[angiecook]

Hello Ishbel

My daughter would also like a croquembouche, but we are wondering how to make it without having to rush around like made things on the morning of the wedding?  How did you daughter manage?  Perhaps she is a professional cook, anyway?  (We're most definitely not!)

Thanks.

 

[flipflopgirl]

Hi @AngieCook welcome to Chef Talk!

Have you tried to make one yet?

It looks intimidating but once you have the components down it is just an assembly line really.

Will this be the only sweet or do you have a dessert table in mind?

mimi

 

[chicagoterry]

I'm not a pastry chef and I helped another non-pastry-chef friend make one a few years ago. As Mimi says, they aren't so much hard to do as they are labor intensive. You need to make a lot of profiteroles, then you have to fill them and stack them. That is all. Except for the caramel. I admit, I left that to my friend. With the caramel, you need to A.) watch it like a hawk so it doesn't burn and B.) be very focused and mindful while spinning it. It burns like a b***tch.

 

[angiecook]

Hello - thanks for your quick comments!  Yes, I made a couple of small ones and didn't find them too difficult, as long as I baked the pastry long enough so that the buns didn't collapse. I tried filling them with cream chantilly first, then with thick custard and both of those seemed to work fine.  however, as I suspected from reading lots of internet wisdom, the caramel softened very quickly. The first one was served within a couple of hours of eating, and that was fine: the second one, I made in the morning and by evening - approximately 10 hours later - all the caramel had melted and the tower had collapsed!  No problem, it still tasted good.

I experimented with a tiny tower stuck together with chocolate - BBC Good Food has a recipe for one with white chocolate and limoncello cream - so am wondering if white chocolate would be a good alternative.  Any suggestions for fillings/decoration?  And yes, there would be other desserts - this would be a centrepiece 'cake' for the bride and groom to cut.

 

[ed buchanan]

 
You are cooking the caramel to the hard crack stage. Cook less and use candy thermometer if you have one

 

[panini]

@AngieCook ,

This is a beautiful display for a wedding. It is also hard to serve. I have done many of them.

If I'm going to serve the profiteroles from the display I prefer chocolate. They come apart much easier. The caramel is supposed to be hard and crunchy. If soft it is a mess.

True Croquembouche is difficult to get apart. Not only that, I would not serve a cream based product after it has sat out for hours.

For the last couple of years I have talked the bride into a display crouq. I also use a cone to build up height. The cones are easily made and covered with plain or colored foil. They are not really seen. I then have a couple of puffs so that they can have a quasi cake cut. The rest I have served either pre-plated from the kitchen with sauce or on display platters.

The display can be made in advance as long as it stays dry and away from refrigeration. The chocolate displays can sit out for as long as you need them.

Just a thought.