the delicate art of the croquembouche

part dessert, part sculpted centerpiece.

A gorgeously sculpted cake was always the centrepiece at every themed birthday party I had as a child, and that’s a tradition I´m bringing with me into adulthood. My dad was usually enlisted to carve masses of sponge cake into whatever object fit the theme, like a painter´s palette for an art-themed party or a pyramid for my Cleopatra party.

This tradition and that scene from Sophia Coppola´s Marie Antoinette firmly cemented the idea that pastries are as good a centrepiece as any ice sculpture or flower arrangement. Croquembouche, unsurprisingly, did gain popularity during Louis XVI's reign.

My version of this choux tower has one of my favourite pastry flavour pairings: dark chocolate and orange. The harmony between the two flavours in this dessert is achieved by layering the orange delicately through every single component so that it does not fight for attention from the 80% dark chocolate. Salt is as essential in dessert as on a steak and has been given the same treatment as the zest.

The choux pastry is, of course, the most important part— the bricks of this building.

At this stage, it is important to have the butter evenly cubed so that all the pieces melt simultaneously as the liquid comes to a simmer. Once the flour is added, crazy paddling with the spatula will cause the fat to separate and prevent the formation of a nice, cohesive mixture. It has to cook for a couple of minutes after a film forms at the bottom of the pan, or there will be too much moisture in the dough.

The cooked mixture is cooled by slowly paddling in a stand mixer, and eggs are added until it is glossy and cohesive. It is then piped straight onto a non-stick baking tray.

Orange zest-scented craquelin dough is rolled out, frozen and cut to size.

The craquelin helps the choux stay perfectly round while baking and also provides crunch.

30 minutes at 175C in the oven resulted in perfectly thin, hollow shells to hold a generous amount of chocolate orange pastry cream.

The cement for this building and the croque is the caramel. I caramelised freshly squeezed orange juice, sugar, and a pinch of salt, which yielded a nice, toasty flavour reminiscent of cornflakes and was less sweet than a traditional caramel.

Caramel can be microwaved when it begins to harden, and the same batch can be used to build the entire Croquembouche.

The layers are built, sloping inwards to form a cone.

When the caramel has hardened enough to form threads, they are wrapped around the entire structure, producing a gorgeous, glittery effect in sunlight.

Finished with white Carnations (edible, but no need to give them a munch).