Croquembouche / Piece Montee

JackN688

My sisters birthday is soon and I'd like to make a crouquembouche for the occasion, I've never made one before nor have i made choux pastry, or pastry cream, or caramel
Does anyone have a recipe for it that is easy, easy being the prominent word there :P....

Also could you change the pastry cream to whipped cream and use chocolate...but would it look and taste as impressive???

Thanks

shinikins

Making choux is actually pretty easy-not half as daunting as you may think it is. The secret is to go slow, and when the choux is cooked properly, pierce them to allow the inside to cool, otherwise they go soggy. This recipe is very clear and easy to follow, makes about 30 and you can adjust the quantities. Creme patissierre doesn't strictly have to be used, but you do need a bit of sweetness as choux is pretty bland by itself. Try whipping some sugar or vanilla into the cream, it will make a difference. Chocolate looks pretty good, but you'll never get the lovely light spun thread look that caramel gives. You need to be patient making caramel(I'd recommend you do a trial run first) heat your sugar slowly, and keep a very close eye on it until it changes colour. Dip the end of the pan in cold water and then while its still liquid but before it gets too hard use a teaspoon to drizzle it on the choux.

gerryk

I helped a friend (who is a pastry chef) make one of these before, and it was pretty hard going. You will need a mold to build it on. Make sure you grease the mold well before building or the sugar syrup will stick when it solidifies.
Also, whipped cream will eventually return to its liquid form, so only use if you'll be eating within a couple of hours of making.
Bear in mind that it needs to be kept in a cool, dry environment after making, as warmth will melt your sugar, and being too cold will cause condensation when you bring it to where it will be eaterm and this will dissolve your sugar.

Get a sugar thermometer and learn about how sugar behaves. This is the big hurdle. The choux, creme patissierre and so on is prtty trivial by comparison to getting the sugar right.

Minder

Croquembouche molds are a fortune - make your own using card and tinfoil.

http://www.blackbookcooking.com/how-to-make-a-croquembouche-cone

Acoshla

To be honest wanting an easy croquembouche recipe is a bit of a paradox, especially when you have no experience making any part of it. Maybe try a trial run with making some profiteroles this weekend and see how that goes? It's a very tricky thing to make as a first try, lots of things that can go wrong, soggy pastry, collapse, melting sugar, melting cream, they have to be eaten within a couple of hours of being put together.