them together (approximately 20 cream puffs) in a circle, tops facing out. Make a second row on top of the first but a bit smaller to draw the circle in and create a tower of cream puffs. Check it from all sides occasionally to make sure it's straight. When it's finished, drizzle it with caramel all over. You can also stick on decorative elements with the caramel in the crevices, like candied violets, gold balls, gum paste flowers, sugar covered almonds, etc.

Steps:

• For the Cream Filling: Prepare the cream fillings: Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup cold water in a bowl and set aside to bloom.
• Place the milk in a pan. Halve the vanilla beans lengthwise; scrape out the seeds with a paring knife, then add the seeds and pods to the milk. Bring to a simmer, then cover and remove from the heat.
• Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.
• Remove the vanilla pods from the milk. Gradually whisk one-third of the warm milk into the egg mixture.
• Whisk the egg mixture into the remaining milk in the pan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens, 6 minutes. Continue boiling until the mixture is custard-like, 3 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat. Slice the butter into pieces and whisk into the custard, then stir in the gelatin mixture.
• Microwave the chocolate until melted, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring. Mix 2 tablespoons hot water with the espresso. Transfer half of the cream filling to a bowl, then stir in the chocolate and espresso.
• Transfer the remaining cream filling to another bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the chocolate and vanilla creams and refrigerate until cold and firm, at least 2 hours.
• When ready to fill the puffs, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks with a mixer. Fold half into the vanilla cream filling and half into the chocolate filling.
• Transfer each filling to a large pastry bag with a 1/4-inch tip and set aside. (To do this cleanly, cuff the open end of the pastry bag over your hand.)
• For the Pastry Puffs: Unfilled puffs can be frozen for up to a week. To re-crisp, thaw, then brush with a beaten egg; bake 5 minutes at 350 degrees.
• While the fillings chill, make the pastry puffs: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Bring 1 1/2 cups water, the butter, sugar and salt to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to melt the butter.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon to make a paste. Return to the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste is shiny and pulls away from the pan, 6 to 7 minutes. Cool slightly.
• Transfer the paste to a stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment on medium-low speed to cool, 1 minute. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Transfer the dough to a large pastry bag with a 1/2-inch tip. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, dabbing a bit of dough under the corners to keep the paper in place. Pipe 1 1/2-inch balls of dough onto the paper (about 48 total).
• Smooth the dough peaks with a wet finger. Bake until puffed, 15 to 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake until golden, 15 minutes. Turn off the oven; keep the puffs inside 10 minutes to dry out. Pierce each puff with a dry piping tip; transfer to a rack to cool.
• To Assemble: Fill half of the puffs with chocolate cream and half with vanilla: Insert the tip of the pastry bag into the hole and squeeze until full. Chill the filled puffs 30 minutes before assembling the tower.
• Make the caramel: Mix the sugar, corn syrup and 1 cup water in a saucepan, cover and bring to a boil over high heat; don't stir. Uncover and boil, swirling the pan, until the syrup turns deep amber, 20 minutes.
• Immediately dip the bottom of the saucepan in a large bowl of ice water for a few seconds to stop the cooking.
• Transfer the caramel to a liquid measuring cup and cool slightly (it should still be liquid). Be careful-the caramel will still be hot!
• Draw a 7-inch circle on parchment paper. Partially dip each filled puff into the caramel and let the excess drip off. Arrange the puffs around the circle. If the caramel hardens, microwave until soft, 45 seconds.
• Fill the base circle with more puffs for stability, then continue building a conical tower of smaller circles. Top the tower with a single puff. Line your work surface with parchment paper-the next step can be messy.
• Dip the tip of a fork into the caramel and quickly wave it in circles around the tower to create a web of caramel strands. Repeat. Let set, then slide two spatulas under the paper and transfer the croquembouche to a platter. Tear off the excess paper around the base.
• To serve, crack the caramel web with the back of a knife, then dismantle the tower and transfer the cream puffs to plates.

