Please don’t forget to read the “Vote for Me” section at the bottom of this post – I’m in a contest and need your help to win. (Ok, enough begging…on to the Croquembouche!)
There are times when I follow the rules – mainly when I’m at school – and the rest of the time I do it my way.
I’ve successfully made gluten-free cream puffs and eclairs thanks to my Fundamentals of Baking class. At $3 to $5 dollars a pound for my beloved flours, I wasn’t going to mess with what works. I like the recipe I’ve been using but it’s not quite perfect. The baked pastry is bliss – rich with milk, butter, and eggs. It’s crisp right out of the oven but quickly gets a little soft. Still delicious, mind you. There’s nothing wrong with these cream puffs. Just not perfect yet.
Instead of agave, I used palm sugar for my pastry cream. Palm sugar creates an earthier, caramely flavor and a light brown color. I’m still getting my technique down, so I had some lumps in my final product. Pushing it through a fine-mesh sieve solved that problem.
Cat wanted us to use caramel or chocolate, or both. Since Martha Stewart so effortlessly put her croquembouce togehter with caramel, I thought I’d give it a try. I was positive I could make it with chocolate – caramel was a stretch. This is supposed to be a challenge, right?
I used palm sugar to make my caramel with a 1 to 1 substitution. The sugar melted, darkened, and boiled. My hopes were high.
In the end, though, it never set up firmly which made assembly tricky. My croquembouche crumbled more than once. But, with some persistence, I was able to pull it off – no toothpicks at all!
Even though the caramel didn’t sit up just right, the flavor made me a little weak in the knees. I can’t help but love pate au choux. I think I’m making more for dinner…
Martha Stewart does a much better job of showing you how to assemble a croquembouche than I can, so I’ll send you to her video for assmebly instructions. Fast-forward her video about 1o minutes; the first part is just chatting.
I was asked by FoodSpring.com to participate in their “My Most Exciting Food Experience” contest. I’m the only gluten-free blogger – winning would give more exposure to eating gluten-free so please take a few minutes and vote! (Rate my post a 5!)
Use two ounces of palm sugar. Add one ounce of palm sugar to the milk that you bring to a boil. Add the remaining ounce of palm sugar to the egg mixture.
Put milk, butter, and salt in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally with a spatula. Once the milk boils, use a wooden spoon to stir in the gluten-free flour mix. Keep stirring until a mass of dough forms and a film of starch forms on the bottom of the pan.
Dump the dough into the mixer bowl and turn on low. Stir for a minute or two to help the dough cool. Meanwhile, beat two eggs together and add the vanilla to the eggs. Turn the mixer to medium speed and add in three additions to the dough making sure the egg fully incorporates before adding more. You want the dough to be smooth, shiny, and it should slide down the beaters when you stop the mixer. Put a little dough between your thumb and first finger – when you pull your fingers apart the dough should stretch and hold it’s shape. If you need more egg, add the third egg in small parts. You don’t want to add too much.
Put your pate au choux paste into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe into a the desired shape – a globe for puffs, a long shape for eclairs, or it you’re feeling fancy a swan. Brush the choux with egg wash. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes until puffs have doubled in size and the internal temperature reads at least 205 degrees F with an instant read thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer, make sure that the puffs are golden brown and are very light and hollow. If underbaked, they’ll deflate. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Combine sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan. Use a pastry brush dipped in water to wash down the edges as needed to prevent crystals from forming. Once the mixture begins to boil, swirl the pan to mix. Don’t stir. Continue boiling, swirling occasionally until the mixture is a deep amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.
