You know, it’s easy to sit in the comfort of your own lounge chair and judge. Most of us are guilty of it, whether we want to admit it or not. Myself included.
There’s been a countless amount of times when I’d exclaimed: “Are you serious? You’re in the top 45 and you’ve never made scones?!” or “What’s so hard about making a bunch of choux pastry puffs and sticking them together with some caramel?”.
Following my own musings on what to make with the Nick Munro designed Royal Selangor jelly mould that didn’t involve 30 days of jelly, a friend suggested rather forcefully, but in a good way, that I make every Masterchef contestants’ nightmare: the croquembouche. She is the same friend who challenged me to making a homemade replica of Peking duck complete with paper thin, wafer crisp skin. It worked then, it will work now, I thought.
Well, the time has come for karma to bite me on the proverbial… Do not despair, I got it right but it was third time lucky for me and the Crunch-in-mouth.
I have been making choux pastry puffs for ages so the pastry was not an issue. Apart from the fact that my first profiteroles came out the size of a small egg, and at best I would be able to fit 3 in the mould. So I got onto the second batch which at just under 1/4 teaspoon of pastry produced perfect round balls smaller than an Australian 5c piece. Perfect, my confidence got a boost.
Only to be shot down by the fact that dipping those tiny fresh cream filled balls in a 140C caramel was not easy. The cream ‘melted’ and by the time I had finished assembling the ‘tower of Masterchef terror’ all the hot caramel had melted together and there was very little point in trying to eat one profiterole. It was all in at once or nothing. With the added risk of a few broken teeth.
Soft caramel didn’t work either, it just became a big soppy mess, so I ate that one too. Mmm… Sorry, I digress. Disappointed, I had decided 2 things: do not judge anything or anyone when you’re not wearing their shoes; and that third time had to be lucky. I had a new plan too, in case luck decided to take the day off. Again.
And then, with this new outlook on life and a plan for a Crunch-in-mouth that would work, I got cooking. The result was awesomely cute and just as delicious!
Giveaway
Don’t forget, each comment on the Royal Selangor Get Your Jelly On challenge posts on my blog (Day 1, Day 2, etc) is your entry to win an Olympus VG-110 camera. Giveaway is open worldwide! Entries close October 30, midnight AEST. Winner will be announced on the blog on October 31.
Makes 1 Corquembouche + extras
The elusive mini Croquembouche with coffee cream and caramel
The recipe will make enough dough and filling for 1 jelly mould croquembouche, 3 eclairs and some extra mini profiteroles. You can use unfilled mini profiteroles instead of croutons in soups too! How good is that? You will also need a 25ml (needle-less) syringe for piping the cream into the mini balls.
For the pastry:
- 20g unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1 egg
For the filling:
- 3/4 cup of fresh (whipping) cream
- 2 tbsp vanilla sugar
- 1 tsp ground coffee
For the caramel for sticking and spun sugar:
- 1/3 cup caster sugar
- (+ 3 tbsp cream for eclair glaze only)
Preheat oven to 220C (425F, gas mark 7).
To make the choux pastry: in a small saucepan bring water and butter to a boil. Add flour and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes away from the sides and forms a ball. This should only take a few seconds.
Transfer dough to a mixing bowl, add egg and beat with an electric mixer until glossy and smooth (I use my Braun stick blender with a whisk attachment for single egg quantity like this).
Mini profiterole balls: Using a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon, form 20 little balls pop them onto a parchment-lined cookie tray about 1 inch apart. You should only need about 12 balls for the Croquembouche.
Bake mini balls first, at 220C (425F, gas mark 7) for 5 minutes, 180C (350F, gas mark 4) for 7 minutes + 3 minutes standing with the oven off and door slightly ajar.
Eclairs: Using a spoon form three 4 inch long logs onto another parchment-lined tray about 2 inches apart.
Bake eclairs second, at 220C (425F, gas mark 7) for 10 minutes, 180C (350F, gas mark 4) for 10 minutes + 5 minutes standing with the oven off and door slightly ajar.
To make the coffee cream filling: beat cream with vanilla sugar and freshly ground coffee until soft peaks form. Spoon into the syringe.
To fill the profiteroles: poke a small hole in each ball and pipe in cream. Repeat with the other balls. Chill filled balls in the fridge.
