Croquembouche

By taniaf

Ingredients

• For puffs:
• Makes 2 small.
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 stick unsalted butter (4 oz)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup flour
• 5 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Caramel Cream (see recipe)
• Caramel (see recipe)

Details

Servings 20

Preparation

Step 1

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 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 with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed to cool slightly, about 1 minute. Add eggs, 1 at a time, with machine running. Transfer dough to a pastry bag with 1/4 inch round tip.
Whisk together yolk and heavy cream. Pipe 1 1/4 inch puffs (the size of a quarter) onto baking sheets. Gently brush with egg wash. Bake until puffs rose and are golden brown, 20 minutes. Let cool on sheets on racks.
Transfer caramel cream to a pastry bag with round 1/4 inch tip. Insert tip of pastry bag into base of each puff, filling with cream. Return to sheets once filled.
Assemble: Dip top half of each filled puff into warm caramel, letting excess drip back into pan. Transfer to parchment lined baking sheet, let stand until set.
Dip bottom half of puff into caramel, transfer, hot side down, onto serving platter. Repeat with 9 more puffs, forming a connected ring. Repeat with more puffs, layering rings to form a 6 layer pyramid, using 40-50 puffs total.
Serve immediately, or let stand at room temp for up to 2 hours.