Mini Croquembouche | French Desserts | Sanjeev Kapoor Khazana

heavy cream

🥗Healthier: Greek yogurt

💰Cheaper: milk + cornstarch

Greek yogurt reduces calories while maintaining creaminess

chocolate

🥗Healthier: carob chips

💰Cheaper: cocoa powder

Cocoa powder is less expensive and still provides chocolate flavor.

Heat a pan and add 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of water; wait until it comes to a boil.

Once boiling, add 70 g of butter and mix until melted.

Remove from heat and add 3/4 cup of refined flour; fold into the mixture.

Return to heat and cook until everything comes together; then transfer to a bowl to cool.

Once cooled, add 2 eggs one at a time while beating with an electric beater until smooth.

Transfer the choux pastry into a piping bag and line a baking tray with a silicone mat.

Pipe small mounds of choux pastry onto the tray; dip a finger in water and press the tips to smooth them.

Place in a preheated oven at 180°C for 10 to 15 minutes until puffed and golden.

While the choux is baking, prepare the pastry cream by separating 2 egg yolks and heating a pan with 75 mL of cream and 50 mL of milk until boiling.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and 3 1/2 tbsp of castor sugar, then scrape in the vanilla beans from a slit vanilla pod.

Add 1 tbsp of refined flour and 1/2 tbsp of corn flour to the egg mixture and whisk well.

Once the cream and milk mixture is boiling, add a splash to the egg mixture while whisking vigorously to prevent cooking the eggs.

Pour the remaining milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and mix well.

Return the mixture to the pan and cook on low flame until it thickens; remove from heat and refrigerate to cool.

Once the choux pastry is baked and cooled, prepare the caramel by heating castor sugar with a little water until caramelized.

Fill the cooled choux with the chilled pastry cream using a piping bag.

Dip each filled choux in the caramel and stack them on a serving plate to form a croquembouche.

Use remaining caramel to create spun sugar for decoration on the croquembouche.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Allergens