choux pastry heart

[classic croquembouche]

Ingredients

(For The Choux Pastry)

  • 10 TBSP butter
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 TBSP sugar
  • 2½ cups flour
  • 8 eggs

(For The Custard Filling)

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 cups milk
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

(For The Syrup)

  • 3 cups Sugar
  • 2/3 cups water

Method

(Choux Pastry)

  1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
  2. On medium heat, in a large saucepan, add butter, water, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat.
  3. Add flour and and mix together with a wooden spoon to form a soft dough. Put it back on the heat for 1 minute whilst continuously stirring.
  4. Place dough in a bowl and with a hand mixer, on a medium speed, add one egg at a time and mix until combined.
  5. By now your dough should be thick and shiny. Place dough in a piping bag fitted with a round tip and on a lined baking pan, pipe round 4 cm disks.
  6. With some water, remove any peaks and brush each disk with some egg. Bake for 25-30 min,
  7. Remember NOT to open the oven before they're ready, or they will deflate.
  8. Remove from oven and poke a whole at the bottom of each one with a toothpick to remove the steam.

(Custard Filling)

  1. In a medium sized pot, over a medium heat, add sugar, flour and salt.
  2. Add your milk gradually, while stirring until the mixture is thick. Reduce heat and continue to stir for about 2 minutes before removing it from the heat.
  3. In a separate bowl, add mixture to eggs slowly and then return mixture back to the pot. Bring to a gentle boil for about 2 more minutes, while adding the butter and vanilla essence.
  4. Transfer mixture into a shallow bowl and cover with cling wrap, pressing the wrap onto the surface of the custard so that a film doesn't form.
  5. Once cooled, transfer into a piping bag and using the existing hole in the base of the puff, apply a little pressure to the bag and pipe the custard into the puff.
  6. Repeat this for all the puffs.

(Syrup)

  1. Add sugar and water to a medium sized pan and place on a medium heat. Mix through and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes and all the sugar has dissolved.
  2. Dip the sides and front of the filled cream puff in the syrup (BE VERY CAREFUL THE SUGAR IS VERY HOT!!)
  3. Stick them down one by one on a large platter, in a tower like structure (IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE PERFECT). It should mimic a Christmas tree.
  4. Once your tower is complete, spin some sugar around it to create a web like nest on the outside. 

Photos