wow...your construction amazing! I remember learning to make pate au choux in a cooking class. I didn't know you could do it with a stand mixer. We just did it with heat, and a bit of elbow grease. I felt it helped me "feel" where the dough was. I am interested in your chickpea flour blend...I just got some chickpea flour and made a socca bread, which was promptly consumed by my son. I didn't know what else to do with it, but now I am tempted to try this one! Also, I was reading about the locavore "100 mile diet" by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, and the Planet Green network's challenge show depicted one family that created a caramel from honey and cream. I don't recall if cream caramel is proper in this dessert, but the chemistry in this one seemed interesting to me. I think it was 2 parts honey, 1 part cream?? Anyway, wonderful job! I am definitely inspired. :)	
@abbie, I've made socca before - in fact I have this recipe for it on my blog. We eat it up right away, too. You could make the blend with all 2 parts garbanzo bean flour and one part tapioca flour. I did equal parts garbanzo, garfava, and tapioca because I think that garfava is less beany. But there is so little flour I'm not sure it would matter. I've made caramel with agave and heavy cream - I'll have to get my honey out and try this again. When I made the caramel it turned out more like candy, though. Maybe if I didn't cook it as long. I was also wondering if it would turn out different if I left the water out. Thanks for the info. :)	
I would love these for dinner too. I think your soft caramel may have tasted better than my hard caramel. Well done!	
It looks great to me! I LOVE pâte au choux anything, and it's so impressive to present! As far as the caramel, what temp did you heat the caramel up to? You may need to be more specific with the temp than the recipe shows, and you may in fact need a hotter temp than you would with normal sugar to get the desired "caramelizing chemistry" to happen, but I'm not totally sure as I've never actually used palm sugar before. Another idea is to add in a "syrup" type sugar like honey (maybe agave? I dunno) as well - I often add in a little corn syrup (gf) when making sticky caramel things....Have you thought about adding in a little butter or cream at the end to help stabilize the caramel sauce? Anyways, those are just some ideas.... but no matter what that is one gorgeous looking pièce montée! And I love how generous you were in filling the cream puffs, mmm I want one now :)	
Wow, I never knew you joined the daring bakers! How cool to adapt the recipes gluten and sugar free! Palm sugar is something I have yet to try. But from the sounds of it I better get on it. You use it quite bit.	
Congrats on a successful challenge! Looks beautiful! I knew there was a reason I didn't sign up for the "Bakers" part of Daring. These would have cooked my goose! LOL!	
Amy, these are magnificent! I cannot eat these ingredients but I reveled in the beauty of them and what I imagine them to taste like. Photos are gorgeous, all that inviting glaze, and the cream filling...ahhhh...I will register and vote for you!!!	
A pastry construction that I've long admired, but never tried! Although I plan to be making cream puffs soon... anyways, looks fantastic, Amy! :) I would vote for you again but it seems I can only vote once - darn! I'd have to set up multiple accounts. ;)	
Looks great! As for caramel, I've used agave and honey when making candy before - and I've gotten it hot enough that when it cooled, it was at a hard crack. I haven't used it in this manner, but I bet if you got it hot enough, it would act very much like "real" caramel, and who knows, might even do that spun sugar thing! I might have to experiment too! I love your use of palm sugar though - that's one of my new favorite things...tastes so good.	
@Alta, I wondered if the heat was the problem - I'm not much of a candy maker but I'll have to get out the ol' candy thermometer and give it a try.	
After reading your description of these flavours, I think I may have to try palm sugar! I don't know much about making caramel, but my guess is that a little butter may help it...though in my opinion, the puffs look delicious with the glaze soaking in like that!	
@Liz@HoosierHomemade, Thanks so much, Liz! I appreciate that you took the time to vote for me. You're a great friend. :)	
Wow! One of these days I may have to try making cream puffs...I'll leave the rest of it to the Daring Bakers!	
It's gorgeous, Amy! I'm amazed at what you can do with alternatives. I'd happily dig into one of those cream puffs any time--I can see how that pastry cream can make one weak in the knees!	
This is so beautiful! I didn't even know what croquembouche meant, so I appreciated the links to the Martha video. Very cool! And so impressive that you made it gluten and sugar free! ~Aubree Cherie	
I love this recipe! Just clicked through from the awesome Freezer Recipes Round-up. I'm having a couple friends over for a dinner party, and this would be a great dessert. I mean, who doesn't love cream puffs? :)