A ''croquembouche'' () or ''croque-en-bouche'' is a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

dessert consisting of choux pastry puffs piled into a cone and bound with threads of

caramel Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard. The process of caramelizatio ...

. In Italy and France, it is often served at weddings, baptisms and

first communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communi ...

Name

The name comes from the French phrase ''croque en bouche'', meaning " omething thatcrunches in the mouth."

Presentation

A ''croquembouche'' is composed of (usually cream-filled)

profiteroles A profiterole (), cream puff (US), or ''chou à la crème'' () is a filled French and Italian choux pastry ball with a typically sweet and moist filling of whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream. The puffs may be decorated or left p ...

piled into a cone and bound with spun sugar. It may also be decorated with other confectionery, such as sugared almonds, chocolate, and edible flowers. Sometimes it is covered in macarons or ganache.

History

The invention of the croquembouche is often attributed to Antonin Carême, who includes it in his 1815 cookbook ''Le Pâtissier royal parisien'', but it is mentioned as early as 1806, in

André Viard André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

's culinary encyclopedia '' Le Cuisinier Impérial'', and in

Antoine Beauvilliers Antoine B. Beauvilliers (1754 – 31 January 1817) was a French restaurateur who opened the first grand restaurant in Paris and wrote the cookbook ''L'Art du Cuisinier''. Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin considers him the most important of the ea ...

' 1815 ''L'Art du Cuisinier''. In Viard's encyclopedia and other early texts (e.g. Grimod de La Reynière's, ''Néo-physiologie du gout''), it is included in lists of

entremets An entremet or entremets (; ; from Old French, literally meaning "between servings") in French cuisine historically referred to small dishes served between courses but in modern times more commonly refers to a type of dessert. By the end of the ...

—elaborate dishes, both savory and sweet, that were served between courses during large banquets.

Records

On 6 March 2009, alumni of the Pune-based Maharashtra State Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology entered the '' Limca Book of Records'' after creating India's biggest croquembouche. It was recorded as tall.

References

External links