This is the epitomé of the classic French wedding cake decorated with spunsugar and decorated with violets. If you can get fresh violets for the base of the cake it looks spectacular. It means crack in the mouth and is a tower of melt in the mouth choux pastry filled with crème pâtissiere and stacked as a pyramid and then elaborately decorated with spun sugar.
Despite the fact that the cake looks intimidating to make, it can be done in stages. However if you have never worked with spun sugar before I would recommend that you have a practice run to play with the sugar. It is more difficult to explain how to do it than it is to do it, but it will be beneficial and cheap to have a practice.
When making choux pastry ensure that all the ingredients are assembled and ready before you start. When the flour is tipped in it has to be done at once. In its raw state it is far too soft to be rolled out, which is why it is always piped. When piping for this recipe make all the balls slightly different make some ½ inch in diameter and grade them up to ¾ of an inch, this will look prettier when you come to stack the cake.
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| Marta Stewart Croquembouche |
Pate Sucrée
This is a rich sweet pastry usually made on a marble surface.
Ingredients:
100g (4oz) flour pinch of salt
50g (2oz) caster sugar
50g (2oz) butter at room temperature
2 egg yolks.
Sift the flour and the salt on to your work surface; make a well in the centre. Add to the well the butter sugar and egg yolks. Work them together with your fingertips until well blended. Knead until smooth. Refrigerate for at least half an hour, but it is will keep overnight.
Pate a Choux
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups Water.
12 Tbs. Unsalted butter.
1/4 Tsp. Salt.
2 Cups All purpose flour.
9 Large eggs.
Crème chantilly
900ml (1 ½ pts) double cream
300ml ( ½ pt) single cream
90ml (6 tablespoons) caster sugar
Caramel
4 Cups White granulated sugar.
1 Cup Water.
Preheat oven to 425° F.
Method
To make the choux buns combine water, butter and salt in a large heavy sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the flour in one motion. Stir vigorously sly as if your life depends on it, until the mixture starts to pull away from the side of the pan. This always happens but you do have to stir for about two minutes.
Reheat for about two minutes and then cool for five minutes. Beat in 8 eggs one at a time and blend well. This recipe will produce 50 to 70 dough balls, depending on the size you make them.
Balls may be piped using a 1/2" plain tip, a tablespoon measure or, I use a 1 1/2 tablespoon ice cream scoop, partially filled. Place balls 1 inch apart to allow for
expansion.
Beat the remaining egg and gently brush all the balls this will give them a lovely caramel color when they are cooked. Place the trays in the oven and bake until puffs are light brown, about 10 minutes. Lower heat to 350° F. and continue to bake until well browned, about 15 minutes.
Remove trays from oven and carefully place puffs on a cooling rack to cool. The cake may be prepared all at once in which case you continue.
If you are going to assemble the cake the next day, store overnight loosely
covered with foil. Put the pastry back in the oven that has been heated to 350°F. oven for about 5 minutes to re-crisp-up.
Or you may freeze the balls for up to a month. If frozen defrost completely and place in pre-heated 350° F. oven for 5 to 10 minutes t o crisp-up.
Crème Chantilly
Whip the cream until it holds its shape and then add the caster sugar.
To assemble the cake:
Roll out the pate sucrée to a nine inch round, prick gently with a fork.
Bake in the oven at 1800C OR 3500F for twenty minutes until it is a light golden brown. Cool and then place on your cake stand. Whilst this can be assembled on a plate it looks spectacular on a cake stand. Fill puffs with pastry cream with a pastry bag fitted with a plain 1/4" tip. Gently poke a hole, in the flat bottom side of each puff. Fill pastry bag with pastry cream. Do not over-fill.
Make the caramel:
Place pan over medium heat, let the sugar warm and begin to dissolve. Allow sugar and water to gently boil until the sugar begins to change color. Brush the inner-sides of the pot with a pastry brush dipped in cold water to prevent any build-up of sugar crystals. As soon as the sugar begins to change
color (This is a hard-crack stage and occurs at 300 to 310°F .) remove from stove and place on a heatproof surface near your counter top.
Dip puffs in the caramel making sure your caramel is soft and liquidy.
If not, gently reheat a bit. Form the base row with 12 to 14 glazed, cooled puffs, sticking them together with dabs of caramel. The caramel will act as glue when it
dries.
Continue the gluing and stacking, working inwards layer-by-layer
(slightly indenting and using fewer puffs at each level) to form a hollow cone shaped affair as pictured.
Dip a small wire whisk or a large fork into the still molten caramel and twirl it quickly about, in the air, over the top and sides of the croquembouche. You should see fine golden, web-like strands of spun sugar settle. It might take a little practice and slightly re-heating the caramel to achieve the proper effect.
Decorate with crystallized and fresh violets.
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