Recipe: Ambar Estate’s Croquembouche with Candied Cranberries

Produced in partnership between Travel Dundee and the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association.

It may look fancy, but this recipe from Chef Heidi Whitney-Schile at Ambar Estate is surprisingly simple; just make sure you start preparing the recipe components 1-2 days ahead of time. It’s a crowd-pleasing holiday centerpiece that travels well and is meant to be shared. Croquembouche is best enjoyed standing around the table with good friends and a glass of sparkling in hand.

PATE A CHOUX DOUGH INGREDIENTS:  

• 1 cup Water 
• 1 stick Unsalted pareve margarine (4 oz.) 
• 1/2 tsp Salt 
• 1 cup Flour 
• 5 Eggs 

PATE A CHOUX DOUGH INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. 
• In a small nonstick saucepan, bring water, margarine, and salt to a boil. When margarine melts, add flour all at once, stirring rapidly. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until a ball of dough forms that detaches easily from the pot. Set it aside and let cool for 10 minutes. 
• Transfer cooled dough to the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a flat paddle attachment. Add eggs, one by one, making sure each egg has completely incorporated into the dough before adding the next. 
• Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a large star pastry tip (Wilton 4B is perfect) or simply use an ice cream scoop to form puffs. Form meringue-like mounds, 3″ in diameter and 2″ in height, directly on the prepared pans. 
• Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown; transfer puffs to a cooling rack 

PASTRY CREAM INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 cup Whole milk 
• 1 Vanilla bean scraped 
• 4 Egg yolks
• ½ cup Sugar 
• 2T Cornstarch 
• 2T Butter
• Keep separate until later: 1 cup heavy whipping cream 

PASTRY CREAM INSTRUCTIONS:

• Place egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch into a mixing bowl and whisk together. Set aside.  
• Place milk and vanilla into a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer, then remove from heat.  
• Begin whisking the yolk mixture again. While whisking slowly, slowly stream the milk mixture into the eggs.  
• When all of the milk has been whisked into eggs, strain the mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat.  
• Using a rubber spatula, continue heating the mixture, constantly scraping the bottom to prevent scorching. When the mixture is thick, remove from the heat.  
• Add butter and mix until incorporated. 
• Place the finished mixture into a clean bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto the pastry cream. This will keep a skin from forming.  

• Place into the fridge and allow to cool. 

CANDY CRANBERRIES INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups Sugar (divided)
• 1 cup Water
• Orange zest from 1 orange
• 1 Vanilla Bean (opened and scraped)
• 1 bag of store-bought cranberries

CANDY CRANBERRIES INSTRUCTIONS:

• Place your sugar, water, orange zest and vanilla bean in a pot and bring to a simmer until all the sugar is dissolved.
• Remove from heat and allow the syrup to sit for 15 minutes to cool. In the meantime, place cranberries in a heatproof bowl
• Pour syrup over the cranberries. Top with parchment paper and use something to press down on the top just enough to make sure that all the cranberries are submerged below the syrup.
• Move cranberries to the fridge and allow them to sit for 24 hours or up to 3 days.
• When ready, remove the cranberries from the refrigerator and drain off the syrup. (Note from Chef Heidi: This syrup makes a great cocktail mixer! She saves it to make holiday drinks, including a vodka cranberry spritz.)
• While cranberries drain, place 2 cups of sugar onto a baking sheet. Drop the cranberries onto the baking sheet with sugar and roll them around until they are completely coated and ready to use as decorations – or just to eat!
• Optional: Dust with edible glitter to make them extra festive.

  

ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS:

• Start by making the pastry cream and allow it enough time to cool. Preferably the night before assembling the Croquembouche.  
• Next, make cream puffs. While the cream puffs bake whip 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, when it forms stiff peaks, add 1 cup pastry cream. This is called Chantilly and is the perfect filling for the cream puffs.  
• Prep a pastry bag with a small round tip and fill with Chantilly cream.  
• Poke a small hole into the bottom of each of the cream puffs, large enough to fit the tip of the pastry tip into, and fill each of the cream puffs
• Next, prepare the cake plate or serve plate.  
• Prepare the caramel that will glue together the cream puffs by taking a sauté pan (preferably one with straight sides) and adding ½ cup sugar. Place pan over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until it melts and becomes a light caramel color.  
• Add another ½ cup of sugar to the caramel and continue stirring until the sugar completely melted and has become a light caramel color. Pull from the heat.
• Immediately begin carefully dipping one side only of the cream puff into the molten caramel. Placing each one on the cake plate to form a ring.  
• If the caramel starts cooling and gets too thick, place back onto the heat to remelt it. If the color begins to get a little too dark, add a little more sugar and melt again.  
• Continue making the rings stacking each one upon the other (leaving the center hollow). Make sure each layer has 1 fewer cream puffs than the previous, so it forms what appears to be a holiday tree.  
• Once the cone is formed, start decorating with candied cranberries, rosemary sprigs, and lots of edible glitter.   

WINE PAIRING RECOMMENDATIONS: 

The airy choux pastry, sweet pastry cream, and crunchy caramel of Chef Heidi’s holiday croquembouche pair beautifully with wines that offer either a bright acidity to contrast and cut through the pastry’s richness, or a subtle sweetness to echo and elevate the dessert. While the bubbles of a sparkling wine will simultaneously add lift and freshness, contrasting with the caramel’s toasty sweetness and the pastry cream’s silky texture, making each bite feel more expressive.  – Recommendations from Morgan Baer, Ambar Estate’s Sales & Marketing Manager & WSET-III

• 2015 Woodshed Extended Tirage Brut Rosé – This traditional-method sparkling rosé is crafted from old-vine Pinot Noir planted in 1979. After the primary alcoholic fermentation, a small amount of sugar and chardonnay was added to the wine in bottle, which initiated a second fermentation to create this wine’s beautiful bubbles. The wine rested in this stage, or ‘en tirage’ for 10 years, which is significantly longer than what is considered standard. This extended time allowed the wine to develop a creamy texture and complex layers of flavor.
• 2021 DePonte Sparkling Melon de Bourgogne – In addition to its Pinot Noir plantings, DePonte is known for its Melon de Bourgogne. This varietal also goes by another name – Muscadet, widely produced as still white wine in the Loire Valley of France. The Melon de Bourgogne grape is rare in Oregon, with a handful of vineyards having planted vines in small amounts. This wine’s Oregon origin and sparkling bubbles make it truly unique.