Croquembouche Puff Christmas Tree Recipes

CROQUEMBOUCHE (PUFF, CHRISTMAS TREE)

Steps:

• To make Puffs:preheat oven 400f.
• Bring water, butter,sugar & salt to a roiling boil in a large saucepan.
• Add flour all at once, stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan clean. Remove from heat.
• Beat in eggs, one at at a time with a wooden spoon until paste is shiny& smooth Drop pastry by well rounded teasp, 1 1/2" apart on 2 ungreased cookie sheets Bake 35 minutes or until puffed and golden.
• Cool on a wire rack.
• Prepare carmelized sugar:.
• Heat sugar & lemon juice in a heavy medium sized skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the sugar is melted and light golden brown.
• Do not let it burn Remove from heat.
• Putting it together:.
• Place 14 puffs in a 9" circle on a platter.
• Fill in the center of the circle with about 5 more puffs.
• Working quickly and carefully dip the bottom of remaining puffs in the carmalized sugar (don't let it touch your skin), one at a time and place each on top of the base puffs in a slightly smaller circle Fill in the center with puffs.
• Continue making each circle smaller to form a tree shape.
• Drizzle the remaining sugar over the tree and decorate with the cherry halves You may refrigerate for 1-2 days.

CROQUEMBOUCHE

Steps:

• For the Cream Filling: Prepare the cream fillings: Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup cold water in a bowl and set aside to bloom.
• Place the milk in a pan. Halve the vanilla beans lengthwise; scrape out the seeds with a paring knife, then add the seeds and pods to the milk. Bring to a simmer, then cover and remove from the heat.
• Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.
• Remove the vanilla pods from the milk. Gradually whisk one-third of the warm milk into the egg mixture.
• Whisk the egg mixture into the remaining milk in the pan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens, 6 minutes. Continue boiling until the mixture is custard-like, 3 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat. Slice the butter into pieces and whisk into the custard, then stir in the gelatin mixture.
• Microwave the chocolate until melted, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring. Mix 2 tablespoons hot water with the espresso. Transfer half of the cream filling to a bowl, then stir in the chocolate and espresso.
• Transfer the remaining cream filling to another bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the chocolate and vanilla creams and refrigerate until cold and firm, at least 2 hours.
• When ready to fill the puffs, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks with a mixer. Fold half into the vanilla cream filling and half into the chocolate filling.
• Transfer each filling to a large pastry bag with a 1/4-inch tip and set aside. (To do this cleanly, cuff the open end of the pastry bag over your hand.)
• For the Pastry Puffs: Unfilled puffs can be frozen for up to a week. To re-crisp, thaw, then brush with a beaten egg; bake 5 minutes at 350 degrees.
• While the fillings chill, make the pastry puffs: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Bring 1 1/2 cups water, the butter, sugar and salt to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to melt the butter.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon to make a paste. Return to the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste is shiny and pulls away from the pan, 6 to 7 minutes. Cool slightly.
• Transfer the paste to a stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment on medium-low speed to cool, 1 minute. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Transfer the dough to a large pastry bag with a 1/2-inch tip. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, dabbing a bit of dough under the corners to keep the paper in place. Pipe 1 1/2-inch balls of dough onto the paper (about 48 total).
• Smooth the dough peaks with a wet finger. Bake until puffed, 15 to 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake until golden, 15 minutes. Turn off the oven; keep the puffs inside 10 minutes to dry out. Pierce each puff with a dry piping tip; transfer to a rack to cool.
• To Assemble: Fill half of the puffs with chocolate cream and half with vanilla: Insert the tip of the pastry bag into the hole and squeeze until full. Chill the filled puffs 30 minutes before assembling the tower.
• Make the caramel: Mix the sugar, corn syrup and 1 cup water in a saucepan, cover and bring to a boil over high heat; don't stir. Uncover and boil, swirling the pan, until the syrup turns deep amber, 20 minutes.
• Immediately dip the bottom of the saucepan in a large bowl of ice water for a few seconds to stop the cooking.
• Transfer the caramel to a liquid measuring cup and cool slightly (it should still be liquid). Be careful-the caramel will still be hot!
• Draw a 7-inch circle on parchment paper. Partially dip each filled puff into the caramel and let the excess drip off. Arrange the puffs around the circle. If the caramel hardens, microwave until soft, 45 seconds.
• Fill the base circle with more puffs for stability, then continue building a conical tower of smaller circles. Top the tower with a single puff. Line your work surface with parchment paper-the next step can be messy.
• Dip the tip of a fork into the caramel and quickly wave it in circles around the tower to create a web of caramel strands. Repeat. Let set, then slide two spatulas under the paper and transfer the croquembouche to a platter. Tear off the excess paper around the base.
• To serve, crack the caramel web with the back of a knife, then dismantle the tower and transfer the cream puffs to plates.

