Valentine Croquembouche
Light, airy cream puffs filled with Japanese plum wine cream will set any heart skipping with joy.....whether it's Valentine's Day or not!
Adapted from my dance classmate, Betty's recipe for cream puffs.
- 4 eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 stick (1/4 lb) unsalted butter
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup flour plus a pinch of a salt
- 3 (12 ounce) packages of pink candy melts
- 1 (3.4 ounce) package of vanilla instant pudding
- 3½ tablespoons of Japanese plum wine
- 1 (8 ounce) container of Cool Whip
- Drops of pink food coloring
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat the milk, butter, and salt until scalded (just below boiling point). When all the butter has melted, add the flour all at once and beat with a wooden spoon until mixture comes together and forms dough. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat for 2 minutes until dough begins to coat the bottom of the pan. Put the hot mixture into a food processor. Add the 4 eggs and pulse until the eggs are incorporated into the dough and the mixture is thick. Pipe dough into mounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. A mini ice cream scoop also works wonders.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn off oven and allow puffs to sit for another 10 minutes. Make small slits in the side of each puff to allow steam to escape. Set aside to cool.
Melt pink candy chocolate per package directions. Dip each cream puff top into the pink chocolate. (Use the same pink chocolate to stick the cream puffs onto a cone to create a croquembouche.)
Whisk the plum wine, pudding mix and pink food coloring together. Gently stir in the Cool Whip. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or more. Fill piping bags with a star tip and fill the cream puffs.
