Cake "Crockembush": a recipe for cooking. French desserts

Today we want to tell you about a completely unusual dessert. Croquembusch cake is one of the most popular sweets in the world. This is the embodiment of the highest culinary skills, sophistication and refinement. You will not believe it, but it was invented almost by accident ...

History of the sweet pyramid

The French cake "Crokembush" has an interesting history.

The name of the wonder-confectioner who created this masterpiece, unfortunately, did not survive. But they say that during the reign of Charles the Second, the masters were invited to London for a wedding ceremony. The confectioner was extremely surprised at how casually and unaesthetically the wedding cake (then there were no wedding cakes) was cooked by local chefs. It consisted of stuffed pies chaotically spread out on a platter. The cook did a little work and made an effective cone-shaped dessert from baking. He called it "Krokembush cake", which in French means "a crunch in your mouth". And later pies were replaced by wonderful and tender profiteroles with stuffing. However, until now they are fastened with caramel, add berries, pieces of fruit, nuts, decorate with candied flowers, threads from the same sweet caramel.

Dessert "Crockembush" is currently being prepared not only for wedding ceremonies, but also for other celebrations. The recipe is constantly being improved, various ingredients (nuts, chocolate) are added. We want to tell you about one of his many options.

Ingredients for cake

As you know, French desserts are famous for their refinement and refinement. But "Crokembush" is something very special ... Sometimes culinary people create real miracles by decorating cakes. They are so beautiful and airy (like a fragile work of art) that they are even terribly touched. Of course, creating such a masterpiece is not so simple, it's not for nothing that the most famous culinary specialists compete in this direction. Let's see how we prepare Crokembush.

We would like to offer you one of the many recipes for preparing desserts, perhaps the simplest.

For the cakes themselves we will need:

1. Milk - 250 ml.
2. Butter - half-pack.
3. Flour - 150 g.
4. Eggs - 5 pcs.
5. Salt.

For the cream, take:

1. Flour - 100 g.
2. Eggs - 4 pcs.
3. Milk - 1 liter.
4. Sugar - to taste, but not less than five tablespoons.
5. Vanillin or vanilla sugar.

For the preparation of caramel will need ordinary clean water and a half cup of sugar.

Crokembush: recipe for staged cooking

Let's start with the preparation of the custard batter. The first thing to do is to sift the flour so that it becomes light, enriched with oxygen. Next, turn on the plate and put the saucepan with milk for medium heat. Add salt and butter. Stirring constantly, melt the oil and bring the liquid to a boil. Then turn off the fire and add the flour, we will twist the whisk to a homogeneous consistency. Then, armed with a spatula, mix the mixture until it thickens.

Next, you need to wait until our dough cools down, so that you can enter the eggs. We drive them one by one and then mix them with a mixer until complete homogeneity. Here is our dough for cake "Crockembush" from profiteroles is ready.

We prepare profiteroles for dessert

We will lay a baking sheet with baking parchment or we will grease it with oil. If there is a confectionery bag - it's very good. We use it just for the formation of profiteroles. But if it does not, do not despair and use the usual package, cutting off one corner. So, put the dough on the baking sheet with a confectionery bag. Between cakes you need to leave a little distance, because in the baking process they will increase slightly in volumes.

Now you can send the baking tray into the oven. It must be warmed up to 220 degrees beforehand. The cakes will be baked for up to seven minutes. Be vigilant and do not overreach them. After turning off the cooker, you can open the oven door and leave the baking to stand for a couple of minutes. Profiteroles should be prepared and browned.

Preparation of cream for filling

French desserts are difficult to prepare. The process is long, time-consuming, consists of several stages. But the result, undoubtedly, should please.

So, we continue to prepare "Crokembush". The recipe for making a cream for filling cakes can be very different. Culinary experts - gurus in the preparation of this dessert have their own secrets of the fillings, they carefully store them, not revealing to anyone.

We with you will begin to fill our profiteroles with a gentle custard. For him, take the fatty milk, pour it into a saucepan and put it on a slow fire, bring it to a boil.

In the meantime, we will sift the flour through a sieve. Eggs shall be washed under hot water and broken into a plate. Add vanilla, flour and stir until smooth. Yes, and do not forget about milk on fire! As soon as it boils, turn off the plate and very, very carefully pour it into the egg-flour mass, not forgetting to constantly mix the whisk.

When everything is well beaten, we again pour our mixture into a saucepan and put it on the fire. Intensively interfering, bring it to a boil and turn it off again. The cream will get a little thicker as it cools down.

We start with the cream profiteroles

In each cake we have to make a cut somewhere on the side or from below. And then stuff it with a confectionery bag or a teaspoon (the first one is more convenient for these purposes).

We prepare caramel for "Krokembush"

Caramel is an obligatory component of dessert. To make it you need to get the right dishes, otherwise it can not work. We will need a saucepan with high edges and a thick bottom (you can not take cookware with non-stick coating). Pour water into it and add sugar. We put the pan on the stove and wait for the sugar to melt, while stirring constantly.

Ready caramel will get a pleasant amber color. It must be ensured that it does not burn.

Building "Crokembush"

That's almost ready and our cake "Crockembush." The recipe for cooking is definitely not an easy one. All stages are passed. Remained the latest and most interesting. We are going to build a cake in the form of a cone from ready profiteroles. For this, it is necessary in advance to glue a pyramid (cone) from a dense cardboard. Outside it is better to wrap food with foil for baking. The height and width of the cake you adjust yourself. So, start to collect the cone. Each cake is dipped in caramel and laid in a circle in the form of a spiral. In this case, the profiteroles should be glued together. To simplify the work, you can use a silicone brush to apply additional layers of caramel.

So, gradually laying the row behind the series, we got to the top of the cone. Now we can safely say that our "Crokembush" is ready. The case remains small. You need to decorate it.

Cake decoration Crockembush

The recipe for the preparation of desserts differs slightly for different masters, and even the decoration of the cake is a real art not subject to beginners. And then everyone has their secrets. Real masters make simple works of art, decorating the dessert with caramel threads, entangling the whole cake. Also for decoration use chocolate glaze, candied flowers and fruits, cream and much more. Today such dessert is served not only for wedding celebrations, and not only for royal people, and therefore decorate the cake in accordance with the theme of the holiday. So, New Year's variants of Crockembush cake, which truly look magical and fabulous, became very popular.

Crokembush is served chilled. You can offer drinks to it. For example, hot chocolate, tea or coffee or even a cocktail.

Instead of an afterword

In general, this cake, perhaps, is the most ambiguous and complex in its execution. Such a creation can only be made by real masters of confectionery art. Imagine that the real height of such a dessert is at least one meter, or even more. And this, not to mention the weight of the cake. After all, every cake is filled with cream.

So, the whole product can not be easy. Although outwardly it seems very fragile and airy. And nevertheless, all this construction stands quite stably at the festive tables.

Undoubtedly, the cake "Crokembush" is the top of the French confectionery art.