Daring Baker's Challenge : PIECE MONTÉE

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.

I've made cream puffs before, but was never able to achieve the crispy outside. The egg wash definitely made the difference. The photo is actually my second attempt at creating the tower. I was able to successfully make a tower without a cone reinforcement. Please with the result, I quickly ran to get the camera for the money shot.

Husband says, "Hey honey. What happened here?" When I heard that, I knew the tower had collapsed. So if you squint, you can tell I used a small tin cup to hold my croquembouche together.

Enjoy!