Yes, it was so complicated that we had 2 separate demonstrations and practicals to complete this traditional French wedding cake. The croquembouche is quite simply a tower of cream puffs – where it gets complicated, is the handmade base, the large number of puffs and the caramel, oh the hot, hot, hot caramel. My fingers may never be the same…
The first lesson was on nougatine and building the base. Although a simple design, it took us beginners quite a while to roll and cut out shapes from the hot almond and caramel mixture. My biggest frustration was piping the thin, tiny swags of royal icing between the points…
It was certainly tough to switch gears from many mousse cakes to wedding cake construction but I think it turned out alright. Some others were more like the leaning tower of Pisa so I can’t complain. The worst part was breaking it to bring a few puffs home to D – so many hours of work all to smash it for one little dessert. I suppose that was better than struggling to bring it home on the metro…
