Title: Croquembouche (4)
Categories: Dessert French
Yield: 20 Servings
| PUFFS (PATE A CHOUX |
| 1 1/2 | | Sticks unsalted butter |
| 1 1/2 | c | Water |
| 1/4 | ts | Salt |
| 1 | ts | Sugar |
| 1 1/2 | c | Flour |
| 6 | | Large eggs |
| GLAZE |
| 1 | | Egg beaten with 1 tsp water |
| 1 | | Pastry Cream (Creme Patissie |
| 6 | | Egg yolks |
| 1/2 | c | Sugar |
| 1/2 | c | Sifted flour |
| 2 | c | Milk, scalded |
| 3 | tb | Butter |
| 1 | ts | Vanilla |
| 2 | tb | Cognac |
| 1 | | Pinch salt |
| NOUGAT |
| 2 | c | Sugar |
| 1 | | Juice of 1/2 lemon |
| 1 1/2 | c | Toasted finely ground almond |
| CARAMEL |
| 2 | c | Sugar |
| 2/3 | c | Water |
| 2 | tb | Corn syrup |
Use Pastry Cream (Creme Patissiere) for filling. Preheat oven to 425
degrees. To make the puffs, melt the butter in the water with salt and
sugar over low heat. Remove from heat and beat in flou with a wooden spoon
until completely mixed. Return to heat and stir vigorously for 2 to 3
minutes. Mixture will form a mass, and a film will form on bottom of pan.
Remove from heat and, one by one, add eggs, beating vigorously after each
addition. Using a pastry tube with 1/2-inch opening, form puffs on a
buttered baking sheet. Glaze each puff with the beaten egg and water, using
a pastry brush Smooth the top of each puff. Put in the oven for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and pierce each puff with a sharp knife. (This allows the
steam to escape so that the interior of the puff is not soggy.) Return to
the oven for 10 minutes more. Cool puffs on a rack. While cooling, prepare
pastry cream. To make the cream, beat the egg yolks, gradually adding the
sugar, until mixture is thick and pale yellow. Beat in the flour. Add the
hot milk in dribbles, reserving 1/2 cup for thinning. Return to pot in
which milk was scalded, and stir mixture over high heat until it comes to a
boil. It will become lumpy first and then will smooth out with vigorous
stirring. Be careful not to scorch the bottom of the pot. The cream should
be thick, bu add 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 a 1/4-inch pastry tip. To make nougat,
melt the sugar with the lemon juice in a heavy pot. Do not stir. Boil
together until a thick amber syrup is formed. Stir in the almonds and
spread the mixture on an oiled marble slab while warm. Cut wit a sharp
knife into a round for the base, and into small triangles for decoration.
Keep nougat warm in a 250 degree oven. (It cannot be cut or shaped if it
hardens.) To make the caramel, bring the ingredients to a boil over high
heat. Do no stir. Cover pan (allowing steam to dissolve any crystals that
might form). Uncover pan and boil several more minutes, until syrup is
amber. Reduce heat to keep syrup from hardening. Dip the filled cream
puffs, one by one, into the caramel syrup and arrange on the nougat base,
forming a cone resembling a pyramid. The caramel holds the cream puffs
together. Note: Assemble the croquembouche the day of the party, as it
cannot be refrigerated. However, the cream puffs, pastry cream, and nougat
can be prepared in advance.