Croquembouche is a traditional French dessert that consists of cream puffs that are dipped in caramel and then stacked into a cone shape.
GLAZE:1 ea egg beaten with 1 tsp water2 cmilk, scalded1 ea Pastry Cream (Creme Patissie3 tb butter6 ea egg yolks1 ts vanilla1/2 csugar2 tb cognac1/2 csifted flour1 ea Pinch saltNOUGAT:2 csugar1 1/2 ctoasted finely ground almond1 ea Juice of 1/2 lemonCARAMEL:2 csugar2 tb corn syrup2/3 cwater Use Pastry Cream (Creme Patissiere) for filling.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
To make the puffs, melt the butter in thewater with salt and sugar over low heat.
Remove from heat and beat in flouwith a wooden spoon until completely mixed.
Return to heat and stirvigorously for 2 to 3 minutes.
Mixture will form a mass, and a film willform on bottom of pan.
Remove from heat and, one by one, add eggs, beatingvigorously after each addition.
Using a pastry tube with 1/2-inch opening, form puffs on a buttered bakingsheet.
Glaze each puff with the beaten egg and water, using a pastry brushSmooth the top of each puff.
Put in the oven for 20 minutes.
Remove fromoven and pierce each puff with a sharp knife.
(This allows the steam toescape so that the interior of the puff is not soggy.
)Return to the ovenfor 10 minutes more.
Cool puffs on a rack.
While cooling, prepare pastrycream.
To make the cream, beat the egg yolks, gradually adding the sugar, untilmixture is thick and pale yellow.
Beat in the flour.
Add the hot milk indribbles, reserving 1/2 cup for thinning.
Return to pot in which milk wasscalded, and stir mixture over high heat until it comes to a boil.
It willbecome lumpy first and then will smooth out with vigorous stirring.
Becareful not to scorch the bottom of the pot.
The cream should be thick, buadd milk if too thick to pipe.
Add the butter, 1 Tbsp at a time.
Flavor with vanilla, cognac and salt.
Cool completely.
Inject the pastry cream into the puffs with a1/4-inch pastry tip.
To make nougat, melt the sugar with the lemon juice in a heavy pot.
Do notstir.
Boil together until a thick amber syrup is formed.
Stir in thealmonds and spread the mixture on an oiled marble slab while warm.
Cut wita sharp knife into a round for the base, and into small triangles fordecoration.
Keep nougat warm in a 250 degree oven.
(It cannot be cut orshaped if it hardens.
)To make the caramel, bring the ingredients to a boil over high heat.
Do nostir.
Cover pan (allowing steam to dissolve any crystals that might form).
Uncover pan and boil several more minutes, until syrup is amber.
Reduceheat to keep syrup from hardening.
Dip the filled cream puffs, one by one, into the caramel syrup and arrangeon the nougat base, forming a cone resembling a pyramid.
The caramel holdsthe cream puffs together.
Note:Assemble the croquembouche the day of theparty, as it cannot be refrigerated.
However, the cream puffs, pastrycream, and nougat can be prepared in advance.