To fill the eclairs: cut each eclair in half longways horizontally. Divide the remaining cream between eclairs and sandwhich the tops and bottoms. Chill filled eclairs in the fridge.
To make the caramel: place sugar in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until the sugar starts to dissolve, do not stir too much. Let it melt. When melted and lighty golden, remove from heat. (Here’s a good guide to caramel by David Leibovitz if you find yourself in a pickle).
To assemble: place jelly mould upside down in a stury mug. Working quickly, spoon a little of the caramel onto one side of the first profiterole ball and drop it into the cone, caramel side up. Repeat with the rest, ensuring you place the balls in so that the next sticks to the first. Arrange smaller and bigger balls accordingly until you have reached the top of the mould.
Place a plate over the top of the mould, turn over and remove the mould to reveal the cutest little Croquembouche you have ever seen!
To make spun sugar: if the caramel has set, place it over heat for about a mibute to melt. Remove from heat and using a fork, drizzle sugar over the profiterole tower in a circular motion until it starts to set and threads start to form.
Serve with your favourite cuppa or a a good quality latte.
It looks so beautiful, I’m sorry to say that I’m glad you had trouble perfecting it. I am yet to even master choux pastry let alone this (but I’d love to try), and the min version is gorgeous and perfect for any occasion.
Thanks Muppy, and you know what, I’m glad too! It’s a good lesson in patience and perseverance. This Choux pastry has always turned out for me. I’ve been making it for over 10 years!
How very very cute! A mini croquembouche might just be the cutest thing I have seen in a while. You are brave, I have never done profiteroles before!
Thanks Sneh! I have that photo as a background on my computer now… *blush* I’m such a food geek! Profiteroles are one of my favourites! You should give them a go.
PS I was once contracted to make 200 perfect bite sized puffs for an occasion… That’s another story.
Wow that is just so cute!! I love how small you made them to fit the mould. Just awesome!
Thanks kezzas! I adore that picture too… Uber cute!
Now that was a challenge that you appear to have mastered. And no easy feat!! Well done, and I don’t blame you for eating one or two… yummy!
Croquembouche is never easy, qiute few things can go wrong. Make it miniature is real test of skill and patience. Well done!!!
Can I just say, “Holy sh*t!”
(with total admiration, of course)
Hahahahaha! Thanks!
Wow, that’s a lot of effort – you’re certainly going for it! But your end result is glorious – well done!
These look simply amazing! The caramel alone is just mouth watering.
Yay success! I knew you’d make the cutest little croquembouche ever! I may have been a little forceful in my suggestion but that’s just because I know you love a challenge!!
My mouth is watering…..
Can’t wait to see what else you put up this month – the Royal Selangor challenge is such a fun way to support a cause that is very close to my heart. Awesome!
Yay I know! You were the lucky one getting up to the minute photo updates and hearing all about my trials! Thanks for having a sturdy ear that I haven’t been able to talk off!
wow you sure have put some effort into it! that must take you ages to go!
It wasnt too bad, just a tad frustrating as I had to make another batch of everything and I ran out of cream… But there was no turning back!
Simply adorable, can’t wait for tomorrow’s creation. Love the fact you have the pics as your screensaver.
Haha, me too!
thanks Sara.
I am very impressed – this looks great.
Thank you!
I feel like croquembouche is the ultimate “food with a reputation.” Bravo!!!
Does that mean I now have a reputation?
So, so cute! But I bet such a pain-staking effort to make – serious props to you =)
Thank you, it wasn’t too bad actually, just a little hard to work out the way of doing it!
Gorgeous gorgeous croquembouche. Worthy of a display in a patisserie. Love that first photo!
Thank you Sukaina, your comment is very kind. And yes, the first photo is my favourite and as such it currently adornes my desktop!
Such a pretty French dessert, I am ready to take one!
Job well done, Martyna, seriously! No judgement whatsoever – this one is notorious for being hard but you have made it really beautiful. Love the last photo.
Thank you Yasmeen, It was a little hard but a lot of fun too! I love a good challenge so really wanted to make it work!
Well done Martyna. They look perfect!!
This is gorgeous, the dessert is not an easy one to make and yours looks perfect! Congrats!
