Gluten Free Croquembouche

Serves: Makes about 70 puffs

Gluten Free Croquembouche

If you've never heard of a croquembouche, let me explain. You prepare an easy pastry dough called "pate a choux" then use a pastry bag to pipe little balls onto your baking sheet. The little balls rise in the oven and turn into delicious buttery puffs. You fill the tiny puffs with pastry cream and, if you're daring enough, make caramel with whole cane sugar and just when it gets to the right temperature you spin it around the tower of puffs with a fork to create thin threads. It's an ambitious project, but such a show-stopper. Make this for your New Year's Eve party and everyone will rave.

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Ingredients

Pastry Cream:
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• pinch of salt
• 6 egg yolks with chalazae removed (the white stringy part on the outside of the yolk)
• 4 tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon brandy
• 2 tablespoons butter
Pate a choux puffs:
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 sticks (1/2 lb) unsalted butter
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1/2 cup arrowroot powder
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 8 large eggs
Caramel:
• 1 cup organic whole cane sugar or sucanat
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 4x12-inch foam cone, covered in gold foil or unbleached parchment paper
• toothpicks

Instructions

Pastry Cream:
1. Whisk milk, maple syrup, and salt in a medium sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, whisk together egg yolks and arrowroot until creamy, about 30 seconds. When milk mixture comes to a simmer, gradually pour milk mixture into yolk mixture, whisking constantly to temper. Pour mixture back into saucepan and simmer, stirring contantly until thick, about 30 seconds. Take pan off heat and whisk in vanilla, brandy and butter. Press parchment paper directly onto the surface of the pastry cream (to prevent the cream from forming a skin) and refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours.
Dough:
2. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Heat the milk, butter, and salt in a medium sauce pan over medium heat until steaming. Meanwhile whisk together rice flour, oat flour, arrowroot, and xanthan gum. When the butter is melted, add the flour mixture all at once and stir it with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together and forms a dough ball. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat for 2 minutes until a film of flour begins to coat the bottom of the pan. Pour hot dough into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the eggs and pulse until the eggs are incorporated. The dough will be thick.
3. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (or simply use a zip-loc bag and snip one of the corners off). Pipe small mounds the size of a Hersey's Kiss (about 2 teaspoons) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. With a wet finger, lightly press down the swirl at the top of each puff. Bake for 12 minutes, until golden brown, then turn off the oven and allow them to sit for another 10 minutes. Cool completely.
To assemble:
4. Transfer half of the pastry cream to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain tip. Push the tip into the bottom of each puff and fill with the pastry cream. Repeat with the remaining puffs. Place the cone on a serving plate. Insert a toothpick into the cone and attach a cream puff onto it. Repeat, making your way up the cone, working from the largest to smallest puffs.
Caramel:
5. Place the whole cane sugar, maple syrup and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Gently boil until it reaches 290ºF. Immediately remove from the heat. Allow the mixture to cool for 1-2 minutes to thicken. Dip a fork into the caramel and rapidly flick the fork back-and-forth over the croquembouche to create caramel strands.
6. The croquembouche is best eaten within 3 hours. If the air is humid, it will cause the caramel to soften more quickly. Serve at room temperature.