TRIPLE PASTRY CREAM CROQUEMBOUCHE

Steps:

• For the puffs: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• In a large saucepan set over medium-high heat, bring 2 cups water, the butter, sugar and salt to a rolling boil, then immediately remove the pan from the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add the flour all at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring, to cook off some of the moisture, 30 seconds.
• Scrape the mixture into a bowl. Using a hand mixer set on low to medium speed, add 8 of the eggs, one at a time, stopping after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl.
• Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip. Pipe the dough in big dollops onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Whisk the remaining 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the surface of the dough with the egg wash to push down any points. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees F, and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, about 20 minutes more. The puffs should have a crust, but also still be soft. Avoid opening the oven door while the puffs bake. Cool the puffs on the baking sheet.
• For the fillings: In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, cook the milk until it just begins to bubble along the edges. In a bowl, whisk the sugar and yolks until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk until incorporated, being careful to avoid scrambling the eggs. Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the empty saucepan for a later use.
• Pour the pastry cream through a fine mesh strainer back into the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens and comes to a slow boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract. Remove one-third of the pastry cream to a bowl. Then add the chocolate into the larger batch of pastry cream and stir until the chocolate is completely incorporated. Divide the chocolate cream into two bowls, adding the mint to one batch and the orange to the other. Add the melted caramel and cinnamon to the plain pastry cream, stirring to combine. Cover all three creams with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve.
• Use a plain pastry tip to poke a hole in the bottom of each puff. Place each of the pastry creams into a piping bag fitted with a small tip. Separate the puffs into three equal piles and fill each pile with one of the pastry creams.
• For the caramel: Place the sugar, corn syrup and 2/3 cup water in a saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture reaches a deep amber color, the thermometer will read about 350 degrees F. Remove from the heat. Then quickly but carefully, dip the bottom and sides of the puffs in the caramel to start building the tower. Create a large circle of puffs as the base, then a second, slightly smaller circle on top of the first to draw the circle in and create a tower of cream puffs. Repeat for the remaining puffs. Check it from all sides occasionally to make sure it's straight. When the tower is finished, drizzle the remaining caramel all over and then decorate as desired.

MARTHA'S FAMOUS CROQUEMBOUCHE

Steps:

• 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-high 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 fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed to cool slightly, about 1 minute. With machine running, add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip.
• Whisk together yolk and heavy cream. Pipe about one hundred 1-inch puffs (about the size of a quarter) onto each prepared sheet. Gently brush with egg wash. Bake until puffs rise and are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. (Puffs can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.)
• Transfer caramel cream to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip. Insert tip of pastry bag into base of each puff, and fill each. Return to sheets in a single layer as you work.
• Assemble the croquembouche: Dip top half of each filled puff into caramel (be careful not to burn your fingers), letting excess drip back into pan. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Let stand until caramel is set.
• Carefully dip bottom half of 1 puff into caramel, letting excess drip into pan. Transfer puff, hot caramel side down, to a serving platter. Repeat with 9 more puffs, forming a connected ring as you work. Repeat with more puffs, layering rings to form a 6-layer pyramid, using 45 or 50 puffs total. (If the caramel begins to harden, reheat briefly over low heat.)
• Attach sugar cookies to sides and base of croquembouche, using royal icing or caramel as "glue."
• To make a second croquembouche, make another batch of caramel, and repeat with remaining filled puffs. (Alternatively, serve the remaining puffs on the side.) Serve immediately, or let stand at room temperature for up to 2 hours.