Steps:

• You will also need the following I could not get this in the ingredients box above:.
• 1 - 8 inch styrofoam cone.
• 1 - plate for presentation I used a charger plate.
• Christmas decorations small.
• I used 2 way tape and taped the bottom of the cone to the charger plate. Started at the bottom of the cone and secured cream puffs to the cone using a toothpick and pushing it all the way in so it is not visible. Continue row by row till you get to the top, keeping them close together so no white shows. I bought a jar of Hershe's chocolate sauce, heated it for a few min in the microwave and poured it on top and drizzled it all around so each little cream puff gets some on it, I made sure the chocolate sauce was not hot, you want it to be pourable but not hot. Then dust with icing sugar and decorate plate with small Xmas decorations. Enjoy, everyone at our Christmas dinner loved it!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Make the puffs: Bring milk, water, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat, and whisk in flour. Return to heat, and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from sides of pan, about 4 minutes. Transfer to the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed to cool slightly, about 1 minute. With machine running, add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip.
• Whisk together yolk and heavy cream. Pipe about one hundred 1-inch puffs (about the size of a quarter) onto each prepared sheet. Gently brush with egg wash. Bake until puffs rise and are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. (Puffs can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.)
• Transfer caramel cream to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip. Insert tip of pastry bag into base of each puff, and fill each. Return to sheets in a single layer as you work.
• Assemble the croquembouche: Dip top half of each filled puff into caramel (be careful not to burn your fingers), letting excess drip back into pan. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Let stand until caramel is set.
• Carefully dip bottom half of 1 puff into caramel, letting excess drip into pan. Transfer puff, hot caramel side down, to a serving platter. Repeat with 9 more puffs, forming a connected ring as you work. Repeat with more puffs, layering rings to form a 6-layer pyramid, using 45 or 50 puffs total. (If the caramel begins to harden, reheat briefly over low heat.)
• Attach sugar cookies to sides and base of croquembouche, using royal icing or caramel as "glue."
• To make a second croquembouche, make another batch of caramel, and repeat with remaining filled puffs. (Alternatively, serve the remaining puffs on the side.) Serve immediately, or let stand at room temperature for up to 2 hours.

Steps:

