Croquembouche

Ingredients

Preparation

Spoon Gianduia Pastry Cream into a pastry bag fitted with a plain 1/8- to 1/4-inch-wide tip. Push pastry tip into the X-shaped cut in the bottom of 1 cream puff. Squeeze bag to fill the puff as full as possible. Repeat to fill 1/2 the cream puffs. Scoop any extra pastry cream into a bowl, cover, and chill for other uses.

Rinse and dry pastry bag. Spoon Coffee Pastry Cream into bag. Repeat step 1 to fill remaining cream puffs.

Put sugar in a 10- to 12-inch nonstick frying pan over high heat; frequently shake and tilt pan to mix until sugar is melted and amber, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Working quickly (be careful, melted sugar is hot), dip bottoms of cream puffs, 1 at a time, into caramelized sugar and set 10, caramel-sides down and edges touching, in a ring on a flat plate, holding each in place briefly until set. Make a second, slightly smaller, ring of cream puffs on the first. Repeat, with each ring slightly smaller than the last, to form a cone-shaped tower. Attach any extra puffs around base. If caramel gets stringy, reheat until melted.

Place pan with remaining caramel over heat until melted again. Drizzle over croquembouche. Keep croquembouche in freezer until ready to serve.

Use 2 forks to break off cream puffs, 1 at a time; hold in napkins to eat.

This recipe yields 12 servings.

Comments: Up to 2 weeks ahead, bake cream puffs; store airtight at room temperature up to 1 day. Make fillings and fill puffs. Set on baking sheets and freeze; when hard, seal airtight in plastic freezer bags and refreeze. Up to 2 days ahead, assemble croquembouche (no need to thaw puffs) and refreeze (serve frozen).