Daring Bakers: Caramel Cream Croquembouche
The Daring Bakers challenge this month roooocked! It combined daring feats of caramelization (in my version), architecture, and cream puffery.
Cat of Little Miss Cupcake chose a croquembouche, a sculpture comprised of cream puffs. I had a ball creating it, and stuffed my puffs with a rich, luscious caramel cream that you should go make and slather on everything you eat.
The caramel glaze was tricky, as I mention in my blog post linked below, but ultimately so tasty. This recipe gives a lot of "bang for your buck" in that it looks fancier to construct than it actually is. Hope you'll give it a shot! Even if you don't end up mounting your puffs, they're delicious all by their lonesome.
Caramel Cream Croquembouche
Recipe by: Adapted from Peter Kump, Nick Malgieri (puffs), and Martha Stewart (caramel cream and glaze)
Yields: a tower of about 51 puffs
Pate a Choux (Puffs) Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups water
9 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/8 teaspoons salt
1.5 tablespoons sugar
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
6 large eggs
Egg wash (1 egg yolk and 1/2 cup heavy cream, lightly beaten)
Caramel Cream Filling Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup water
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of coarse salt
Caramel Glaze Ingredients:*
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
white chocolate bark for decorating (optional)
Directions: Make the caramel cream at least a few hours ahead of time to give it a chance to chill before its final step (I made mine 3 days in advance). Prepare an ice-water bath. Heat sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture boils and sugar dissolves, washing down sides of pan often with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until sugar turns dark amber (about 345 degrees on a candy thermometer), 5 to 7 minutes more. Immediately remove from heat, and carefully whisk in 1/2 cup cream. Return to medium heat, and cook until sugar melts completely and mixture boils.
Remove from heat, and pour into a bowl set in ice-water bath. Let caramel cool, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Stir in creme fraiche, vanilla, and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 5 days.
Just before you are ready to fill the cream puffs, beat remaining 1/2 cup cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into caramel sauce, using a rubber spatula, until incorporated. Whisk to thicken, about 1 minute.
Make the pate a choux. Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.
Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.
Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny. As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes. It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.
Pipe the batter using a pastry bag and a plain tip. Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide. Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top. Brush tops with egg wash while trying not to drip the wash down the puffs onto the pan (which could somewhat inhibit rise).
Bake the choux at 425 degrees F until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool. Can be stored in a airtight box overnight, but I recommend, if you aren't using them right away to create your croquembouche, that you freeze them. When you're ready to use them, bake them at 350 degrees F for 5-6 minutes to refresh and recrisp them. When puffs are cool, use a thin, plain tip to fill them generously with caramel cream.
Prepare the plate your croquembouche will be assembled on with wax paper around the edges to catch excess caramel. Set up your work area: two baking sheets covered in parchment for the caramel-covered puffs to dry on, an ice-water bath to stop the caramel from cooking and for any burnt fingers. Once you're set up, you're ready to begin assembly.
Make the caramel glaze: Prepare an ice-water bath. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, washing down sides of pan often with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Cook, without stirring, until sugar dissolves, 5 to 6 minutes. Raise heat to high, and cook, swirling pan to color evenly, until syrup is amber (about 325 on a candy thermometer), about 5 minutes. Remove caramel from heat, and set bottom of pan in ice-water bath for a few seconds to stop the cooking. Use immediately, working as quickly as possible.*
Assembly: 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 more puffs, forming a connected ring as you work. Repeat with more puffs, layering rings to form a pyramid, using 45 or 50 puffs total. (If the caramel begins to harden, reheat briefly over low heat.)*
*Note: Reheating the caramel did not work so well for me, and even qorking quickly wasn't quickly enough -- and as mentioned above, when the caramel cools, it settles thickly on the puff and can become a brittle hazard. Thus, you may want to make a half batch of the caramel at a time, starting over if your caramel gets cool/thick, so that you can ensure a thin coating on each puff.