• In a pot, heat the milk and vanilla bean pod and seeds over medium heat, bringing it to a boil. Once it begins to boil, turn off the heat and let steep for 15 minutes.
• Using a hand mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Add the cornstarch and mix until fully incorporated.
• Remove the vanilla bean pod from the milk. Add ½ cup (120 ml) of the milk to the egg yolk mixture and mix until well combined. Add the remaining milk mixture and beat until fully incorporated.
• Over medium heat, whisk the mixture constantly until thickened, about 7-10 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and add the butter, whisking to combine.
• Strain the custard into a bowl to ensure a creamy custard (optional). Cover the custard with plastic wrap, making sure that the plastic touches the custard, and chill for at least 2 hour.
• Preheat oven to 425˚F (220˚C).
• In a large pot, bring the water, butter, salt, and sugar to a boil over high heat.
• Once the water begins to boil, remove the pot from the heat and immediately add the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the liquid is absorbed and the mixture begins to form a ball.
• Return the pot to the heat and cook for another 30 seconds to remove excess moisture. Remove the pot from the heat.
• Working quickly, add the eggs, one at a time, stirring until fully incorporated. Continue stirring until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and is thick and glossy. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
• Using a piping bag with a standard round tip, fill the bag with the batter.
• Place 1-inch (2 cm) dollops on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spaced at least 1-inch (2 cm) apart.
• Use a wet fingertip to gently press down any points on the puffs. Brush the egg wash over the the puffs.
• Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375˚F (190˚C), and bake for 15 minutes.
• Let puffs cool completely.
• Use the bottom of a wooden skewer to create an opening in the bottom of the cream puff shells, just big enough for a piping tip to insert.
• Fill a piping bag fitting with a small round tip with the custard. Gently fill the puff shells with the custard.
• Add the sugar, corn syrup, and water to a pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and put the lid on, cooking for 5 minutes without moving. Remove the lid and cook for an additional 7-10 minutes, until the caramel is a deep amber color and reaches 300˚F (150˚C).
• Remove the pan from the heat and add the heavy cream, stirring vigorously.
• Working quickly, dip the cream puffs into the caramel and arrange on a serving platter in a circular pattern.
• Continue to stack caramel-dipped cream puffs in a tower shape.
• Once your tower is completed, dip a fork into the caramel sauce and drizzle it around the tower.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Three days ahead (or 1 month and freeze): preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan oven 180C. Lightly butter 3 large baking sheets. Sift the flour onto a large square of greaseproof paper. Put the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan with 450ml/3⁄4pint water and gently heat until the butter has melted. Bring to the boil then immediately tip in the flour, all in one go. Beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a ball that comes away from the sides of the pan. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.
• Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, beating well between each addition, until the mixture is glossy and only just holding its shape. You may not need to add all the beaten egg. Spoon and pack half the mixture into a large polythene freezer bag. Twist the opening to secure and snip off a 1cm tip from the corner (or use a piping bag and 1cm plain nozzle).
• Pipe small rounds, about 2cm in diameter, on to the baking sheets, trimming the paste from the bag with a knife. Leave room between them to allow for spreading. You should end up with about 75 rounds. Bake for 25 minutes, in batches if necessary depending on how many baking sheets you have, until well risen and golden, rotating the baking sheets half way through cooking. As soon as the pastry is cooked, make a 1cm slit on the side of each bun to let the steam escape. (This stops them turning soggy as they cool). Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes to dry them out, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container (or freeze).
• Make the cone. Make a pencil mark halfway along a long edge of the A1 card. Mark the halfway position along both short edges and draw a line from each point to the mark on the long edge. Attach one end of the string to the pencil and holding the other end at the point on the long edge, draw a curve from the point on one short side to the point on the opposite side. Cut out the card shape and use as a template to cut out the same shape in foil. Tape the foil over the card and roll up (foil inside), overlapping the straight edges to make a cone shape with a 20cm diameter opening. Secure with tape and snip 10cm off the point of the cone.
• Two days ahead: make the limoncello cream. Beat the egg yolks, sugar, flour, lemon zest and juice in a bowl to make a smooth paste. Bring the milk to the boil in a large, heavy-based saucepan. As soon as it reaches the boil, pour it over the egg mixture, stirring well. Return to the saucepan and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until the sauce is very thick and bubbling. Stir in the liqueur and transfer to a bowl. Cover the surface with a circle of greaseproof paper to prevent a skin forming and leave to cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• The day before: if the buns are a bit soft when you take them out of the container, lay them in a single layer on baking sheets and re-crisp in a moderate oven for 5 minutes. Fill them sparingly with the limoncello cream by piping as before. You can always pipe in a little extra if you have any mixture leftover.
• Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt over a bowl of gently simmering water. (Or melt in the microwave on Medium for 2-3 minutes.) Give the chocolate an occasional stir until it has just melted. Turn off the heat.
• Rest the cone inside a vase or jug for support. Put a small bun into the point of the cone with the bun's base face up. Spoon 1 tsp of melted chocolate onto the base and secure two small buns over the first, again with base up. Spoon over another teaspoon of chocolate. It's a little difficult working at the tip of the cone but it gets much easier as the cone gets wider.
• Work up the cone, packing in the buns quite firmly, drizzling the chocolate (see left) and working in horizontal layers until the cone is filled. Make sure that each bun is firmly secured in place with chocolate before proceeding to the next layer and make sure the last layer forms a flat base for the cake. Keep the filled cone in the coolest place overnight.
• On the day: carefully invert the cone on to a flat serving plate and lift away the cone. Gently peel away the foil if it hasn't come away already. Put the remaining 100g/4oz sugar in a small heavy-based saucepan with 5 tbsp water. Heat very gently, stirring slowly until it has dissolved to make a smooth syrup. Take care not to splash the syrup up the sides of the pan or it may crystallise and solidify.
• Bring the syrup to the boil and cook for 4-6 minutes, watching closely until it turns a rich golden colour. Take off the heat and dip the base of the pan in cold water to prevent further cooking. Stand back as the pan will splutter noisily. Carefully dip the ends of the sugared almonds and roses in caramel and secure around the cake, scattering a few on the plate.
• Using a teaspoon, drizzle more caramel around the buns so that it falls in fine threads. If the caramel hardens before you've finished decorating, gently reheat it, taking care not to burn it. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar. To serve the cake, it is easiest if you have one server to break pieces off for the guests, starting from the top and working down.

