Croquembouche math
Carl Karsten
For a Croquembouche that will server 50 people, I am guessing making it with
100 cream puffs. What I am having trouble with is how to arrange them. How
many should go on the base, and how many rows tall should it be?
Confused by croquembouche calculations,
Carl
--
http://www.personnelware.com/carl/resume.html
Combat Lit
For 110, make 2.
With a base of ten puffs, decreasing each layer by one, i.e., 10, 9, 8, 7, 6,
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 = 55.
Make a mold and use it twice. (Or be generous and make three with 165 puffs.)
Robert
Snorky The Inept
> For 110, make 2.
>
> With a base of ten puffs, decreasing each layer by one, i.e., 10, 9, 8, 7,
6,
> 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 = 55.
BZZZT. You're only thinking in two dimensions. A pyramid is a
three-dimensional object.
Each puff needs to sit at the juncture of three below it.
Let's take this from the top down:
Top layer: One puff.
Second layer: Three puffs.
Third layer: Six puffs.
Fourth layer: Ten puffs.
Fifth layer: Fifteen puffs.
Sixth layer: Twenty-one puffs.
Seventh layer: Twenty-eight puffs.
Eighth layer: Thirty-six puffs.
Total: 120 puffs.
Basically you start with a triangle of puffs eight to a side and put a puff
on every spot where three puffs meet. The next layer will be seven puffs to
a side, the next six, until you place a single puff on the very top.
HTH
--
Snorky the Inept
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LIMEYNO1
Home Cookin 4.8 Chapter: Pastry
Croquembouche 1/2
=================
2 Pounds (5 cups) sugar
1/2 Water
1 Cup Liquid glucose
3 Cups Toasted flaked almonds
You will also need:
Oiled metal rolling pin
12 In. round cake board (or
Similar shape)
4 In. round metal cutter
(optional, see note)
For the choux buns:
2 Cups Water
1 Cup Unsalted butter
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Cups All-purpose flour
8 9 eggs
For the egg wash:
1 Egg
1 Egg yolk
Pinch Of salt
You will also need:
Forcing bag with large
Round
Tip
Buttered baking sheet that
Has then been chilled
For the creme mousseline:
12 Egg yolks
1-2/3 Cups Sugar
3/4 Cup All-purpose flour
3/4 Cup Cornstarch
1-1/2 Quarts Milk infused with 1
Vanilla
Bean *
1 Cup Unsalted butter, softened
6 Tablespoons Liqueur of your choice
For the caramel:
5 Cups Sugar
3/4 Cup Water
3/4 Glucose
You will also need:
Ice water
Tray
Crystalized sugar, for
Decoration (optional, see
Note)
Royal icing (to decorate
The nougatine disks,
Optional)
Large Cone-shaped mold,
About 10 in. diam. at base
Foil
.
~ French Wedding Pastry * (Drop the halved vanilla bean in warm milk, leave
for 30 min.)
METHOD Make nougatine: Dissolve sugar in water, bring to the boil and add
liquid glucose. Cook until a caramel color. Sprinkle in almonds; shake pan
to coat the nuts with the caramel. Turn onto an oiled surface. Roll out
using a warm oiled metal rolling pin until 1/4 in. thick. Using a 12-inch
cake board as a guide, cut out a large disk of nougatine - this will be the
base of the Croquembouche. (Optional decoration: using the 4 in. cutter, cut
out two disks of nougatine, and 3 quarter moonsfor the top. ) If desired,
pipe royal icing shells around the edges of the nougatine disks. (optional)
Make choux buns: Yield: 100. Preheat oven to 400 F. Bring the butter and
water just to the boil, remove the pan from the heat. Add flour, sifted with
sugar and salt, and beat. When the dough is smooth, return to heat until it
is dry, forms a ball and pulls away from the side of the pan. Slowy add the
eggs, off the heat so they do not cook, beating well after each addition.
Continue beating until paste is thick and shiny. It should drop off the
spoon when shaken. Prepare egg wash. Using a forcing bag with a large round
tip (1/2 in plain nozzle), pipe mounds onto a buttered baking sheet, spacing
them well apart, (The baked buns should be slightly larger than golf balls,
but definitely smaller than baseballs). Lightly brush tops with a small
amount of egg wash. Slightly flatten balls with a fork dipped in egg wahd to
form founded tops. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool.
MM by H. Peagram
Servings: 20
Home Cookin 4.8 Chapter: Pastry
Croquembouche 2/2
=================
CONTINUATION
.