To get a play-by-play of why this recipe made me feel like McGyver without the mullet, see more croquembouche photos, or read my imaginary response to snarky Facebook comments, visit my baking blog, Willow Bird Baking!
x-posted to bakebakebake, cooking, food_porn
Cat of Little Miss Cupcake chose a croquembouche, a sculpture comprised of cream puffs. I had a ball creating it, and stuffed my puffs with a rich, luscious caramel cream that you should go make and slather on everything you eat.
The caramel glaze was tricky, as I mention in my blog post linked below, but ultimately so tasty. This recipe gives a lot of "bang for your buck" in that it looks fancier to construct than it actually is. Hope you'll give it a shot! Even if you don't end up mounting your puffs, they're delicious all by their lonesome.
Caramel Cream Croquembouche
Recipe by: Adapted from Peter Kump, Nick Malgieri (puffs), and Martha Stewart (caramel cream and glaze)
Yields: a tower of about 51 puffs
Pate a Choux (Puffs) Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups water
9 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/8 teaspoons salt
1.5 tablespoons sugar
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
6 large eggs
Egg wash (1 egg yolk and 1/2 cup heavy cream, lightly beaten)
Caramel Cream Filling Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup water
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of coarse salt
Caramel Glaze Ingredients:*
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
white chocolate bark for decorating (optional)
Directions: Make the caramel cream at least a few hours ahead of time to give it a chance to chill before its final step (I made mine 3 days in advance). Prepare an ice-water bath. Heat sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture boils and sugar dissolves, washing down sides of pan often with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until sugar turns dark amber (about 345 degrees on a candy thermometer), 5 to 7 minutes more. Immediately remove from heat, and carefully whisk in 1/2 cup cream. Return to medium heat, and cook until sugar melts completely and mixture boils.
Remove from heat, and pour into a bowl set in ice-water bath. Let caramel cool, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Stir in creme fraiche, vanilla, and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 5 days.
Just before you are ready to fill the cream puffs, beat remaining 1/2 cup cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into caramel sauce, using a rubber spatula, until incorporated. Whisk to thicken, about 1 minute.
Make the pate a choux. Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.
Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.
Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny. As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes. It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.
Pipe the batter using a pastry bag and a plain tip. Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide. Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top. Brush tops with egg wash while trying not to drip the wash down the puffs onto the pan (which could somewhat inhibit rise).
Bake the choux at 425 degrees F until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool. Can be stored in a airtight box overnight, but I recommend, if you aren't using them right away to create your croquembouche, that you freeze them. When you're ready to use them, bake them at 350 degrees F for 5-6 minutes to refresh and recrisp them. When puffs are cool, use a thin, plain tip to fill them generously with caramel cream.
Prepare the plate your croquembouche will be assembled on with wax paper around the edges to catch excess caramel. Set up your work area: two baking sheets covered in parchment for the caramel-covered puffs to dry on, an ice-water bath to stop the caramel from cooking and for any burnt fingers. Once you're set up, you're ready to begin assembly.
Make the caramel glaze: Prepare an ice-water bath. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, washing down sides of pan often with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Cook, without stirring, until sugar dissolves, 5 to 6 minutes. Raise heat to high, and cook, swirling pan to color evenly, until syrup is amber (about 325 on a candy thermometer), about 5 minutes. Remove caramel from heat, and set bottom of pan in ice-water bath for a few seconds to stop the cooking. Use immediately, working as quickly as possible.*
Assembly: 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 more puffs, forming a connected ring as you work. Repeat with more puffs, layering rings to form a pyramid, using 45 or 50 puffs total. (If the caramel begins to harden, reheat briefly over low heat.)*
*Note: Reheating the caramel did not work so well for me, and even qorking quickly wasn't quickly enough -- and as mentioned above, when the caramel cools, it settles thickly on the puff and can become a brittle hazard. Thus, you may want to make a half batch of the caramel at a time, starting over if your caramel gets cool/thick, so that you can ensure a thin coating on each puff.
To get a play-by-play of why this recipe made me feel like McGyver without the mullet, see more croquembouche photos, or read my imaginary response to snarky Facebook comments, visit my baking blog, Willow Bird Baking!
x-posted to bakebakebake, cooking, food_porn