This Classic Croquembouche – Cream Puff Tower is a masterpiece of a French pastry/confection! It’s served over the holidays but also at weddings, baptisms, communions, etc.
The filling inside the cream puffs can either be pastry cream or whipped cream. Today we are showing you a standard vanilla pastry cream that we usually use.
If you would like more amazing holiday desserts then try our deliciously fudgy Mint Chocolate Pie.
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What is Croquembouche?
Croquembouche is cream puffs that are made from pate a choux and are filled with vanilla pastry cream or whipped cream. They are then held together with candy caramel to form a gorgeous tower.
The entire tower is then covered with spun sugar to present a magical experience for the eyes and mouth.
The cream puffs and pastry cream can be made up to 2 days ahead, so the final day can be filling the cream puffs, making the caramel, and building.
Our recipes are broken down into each section for ease and readability.
How to Make Croquembouche
Ingredients
Pate a Choux
Butter
Water
All-purpose flour
Salt
Sugar
Eggs
Pastry Cream
Milk
Sugar
Egg yolks
Whole egg
Cornstarch
Butter
Vanilla
Caramel & Spun Sugar
Water
Sugar
Cream of tartar
For the Pate A Choux
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
In a heavy pot over medium heat, mix together butter and water.
Meanwhile, sift together the flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl.
Once the water and butter have come to a boil, remove the pot from the heat and add all the dry ingredients.
Heat and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough forms into a ball and pulls away from the side of the pot.
Transfer the mixture to a stand mixer mixing bowl and mix on medium with a paddle attachment until the dough stops steaming.
Add one egg at a time, mixing in between each egg. Continue to mix until the dough has a ribbon-like consistency but still holds a shape.
Place the mixture into a piping bag with a round tip and pipe 1 ½ inch mounds onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
You can pat the top of the cream puff down with a wet finger so the top won’t rise too much.
Bake at 450 for 10 minutes then reduce the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until the puffs are golden brown. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN OR THE CREAM PUFFS MAY DEFLATE.
You can make the cream puffs 2-3 days in advance, and after they are completely cooled, store them in an air-tight container in a cool place.
For the Pastry Cream
In a heavy saucepan, dissolve the sugar with the milk over medium heat and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat the egg and egg yolks until light and frothy.
Sift in the remaining sugar and cornstarch into the eggs, beating until smooth.
Temper the egg mixture; very slowly, and add the hot milk mixture a little at a time until incorporated.
Return to the heat and bring to a boil, stirring CONSTANTLY.
Once the mixture thickens, remove from the heat and add the butter and vanilla.
Pour into a clean, shallow bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly on the mixture.
Refrigerate until completely cooled.
Once cooled completely, fill a pastry bag with the cream pastry, adding a plain tip or Bismark. Gently poke a hole and pipe a small amount of pastry cream into each cream puff.
For the Spun Sugar
Pour the water into a medium saucepan and then the cream of tartar, next pour the sugar directly in the middle of the pan, leave, don’t stir.
Heat over medium heat until it reaches 300 degrees or a light amber color using an instant-read thermometer. Don’t cover the pot; don’t stir.
Once it reaches 300 degrees (or turns a light amber color), remove from heat and let cool slightly; then you’re ready to make your spun sugar! Adapted from The Art of Doing Stuff.
The caramel should create fine threads when a sugar whisk is inserted. Where do you find a sugar whisk, you ask? Well, it is just a normal, inexpensive whisk with the ends cut off with wire cutters. I probably first started doing this about 15 years ago or more.
How To Assemble The Croquembouche
Start by making an initial ring out of puff pastries dipped in the hot caramel on a cake stand or serving plate. The larger the initial ring, the larger and taller your tower will be.
The recipes give you extra of everything to build a tower of this size with room for errors.
Continue stacking and building until a tower is assembled, dipping each cream puff into the hot caramel.
Once the tower is assembled, use your sugar whisk to wave the sugar around the croquembouche, creating fine strands.
You can create additional strands of sugar by placing two wooden spoons over a large bowl to create a bridge of sugar strands. See here in this post. You can make a nest to go around the bottom to add additional sugar.
