Croquembouche

Method

Make choux paste: bring 250ml water, 100g butter and 3g salt to boil, remove from heat, beat in 150g flour until smooth, cool slightly, then beat in 4 whole eggs one at a time until glossy. Pipe onto baking trays lined with parchment into 4cm balls, spacing 3cm apart. Bake at 200C fan for 25-28 minutes until golden and crisp; prick each with a skewer and cool on a wire rack. For pastry cream, heat 250ml milk with 1 vanilla pod (or 5ml extract). Whisk 5 egg yolks with 100g caster sugar until pale (3 minutes), sift in 25g cornflour and whisk smooth. Slowly whisk in hot milk, return to pan on medium heat, whisking constantly for 3-4 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon and reaches 82C. Pass through a fine sieve, beat in 30g butter, press cling film directly onto surface and chill 1 hour. Fill each choux bun with pastry cream using a small piping bag. For caramel, combine 200g granulated sugar, 60ml water and 30g glucose syrup in a heavy pan, bring to boil without stirring, wash down sides with a wet brush, cook to light amber (160C on a sugar thermometer, approximately 8-10 minutes). Working quickly, dip the top of each filled bun into caramel and build a tower by stacking them in a cone shape on a serving plate, each layer offset slightly. Serve immediately or within 2 hours before caramel softens.