I like how you can use the leftover mini balls in the soup instead of croutons, genius! And you get the eclairs too…
Well done!!! We would never have thought of doing something like this, Love the combination of coffee and vanilla flavours!
This creation is soooooo original, thumbs up!
Love how those delicate sugar strands seem to envelop the puffs. Brilliant idea Martyna.
Waaa~ Its so so so cute!!
your ideas are so unique!
Thank you thank you!
Love your creativity- and that you persevered (with some tasty carmel in the middle!). Yum!
That’s what it’s all about, especially in this challenge… Not giving up!
A croquembouche sounds simple and basic for sure but I have never made it. I guess its another story when one tries it. Great job is putting it together. Interesting creations so far, looking forward to seeing whats more to come
Here’s to you for attempting it and conquering the croquembouche! Yours looks amazing and the coffee cream is making me drool. YUM!
This recipe took me back to an anniversary dinner I had with my husband many, many years ago. I was impressed then and even more impressed now. This is quite a baking accomplishment in my books!
Thank you and I’m pleased to have conjured up some memories for you through this dish. While normally baked, the jelly moulds are not to be used in the oven, hence the use of water and a saucepan!
[...] creations so far, take a look at all of them here! There’s been polka dot jelly, croquembouche, cheeky jelly, pink guava sorbet, raspberry ginger ale jelly, pea and corn jelly (how cool is [...]
This looks absolutely gorgeous. And coffee cream filling pretty much seals my love and approval all over this. Xx
Completely agree!
This one is a real masterpiece! I loved reading about your adventures while making it. I am not very lucky with puff pastry. The small “choux” are usually ok, but when I wanted to try éclairs it was trickier. (I don’t even comment the caramel. I’m too impressed!)
All of this looks so yummy and so wonderfully presented. I think you have encouraged me to try making some for myself.
that is gorgeous.
Just gorgeous Martyna!
Nice! Love the end product
That is beautiful! Looks so tasty too. You are making me crave sweets. Yum! I am definitely adding this to my recipe box. Awesome job!
What an adorable holiday food this will be. Thanks for sharing this recipe both pretty and tasty. yum!
Thank you Donna Marie, email if you have any questions
Looks yummy!
Uber cutie xD i feel like making one now!
You make it look so easy. If I made this, my husband would think it was store bought. Haha
These are so much fun to make!
This looks lovely.. who needs a massive tower when you can have this one all to yourself. YUM. My cereal is looking very bland now.
Amazing!
Wow, these look so delicious! Love the pretty sugar cage as well.
I’m way too scared to try croquembouche, fortunately it’s satisfying just to say.
We once attempted to make this for a banquet at my old Bible College. Looks amazing!
We are having a croquembouche for our wedding!!! THE FRENCH LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE CAKE!!! Yaaayayayaya I’m so excited!!!
Well done! I know I couldn’t have made it anywhere near as well – it looks deceptively simple but I know it’s not
I have made these once on Christmas. It looked very fancy and everyone admired it, it looked a bit like a Christmas tree
Cute and they look delicious, too!
I love profitteroles and eclaires. The composition is fantastic with all that caramel, it’s so modern! keep up the good work!
That looks too cool to eat!
this pastry always reminds me of “My Lovely Sam Soon”, my most favorite Korean drama. what I love about that scene when croquembouche was presented to the guests of the engagement party was Sam Soon’s fantasy of ‘poisoning’ the guests with black pepper mixed in the pastry, but in reality she was silently crying in the restaurant’s kitchen, which implied though much as it hurts her, she accepted the fact that she made the engagement party ‘cake’ for the man she once loved and though she might have wanted him back, this was one step for her to move on.
I’m following your blog for months now and I admire your dedication to the project. more power to your blog!
That is such a lovely story! Thank you for sharing it
you’re welcome
Absolutely gorgeous!! That is my favourite dessert… Well, along with about 10 others
But spun caramel, creme patissiere, choux – How can you want more in life? And your step by step photography is really wonderful.
Hi Martyna , Your The elusive mini Croquembouche recipe has been selected to be featured in a Recipe Guessing Game. Please share the following link with your friends and fans. To play, go here: http://knapkins.com/guess_games/66?source=blog Congrats again!!