Croquembouche is a French dessert made by stacking cream puffs with caramel or cotton candy glaze. It is a traditional French wedding cake and part of a family of desserts known as pièces montées. Building a croquembouche takes several days and the final result is decorated with candy cane glaze and candied almonds. Eating it can be a challenge for guests.
Croquembouche is a French dessert made by stacking cream puffs into a conical shape and cementing them together with a caramel or cotton candy mixture. The dessert is typically decorated with an outer layer of cotton candy, chocolate, sugary nuts, or other ingredients, and is designed to be displayed as the centerpiece of a table. This dessert has been used in French weddings and celebrations for centuries and is served outside of France to add a French touch to an evening’s events.
Croquembouche has a long history. It appears to have been invented by French pastry chef Antoine Careme in the late 1700s, when it became very popular as a wedding cake. Many of the individual components such as the cream puffs date back to the 1500s, demonstrating the long history of fine desserts in France.
This pastry concoction is part of a family of desserts known as pièces montées or “whipped pieces.” A pièce montée is a dessert that is carefully constructed from an assortment of components and designed to look as ornate and festive as possible. These desserts are often so elaborate that people are reluctant to eat them, and in some cases, a pièce montée may actually be specifically designed to be ornamental, including inedible ingredients such as wax or cardboard to support the structure.
Building a croquembouche takes several days. First, the baker has to make profiteroles, also known as cream puffs, with custard-filled choux pastry. Next, you need to make a caramel or cotton candy glaze. Several hours before the croquembouche is served, the cook carefully stacks the cream puffs, using cotton candy or caramel as a mortar to glue them together, and then the outside of the croquembouche is to be decorated.
The traditional decoration for a croquembouche is a candy cane glaze sprinkled with candied almonds. Some bakers sprinkle chocolate on the croquette or add more exotic ingredients like candied flowers. The top of the croquembouche can be adorned with ribbons and other ornaments. The final result is very crunchy, which explains the name: “croquembouche” means “cracks in the mouth”.
One of the biggest challenges with a croquembouche for guests unfamiliar with this food is eating it successfully. Historically, the croquembouche was opened with a heavy knife or sword and guests scooped profiteroles. In the modern era, guests may simply be encouraged to separate the croquembouche, napkins in hand to deal with shards of glaze and crumbs from the profiteroles.
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