What Does Croquembouche Mean?
Croquembouche means crunch in the mouth, so it is important to have the caramel that consistency. The spun sugar and the actual caramel should be crackly but not jaw breaking hard, nor should it be soft and sticky.
Our recipe should give you the exact crunch you are looking for, which is important with a croquembouche.
Pin it HERE!!
Pin it HERE!!
Croquembouche – Cream Puff Tower
Ingredients
Pate a Choux
- ¾ of a cup of butter
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 7-8 whole eggs
Pastry Cream
- 2 cups of milk
- ½ cup sugar divided
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 1/8 cup of cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
Spun Sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups of sugar
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
Instructions
For The Pate a Choux:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- In a heavy pot over medium heat, mix together butter and water.
- Meanwhile, sift together the flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl.
- Once the water and butter have come to a boil remove the pot from the heat and add all the dry ingredients.
- Heat and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough forms into a ball and pulls away from the side of the pot.
- Transfer the mixture to a stand mixer mixing bowl and mix on medium with a paddle attachment until the dough stops steaming.
- Add one egg at a time, mixing in between each egg. Continue to mix until the dough has a ribbon-like consistency but still holds a shape. You don’t want it too runny, so depending on the size of your eggs, you may use 7-8 eggs.
- Place the mixture into a piping bag with a round tip and pipe 1 ½ inch mounds onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- You can pat the top of the cream puff down with a wet finger so the top won’t rise too much.
- Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until the puffs are golden brown. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN OR THE CREAM PUFFS MAY DEFLATE.
- You can make the cream puffs 2-3 days in advance and after they are completely cooled store them in an air-tight container in a cool place.
For The Pastry Cream:
- In a heavy saucepan dissolve ¼ cup of sugar with the milk over medium heat and bring to a boil.
- Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat the egg and egg yolks until light and frothy.
- Sift in the remaining ¼ cups of sugar and cornstarch into the eggs, beating until smooth.
- Temper the egg mixture; very slowly, add the hot milk mixture a little at a time until incorporated.
- Return to the heat and bring to a boil stirring CONSTANTLY.
- Once the mixture thickens, remove from the heat and add the butter and vanilla.
- Pour into a clean shallow bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the mixture. This will prevent skin from forming on the pastry cream.
- Refrigerate until completely cooled.
- Once cooled completely, fill a pastry bag with the cream pastry adding a plain tip or Bismark. Gently poke a hole and pipe a small amount of pastry cream into each cream puff.
For The Caramel and Spun Sugar:
- Pour the water into a medium saucepan and then the cream of tartar, next pour the sugar directly in the middle of the pan, leave, don’t stir.
- Heat over medium heat until it reaches 300 degrees or a light amber color using an instant-read thermometer. Don’t cover the pot, don’t stir.
- Once it reaches 300 degrees (or turns a light amber color), remove from heat and let cool slightly; then you’re ready to make your spun sugar! Adapted from The Art of Doing Stuff.
- The caramel should create fine threads when a sugar whisk is inserted. Where do you find a sugar whisk, you ask? Well, it is just a normal inexpensive whisk with the ends cut off with wire cutters. I probably first started doing this about 15 years ago or more.
How to Assemble The Croquembouche:
- Start by making an initial ring out of puff pastries dipped in the hot caramel on a cake stand or serving plate. The larger the initial ring, the larger and taller your tower will be.
- The recipe gives you extra of everything to build a tower of this size with room for errors.
- Continue stacking and building until a tower is assembled, dipping each cream puff into the hot caramel.
- Once the tower is assembled, use your sugar whisk to wave the sugar around the croquembouche creating fine strands. If the caramel gets too cool, you can warm it on low to get it the right consistency to make spun sugar.
- You can create additional strands of sugar by placing two wooden spoons over a large bowl to create a bridge of sugar strands. See here in this post. You can make a nest to go around the bottom to add additional sugar.
- To serve, have people crack cream puffs off the tower. A great celebratory dessert!
Comments & Reviews
Na says
Recipe too runny