Ingredients

Method

Follow the Paté Choux recipe and make enough dough to make 90 small choux buns.

Vanilla Pastry Cream

In a medium sized mixing bowl add the yolks, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla extract and whisk together. In a small saucepan place the milk and sugar and heat over medium-high heat just until tiny bubbles begin to form around the edges.

Whisking constantly, very slowly pour the milk into the egg mixture (Keep whisking ) making sure not to scramble the mixture. Return the liquid to the pan and continue to whisk over medium-high heat until the pastry cream starts to bubble and thicken. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.

Sieve into a bowl and cover the surface with clingfilm directly on the custard so as not to form a skin and place in the fridge to cool completely for 2 hours.

Remove from the fridge and beat with a spatula and when smooth place in a piping bag with a 1/3 piping tip. Insert the tip of the piping bag filled with pastry cream into the hole on the base of the choux bun and squeeze until it feels heavy. Repeat with all the buns.

Assembling the Mould

If you have a Croquembouche mould then this is the time to use it. If you do not, you can make one. Take a large sheet of poster / card board and roll it into a cone. The cone should be 18 inches high with a 6-inch base. Cut off any excess at the bottom so it stands up like a party hat.

Cover the cone with parchment paper and tape it to secure it. Place 2 pieces of parchment paper over your serving dish, spray it with baking spray and place your cone in the middle on the plate where the 2 sheets join so you can easily pull them away when finished and your serving plate is clean.

Make the Caramel

In a small saucepan, place the sugar and water, stir and wash down any sugar crystals stuck on the sides of the pot with a pastry brush. Cook over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the caramel is light golden brown in colour. Do not stir the mixture as this can cause the sugar to crystalize..

Very carefully dip a bun in the caramel and starting from the bottom stick the bun to the cone and continue doing this around the bottom of the cone, one next to the other. You can put a little caramel on one side of the bun if it helps to stick it to the next one. Continue moving up the cone in rows until the cone is completely covered.

If the caramel becomes too thick just warm it again on a medium to low heat to melt it back to the correct consistency.

Once the tower is completely covered, let the caramel in the pan cool slightly until threads form when you lift a fork up from it. Dip the fork in the caramel and quickly swirl around the croquembouche, creating a web of caramel strands. Repeat as much or as little as you like. Let cool until the caramel is set.

Carefully remove the parchment paper from the base and serve immediately.