Why, oh why do these Daring Bakers challenges always sneak up on me? It happens every time! I woke up at 4:00 this morning in the kind of cold sweat that could only mean that today was the “reveal date”. And, I had nothing. Absolutely nothing. Again. So, I dragged myself out of bed, put on a pot of coffee and (very quietly) got to work. Let me tell you, it’s not easy to create a culinary masterpiece in the dead of night with few night lights and a sleeping puppy in the corner of the room! But, I did my best. Unfortunately, the situation wasn’t conducive to taking photos, so I didn’t get any “process shots”. But, I did get a few nice ones of the finished product once the sun came up. C’est la vie!
The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri. A classic piece montée is a high cone made of profiteroles (cream-puffs) sometimes dipped in chocolate, bound with caramel, and usually decorated with threads of caramel, sugared almonds, chocolate, flowers, or ribbons. Piece Montée, literally means “mounted piece” in French. You may know this dessert by its other name – Croquembouche (“crunch in the mouth”). read more >>
Filed Under: Baking, Custards and Puddings, Daring Bakers, French, Holiday Dishes, Pastries, Recipes
