French Wedding Cake (Croquembuche)
12 servings
180 minutes
Croquembouche is a legendary French wedding cake that embodies the elegance and skill of the pastry chef. Its history dates back to the 17th century when chef Marie-Antoine Carême transformed humble éclairs into a true work of art. Crispy, airy choux pastry balls are filled with delicate cream and then covered in caramel glaze, creating an exquisite crunchy shell. This cake is assembled in a cone shape resembling a lavish pyramid often adorned with caramel threads or berries. The taste of Croquembouche is a harmony of lightness, sweetness, and caramel richness. It symbolizes luxury, celebration, and love, turning every wedding ceremony into a true gastronomic adventure.
1
In 1 cup of water, add 120 grams of butter and bring to a boil in a pot. Reduce the heat and sift in 1.5 cups of flour. Mix vigorously. Remove from heat, cool to 78 degrees, and beat in 5 eggs one by one into the dough.
- Butter: 120 g
- Wheat flour: 1.5 glass
- Chicken egg: 5 piece
2
Preheat the oven to 230 degrees.
3
We either place the éclairs carefully with a teaspoon or, like I did, put them in a pastry gun or bag and squeeze them onto a greased baking sheet (I have a special non-stick baking sheet). We make the éclairs the size of a large walnut.
4
Place in a hot oven, but immediately reduce the heat to 180 degrees. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
5
We take them out and carefully place them on a rack to cool.
6
For the cream, whip chilled condensed milk with cold sour cream. Or make your favorite cream. Here's another option: whip 500 ml of cream (33–35%), add 150 g of brown sugar (either muscovado or black Barbadian, very brown and very moist). Add 1 tablespoon of cocoa.
- Sour cream 42%: 400 g
- Boiled condensed milk: 1 jar
- Cream 35%: 2 tablespoons
7
Using a pastry gun, we fill each éclair with cream.
8
For the caramel, heat 300 grams of brown sugar with 50 grams of water until boiling. The mixture should be slightly stretchy. Do not cool it down, or it will resemble a river cracked after an icebreaker. If the mixture hardens, heat it again.
- Brown soft sugar: 300 g
9
Each eclair is dipped in caramel and stacked in the shape of a cone.
10
We whip powdered sugar with cream. In winter, we pour the cream-sugar mixture. In summer, we decorate with berries and powdered sugar. If skilled, we wrap it with caramel thread.
- Powdered sugar: 125 g
11
You can also decorate each éclair with icing on top, but then don't cover it with snow. For the icing, melt 50 grams of butter over heat. Add 4 tablespoons of brown sugar (demerara is fine), 2 tablespoons of milk, and 2 teaspoons of cocoa. Mix and bring to a boil, keeping it on the heat for 2 minutes. Then decorate the éclairs on top. However, I think this icing is more suitable for the 'Prague' cake.
12
Or just white icing: 1 cup of sugar or powdered sugar, half a cup of starch, 2 small egg whites, 1/3 lemon juice mixed. The mixture should whiten and thicken. Do not make the icing too thick, otherwise it will break — this is the recipe and advice from Elena Molokhovets.