At French weddings, this magnificent celebration dessert frequently takes the place of a cake. Our version consists of a tower of choux buns filled with hazelnut cream and covered and adhered with crisp golden caramel.
Ingredients
Choux Paste
500 ml water
200 g butter
250 g plain flour
8 eggs
1 pinch of salt
Pastry Cream
10 egg yolks
4 whole eggs
150 g caster sugar
50 g plain flour
4 tbsp cornflour
1 l hazelnut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Caramel
300 ml caster sugar
100 ml water
Step 1
PREHEAT AN OVEN
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Step 2
MAKE THE CHOUX PASTE
500 ml of water, butter, and a dash of salt should be added to a pan and brought to a boil. When the mixture begins to pull away from the pan’s sides, turn off the heat and whisk or beat the plain flour. After transferring to a cool basin, whisk in each egg until well combined and glossy. Consider using a hand mixer for this. To a piping bag, spoon the ingredients.
Step 3
PIPE THE PROFITEROLES
On a baking paper-lined tray, pipe little lumps of the pastry about 2 cm across, leaving space between each one to allow for the profiteroles’ expansion during baking. Once you have 60 profiteroles, continue.
Step 4
BAKE AND COOL
When they have risen, become golden, are crisp on the outside, and are cooked through, bake for 15 to 16 minutes. Let it cool.
Step 5
HAZELNUT CREAM
Bring the milk to a boil in a pan. In a bowl, combine the sugar and vanilla with the egg yolks for the pastry cream. Mix the egg mixture with the flour and cornmeal. While continuously whisking, remove the milk from the heat and pour it over the egg mixture. In contrast to crème anglaise, which can bubble and boil because the flour stabilizes it, add the custard back to the pan and simmer it over low heat until it completely thickens and is not at all watery. Fill a piping bag with the pastry cream after placing it in the refrigerator to cool.
Step 6
FILL THE PROFITEROLES
Each profiterole’s flat bottom should have a small hole drilled into it so that the pastry cream may be piped within.
Step 7
MAKE A CARAMEL
Caster sugar and water should be heated in a pan until the mixture becomes amber. Remove the mixture from the heat before the color gets too dark. Instead of stirring, swill the pan every so often. With caution, carefully using tongs, immerse the rounded side of each profiterole into the caramel.
Step 8
START THE BUILD
One at a time, arrange the profiteroles around the inside rim of a serving plate in a circle until you have a complete ring. Allow the dripping caramel to adhere each profiterole to the plate, and ensure the sugar-coated rounded top is facing out.
Step 9
TOWER IT UP
Use the profiteroles to adhere to the layer beneath and gradually close in to narrow the column. Repeat the process until you have roughly 60 profiteroles, gluing each to the one beneath it. The tower gets smaller at the top as it rises until they meet in the middle. Put the pan back on the heat occasionally to keep the caramel heated. Sprinkle additional sugar over the entire tower, flicking it from a height to form long whisky sugar strands.
Step 10
SERVE
serve as the main course that everyone will eat.