~ French Wedding Pastry Make creme mousseline: Whisk egg yolks with sugar,
then whisk in cornstarch and flour. Bring milk to a boil, and stir into egg
mixture. Pour into a pan and bring back to a boil, stirring until large
bubbles break on the surface. Lower the heat, and cook until very thick.
Whisk in the butter and liqueur a little at a time at the end. Let cool.
Using a small plain nozzle, pipe the cream into the choux buns. (make a hole
in the bottom of the buns)
Make caramel: Dissolve the sugar in the water and bring to the boil. Skim
off any scum, tehn stir in the glucose. Lower the heat and cook, swirling
the pan occasionally, until turned to a blond caramel. Plunge base of pan
into iced water to cool slightly, then dip tops of buns in the caramel and
place them caramel side down on a tray to set. Dip a few of the buns into
crystalized sugar.
Assembly: Cover a large cone-shaped mold with foil, and oil it well. Wrap a
roll of foil around the base to support the bottom tier of buns. Arrange
buns for the bottom tier: dip the sides of the buns in caramel, and stick
them to each other, not the foil. Add the next tier by arranging them around
the cone, sticking them side by side and to the previous tier, not to the
foil. Continue building tiers, place the buns with crystalized sugar at
random. Leave to harden. To unmold, gently lift the croquembouche off the
mold, then carefully remove the foll of foil followed by the foil lining.
Set the croquembouche on the nougatine base. Stick one small circle on top,
using caramel. Stick the quarter moons on, standing up, again using caramel.
Stick the other circle on top.
Storage: The assembled Croquembouche shuold be kept in a cool place for no
longer than 4 -6 hours until serving time. It is not advised to store the
pastry in a refrigerator since the humidity may be too high and may cause
the caramel to become sticky.
NOTE: You may want to leave out the second small disk and half moons to
decorate the pastry in another way. Use your imagination! I do suggest
sticking to the idea of using a nougatine base and top disk. This leaves
room for a traditional wedding cake topper, choux paste swans, or a cloud of
spun sugar. Instead of dipping the odd buns in sugar, you may want to try
using nuts, little shiny silver balls used for cakes (sorry, the name has
slipped my mind for the moment), or melted chocolate or icing. Instead of
placing the odd buns at random, try making a pattern? The creme mousseline
can be flavored in other ways too. Try adding grated chocolate? Or a sieved
fruit puree? Please consult a good cookbook as to the proportions and
possibly necessary stabilizers when using these other flavorings.
Description: A "cairn" of fiiled, caramel-topped choux buns on a nougatine
base.
Source: Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Techniques, Wright and Treuille.
Notes and suggestions are mine. For the nougatine:
From: Agatha C. Walczak <aw...@math.Unidate: Thursday, June 10, 1999 3:35 Am
MM by H. Peagram
Servings: 20
--
Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten
Son of God is the object of
our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him
http://www.peagramfamily.com
"Carl Karsten" <ca...@personnelware.com> wrote in message
news:JrHl9.43085$bX.7856@sccrnsc02...
Combat Lit
three-dimensional object. Each puff needs to sit at the juncture of three
below it. >>
A croquembouche is not built like an Egyptian pyramid. Instead, it is merely
conical, i.e., it is empty in the middle. Thus, it is usually made with a
mold.
You proposed triangular pile of cream puffs is not very elegant.
Robert
Snorky The Inept
> HTH wrote:
<< You're only thinking in two dimensions. A pyramid is a
> three-dimensional object. Each puff needs to sit at the juncture of three
> below it. >>
>
> A croquembouche is not built like an Egyptian pyramid. Instead, it is
merely
> conical, i.e., it is empty in the middle. Thus, it is usually made with a
> mold.
Your formula still isn't three-dimensional. A cream puff won't balance very
well on just two below it.
> You proposed triangular pile of cream puffs is not very elegant.
Well, fuck you too, Skippy. Your particular notion of elegance isn't
important to me.
By the way, HTH isn't my name. It stands for "Hope That Helps".
HTH.
Combat Lit
below it. >>
Constructing a croquembouche is not a balancing act. The puffs are fastened to
each other with caramel on the outside (or better yet, inside) a mold. When
the caramel hardens, the mold is removed. To be clear, there are no cream
puffs in the middle of a properly assembled croquembouche.
The Grateful Dead freak also wrote << Your particular notion of elegance isn't
important to me. >>
Elegance is important. The empty center within the conical structure allows
light to pass thru the croquembouche. Your proposed triangular pile of cream
puffs will appear heavy and primitive as if constructed by a Neanderthal.
The Grateful Dead freak also wrote << HTH isn't my name. It stands for "Hope
That Helps". >>
No. Your post didn't help advance the art of pastry.
Robert