MY CHRISTMAS CROQUEMBOUCHE

Steps:

• You will also need the following I could not get this in the ingredients box above:.
• 1 - 8 inch styrofoam cone.
• 1 - plate for presentation I used a charger plate.
• Christmas decorations small.
• I used 2 way tape and taped the bottom of the cone to the charger plate. Started at the bottom of the cone and secured cream puffs to the cone using a toothpick and pushing it all the way in so it is not visible. Continue row by row till you get to the top, keeping them close together so no white shows. I bought a jar of Hershe's chocolate sauce, heated it for a few min in the microwave and poured it on top and drizzled it all around so each little cream puff gets some on it, I made sure the chocolate sauce was not hot, you want it to be pourable but not hot. Then dust with icing sugar and decorate plate with small Xmas decorations. Enjoy, everyone at our Christmas dinner loved it!

MARTHA'S CROQUEMBOUCHE

Steps:

• 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 flour 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, but add milk if too thick to pipe.
• Add the butter, one tablespoon 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 the 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 with 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 not 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, and nougat can be prepared in advance.

HOW TO MAKE A CROQUEMBOUCHE (CREAM PUFF TOWER) RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• In a pot, heat the milk and vanilla bean pod and seeds over medium heat, bringing it to a boil. Once it begins to boil, turn off the heat and let steep for 15 minutes.
• Using a hand mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Add the cornstarch and mix until fully incorporated.
• Remove the vanilla bean pod from the milk. Add ½ cup (120 ml) of the milk to the egg yolk mixture and mix until well combined. Add the remaining milk mixture and beat until fully incorporated.
• Over medium heat, whisk the mixture constantly until thickened, about 7-10 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and add the butter, whisking to combine.
• Strain the custard into a bowl to ensure a creamy custard (optional). Cover the custard with plastic wrap, making sure that the plastic touches the custard, and chill for at least 2 hour.
• Preheat oven to 425˚F (220˚C).
• In a large pot, bring the water, butter, salt, and sugar to a boil over high heat.
• Once the water begins to boil, remove the pot from the heat and immediately add the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the liquid is absorbed and the mixture begins to form a ball.
• Return the pot to the heat and cook for another 30 seconds to remove excess moisture. Remove the pot from the heat.
• Working quickly, add the eggs, one at a time, stirring until fully incorporated. Continue stirring until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and is thick and glossy. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
• Using a piping bag with a standard round tip, fill the bag with the batter.
• Place 1-inch (2 cm) dollops on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spaced at least 1-inch (2 cm) apart.
• Use a wet fingertip to gently press down any points on the puffs. Brush the egg wash over the the puffs.
• Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375˚F (190˚C), and bake for 15 minutes.
• Let puffs cool completely.
• Use the bottom of a wooden skewer to create an opening in the bottom of the cream puff shells, just big enough for a piping tip to insert.
• Fill a piping bag fitting with a small round tip with the custard. Gently fill the puff shells with the custard.
• Add the sugar, corn syrup, and water to a pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and put the lid on, cooking for 5 minutes without moving. Remove the lid and cook for an additional 7-10 minutes, until the caramel is a deep amber color and reaches 300˚F (150˚C).
• Remove the pan from the heat and add the heavy cream, stirring vigorously.
• Working quickly, dip the cream puffs into the caramel and arrange on a serving platter in a circular pattern.
• Continue to stack caramel-dipped cream puffs in a tower shape.
• Once your tower is completed, dip a fork into the caramel sauce and drizzle it around the tower.
• Enjoy!