Recipe: Traditional French Crouquembouche cake

Croquembouche:

The croquembouche is a traditional French special occasion cake substituted for the wedding cake, Christmas and birthday cakes.

Custard:

1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
pinch salt
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites
5 tablespoons sugar

Heat 1 cup milk with 1/2 cup sugar. In the meantime beat together 3/4 cup milk, 1/2 cup sugar, pinch salt, 2 egg yolks, 2 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon flour in a 4-cup Pyrex pitcher. Add second mixture slowly to the hot milk and sugar.

Cook over low flame until mixture thickens. Cook 2-3 minutes. Fold in meringue made for 2 egg whites and 5 tablespoons sugar. Flavor with 1 teaspoon vanilla. Yield 3 cups.
Chill custard.

Puff Pastry (Pastry Round):

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup ice water
1 1/2 sticks sweet butter

Into a large bowl sift 2 cups flour with 1/2 teaspoon slat. Rub in 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces, until the mixture resembles meal.

Add a scant 1/2 cup ice water and incorporate it into the dough. Work the mixture for a few seconds to combine the ingredients and form the dough into a ball. Dust the ball lightly with flour. With a knife cut a deep cross in the middle of the ball and push each quarter of the dough outward to form a 4-inch square. Pat the dough until it is smooth, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill it..

Let 1 1/2 sticks or 3/4 cup sweet butter soften slightly. Knead the butter, squeezing it through the fingers, and form into a rough square. Remove the wax paper and dust the butter well on all sides with flour.

Wrap it in a clean piece of wax paper and chill it until firm but not hard. On a floured surface roll out the dough to a 7-inch square. Lay the chilled butter diagonally in the center of the square and roll out the 4 visible corners of the dough into 4-inch lengths. Fold each strip of dough over the butter, completely enclosing it, and turn the dough over.

Sprinkle the working surface and the dough with flour and roll the dough out to a rectangle about 10-inches long x 6-inches wide. Brush off any excess flour and fold the top third of the rectangle over the center and the bottom third over the top.

Turn the folded dough on the board so that an open side faces you. With the rolling pin, flatten the dough with uniform impressions. Roll the dough from the center sway from you within 1-inch of the end.

Reserve the strip on the board, flouring the board as necessary, and again roll the dough away from you to make a rectangle about 10-inches long. Do not roll the pin over the ends, or the air and butter will be expelled. Brush off any excess flour from the dough and fold the strip in 3 as before.

This completes 2 "turns". Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill it for 30 minutes. Make 2 more turns, always starting with an open end facing your. Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and chill it for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days. The pasty I given additional turns before using. Bake as directed.

Pate A Choux (Puffs):

1 cup water
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup flour
3 eggs

In a heavy saucepan bring 1 cup water, 1 stick or 1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces, and 1 teaspoon sugar to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and add 1 cup flour all at once.

With a wooden paddle beat the mixture until it leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer. With the mixer at high speed beat in 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

The batter should be just thick enough to hold peaks. If it I too stiff, break another egg into a bowl and add enough of it to bring the batter to the right consistency. Chill batter at least 10 minutes before baking. For uniform puffs pipe from pastry bag. You may drop onto greased cookie sheets with 2 spoons to form shape.

Keep shape high not flat. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes, then 375 degrees for 10 minutes, then 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn oven off, prick puffs, and leave in oven 10 more minutes. Cool thoroughly. Make tiny hole in side of each puff. Now they are ready to be filled with custard.

Caramel Coating:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup water Blend above ingredients together and bring to boil stirring constantly. When syrup begins to change color turn off heat. Now you are ready to assemble the croquembouche.

With tongs pick up one filled puff at a time and dip into caramel, then place on baked pastry round. Cover entire pasty with puffs. Syrup will act as glue. Start second layer 1/2-inch from the edge. Keep turning the pastry so that you can build the pyramid. Optional: If you are patient enough to wait about 2-3 minutes, the glaze will be cooled off enough for you to spin thread around the pastry.

With the tongs, test the syrup. When it starts to become heavy, with the tongs, place a drop of caramel at the bottom side of the pyramid. Gently pull the caramel syrup with the end of the tongs, and you will start spinning threads. Start at the bottom of the pyramid and work your way around. Repeat this procedure. When finished, the croquembouche will be encased in the wispy caramel.
Serves 12.