Steps:

• To make Puffs:preheat oven 400f.
• Bring water, butter,sugar & salt to a roiling boil in a large saucepan.
• Add flour all at once, stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan clean. Remove from heat.
• Beat in eggs, one at at a time with a wooden spoon until paste is shiny& smooth Drop pastry by well rounded teasp, 1 1/2" apart on 2 ungreased cookie sheets Bake 35 minutes or until puffed and golden.
• Cool on a wire rack.
• Prepare carmelized sugar:.
• Heat sugar & lemon juice in a heavy medium sized skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the sugar is melted and light golden brown.
• Do not let it burn Remove from heat.
• Putting it together:.
• Place 14 puffs in a 9" circle on a platter.
• Fill in the center of the circle with about 5 more puffs.
• Working quickly and carefully dip the bottom of remaining puffs in the carmalized sugar (don't let it touch your skin), one at a time and place each on top of the base puffs in a slightly smaller circle Fill in the center with puffs.
• Continue making each circle smaller to form a tree shape.
• Drizzle the remaining sugar over the tree and decorate with the cherry halves You may refrigerate for 1-2 days.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. To make the puffs, melt the butter in the water with salt and sugar over low heat. Remove from heat and beat in flour with a wooden spoon until completely mixed. Return to heat and stir vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes. Mixture will form a mass, and a film will form on bottom of pan. Remove from heat and, one by one, add eggs, beating vigorously after each addition.
• Using a pastry tube with 1/2-inch opening, form puffs on a buttered baking sheet. Glaze each puff with the beaten egg and water, using a pastry brush. Smooth the top of each puff. Put in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and pierce each puff with a sharp knife (This allows the steam to escape so that the interior of the puff is not soggy). Return to the oven for 10 minutes more. Cool puffs on a rack. While cooling, prepare pastry cream.
• To make the cream, beat the egg yolks, gradually adding the sugar, until mixture is thick and pale yellow. Beat in the flour. Add the hot milk in dribbles, reserving 1/2 cup for thinning. Return to pot in which milk was scalded, and stir mixture over high heat until it comes to a boil. It will become lumpy first and then will smooth out with vigorous stirring. Be careful not to scorch the bottom of the pot. The cream should be thick, but add milk if too thick to pipe.
• Add the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Flavor with vanilla, cognac, and salt. Cool completely. Inject the pastry cream into the puffs with a 1/4-inch pastry tip.
• To make the nougat, melt the sugar with the lemon juice in a heavy pot. Do not stir. Boil together until a thick amber syrup is formed. Stir in the almonds and spread the mixture on an oiled marble slab while warm. Cut with a sharp knife into a round for the base, and into small triangles for decoration, Keep nougat warm in a 250 degree oven. (It cannot be cut or shaped if it hardens.)
• To make the caramel, bring the ingredients to a boil over high heat. Do not stir. Cover pan (allowing steam to dissolve any crystals that might form). Uncover pan and boil several more minutes, until syrup is amber. Reduce heat to keep syrup from hardening.
• Dip the filled cream puffs, one by one, into the caramel syrup and arrange on the nougat base, forming a cone resembling a pyramid. The caramel holds the cream puffs together.Note: Assemble the croquembouche the day of the party, as it cannot be refrigerated. However, the cream puffs, pastry, and nougat can be prepared in advance.

Steps:

• Make cream puffs
• 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.
• Make filling
• 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.
• Fill cream puffs
• 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.
• Assemble croquembouche
• Using tape, cover cone with parchment paper. Place cone on turntable if using.
• 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).
• 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.
• Using thimble, push in toothpicks until not visible.
• Decorate by pushing candies and leaves into gaps between doughnut holes.
• To serve croquembouche, dismantle, 1 puff at a time.