Croquembouche

Croquembouche Winter 2005 By: Lucy Waverman Choux pastry is an easy pastry to make. It is a cooked mixture that is piped or formed into balls, which are then baked and filled. Traditionally these puffs are filled with custard (recipe follows). We decided to fill the puffs with a chocolate mousse mixture instead, and we love the results. A croquembouche is often served as a wedding cake in France and can be made as a big as you need to serve your guests. Summer, however, is not the time to make this as we served it at our wedding and the humidity caused the caramel to weep and the cake to slide down into a large heap. If you do not want to go to the trouble of making the tower then serve the puffs with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Choux Pastry 1½ cups (375 mL) water 1/3 cup (75 mL) butter Pinch salt ¼ cup (50 mL) granulated sugar 1½ cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour 6 eggs Chocolate Mousse 1½ cups (375 mL) whipping cream 12 oz (375 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped 2 tbsp (25 mL) unsalted butter Caramel ½ cup (125 mL) granulated sugar ¼ cup (50 mL) cold water 2 tbsp (25 mL) corn syrup 1. Preheat oven to 400ºF (200ºC). 2. Bring water, butter, salt and sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and mix in flour at once. Beat together with a wooden spoon until flour is all incorporated. Continue to beat until dough leaves sides of pot and a film has covered the bottom of the pot, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. 3. With a wooden spoon, beat in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated and the mixture is very shiny and soft. 4. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a piping bag fitted with a ½-inch (1-cm) tube, pipe balls 1-inch (2.5-cm) in size. If the balls have little points, wet your finger and press them down. If you do not have a piping bag, use a wet tablespoon and drop mounds onto baking sheets. 5. Bake for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350ºF (180ºC) and bake for 10 minutes longer or until golden. Switch the positions of the baking sheets in the oven halfway through to ensure even baking. Remove from oven and immediately prick the puffs with a skewer to release the steam. Cool on sheets. 6. To make chocolate mousse, bring cream to a boil and then remove from heat. Add bittersweet chocolate. Stir until combined. Stir in butter and chill. When cold, remove from refrigerator, and using electric beaters, whisk mousse until thick. Bring to room temperature before filling puffs. 7. Fit a piping bag with a small tip. Spoon mousse into the bag. Make a hole in side of puff and fill with mousse. Alternatively, slice puffs in half and fill, sandwiching them together again. 8. To make caramel, stir together sugar, water and corn syrup in a small pot. Bring to boil on high heat and boil until syrup is thick and golden, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat immediately. 9. To assemble croquembouche, make a circle of puffs. Using caramel as glue, form another circle on top using one less puff each time. Continue this until all the puffs are used. It should be a free-form pyramid shape. 10. To serve, break apart with 2 spoons. Serve with chocolate sauce or raspberry sauce, if desired. Serves 8 Custard 5 egg yolks ½ cup (125 mL) sugar ¼ cup (50 mL) flour 3 cups (500mL) hot milk 1 envelope gelatine ¼ cup (50 mL) water 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla 1. Beat egg yolks and sugar together until light coloured. Beat in flour. Slowly whisk in the milk. Transfer to a pot and bring mixture to boil, whisking constantly. 2. Stir together gelatine and water in a small pot. Place on medium heat and stir together until gelatine is melted and mixture is clear. Remove from heat immediatley and stir into custard mixture. 3. Stir in vanilla. Cool on counter until mixture is thick but not set, stirring occasionally.