Every now and then you just get the craving for something rich, decadent and possibly swimming in alcohol or chocolate.

Then there are those other times when you simply want something light and sweet which won't leave you feeling like an elephant has taken refuge in your stomach cavity!

This cake is perfect for such instances and hence I decided to artfully name it the "Almond Cloud Cake". Incredibly cryptic name right?!

Almond: 

Well, you may notice the bunch of nuts stuck around the outside....

Cloud:  

Just like those pillows of the sky, everything about this cake screams light and fluffy, from the delicate sponge to the aerated cream coating!

Cake: 

Umm... yeah that one is just too self-explanatory.

Almond Cloud Cake

 

 

 

For the Sponge:

 

2 tsp plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
Cornflour
4 eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

For the Custard Filling:

4 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
25 plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
350ml milk (whole fat)

300ml whipping cream

3 tbsp icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract 

230g flaked almonds 

To Make the Sponge

 

Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan-forced) and grease two 20cm round cake tins with spray oil. Line the bottom and sides of each tin with baking paper. 

In a one cup measuring cup place the flour, bicarb soda and cream of tartar. Fill the remainder of the cup with cornflour (so you have a total of 1 cup of dry ingredients!)

In an electric mixer whisk the eggs and sugar for 10min. It will become incredibly aerated,creamy looking and at least doubled in volume. Add the vanilla and beat for a further minute.

Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, being careful not to knock the air from the mixture, until smooth.

Divide the mixture between the two prepared cake tins and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until sponge springs back when touched.

 Place baking paper on wire cake racks to cover and turn the sponges onto the wire racks but don't  lift off the cake tin!  (this will allow the resulting trapped steam to keep the cake moist!). Leave the  sponges to cool completely. 

To Make the Filling

 

Whisk the yolks and sugar until light in colour and thick then add the flour, whisking to incorporate.

Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan (or microwave) and then slowly pour into the egg/sugar mix, whisking continually to make sure the eggs don't scramble. 

Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook over med-low heat, whisking constantly to prevent the mixture sticking to the bottom until the mixture starts to boil. Continue cooking and whisking for a further two minutes until the mixture is thick and remove from the heat.

Stir in the vanilla and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl and cover with clingfilm (so it is actually in contact with the custard) to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate until completely cool. 

 

To Assemble

Spread the almonds evenly over a baking tray and toast under an oven grill until lightly browned. Set aside to cool completely.

Whisk the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla until firm peaks start to form and then set aside.

Place one of the cakes on your serving plate and, if necessary, trim the top with a serrated knife to ensure it is flat and level. Spread the the top with the chilled custard filling and place your remaining cake on top and press down gently to sandwich the cakes and filling together. 

Use a spatula to spread the whipped cream all around the cake, both top and sides, and use your hands to press the cooled almonds around the sides of the cake. 

You can leave the cake as it is or decorate the top with your choice of chocolate, fresh fruits or wherever your imagination takes you!  

 

 

The Mighty Croquembouche!

The stuff of both legends and dentists' nightmares, the croquembouche has risen to popularity over the last couple of years and is one of those deserts you can take to a party and know you have a free pass to look smugly satisfied with yourself for the rest of the evening.

A little baby croquembouche! Definitely 'rustic'...

Traditionally served as a celebratory cake in France, this tower of pastry and custard is actually really easy to make and doesn't require any fancy skills or gadgets, all you need is a stack of filled profiteroles and some sugar!

To make a croquembouche  you first need a whole stack of crispy profiteroles. I always use this recipe for my choux pastries but you will need to multiply this recipe to make enough to form a decent tower. For a small croquembouche around 30cm tall (to serve around 10-15 people) I would recommend multiplying it by 1.5 but for larger gatherings I would triple or even quadruple it. It will all depend on how big you pipe your pasties, how many you want to serve etc.

I almost always fill my profiteroles with a creme patisserie so I will stick the recipe for that and a basic caramel at the bottom of this post!


So, once you have your pastries cooked and filled there are two ways you can go about forming your tower:

1. Using a Croquembouch Cone  

This would be the perfect time to bust out that croquembouche cone you got last Christmas but        which has spent its' days lurking in the back of the cupboard (what other time is there??). All you    need to do is dip your filled profiteroles in some warm caramel and use this as a glue to stick them around the cone until it is completely covered, starting from the base and working your way upwards.

You can find these cones at almost any kitchen supply store these days or easily on line though unless you are planning on busting out a pastry tower every other weekend it seems like a bit of a space-consuming investment.

The alternative? Make your own disposable cone! Simply get yourself some baking paper and fold it into a cone shape. Tape it in place and  place it upside down (so the opening is facing upwards) inside a wide vase or something else which will help support it. Take your caramel-dipped profiteroles use them to fill the inside of the cone. Make sure the last few that you put in sit evenly to form a nice flat base for your tower. No-one likes a wobbly croquembouche! The caramel will set very quickly and then you simply need to flip your cone over so its standing upright and peel of the baking paper. Voila!  

You could also reinforce your DIY cone with some cardboard and stick the profiteroles around the outside a la` the traditional cone process. For a visual demo of this check out this video.  

2. Freehand It!

 If your wanting that more organic or "rustic" look (a.k.a 'messy but in a sort of art deco way')  you can always go freehand. Make your bottom layer by creating a circle of profiteroles glued together with caramel and slowly add additional circular layers on top, making each new layer smaller to that you end up with just a singular profiterole on the very top. The shape won't be quite as neat and perfect as if you had used a cone but it will look glorious all the same! 

 

Sounds pretty easy right? That's because it is!

 
But what if your not the biggest caramel fan?

Are you destined to live a life devoid of croquembouche glory?

Absolutely not! 


Presenting the less golden but equally delicious second-cousin of the croquembouche, the CHOCEMBOUCHE!

The Chocembouche! (patent pending ;) )

Simply replace the caramel you would normally use with melted chocolate and use this to glue your tower together. You can even make little chocolate decorations to pretty up the whole affair rather than using spun sugar! Which brings us to...







\

  

Since you went to all the trouble of baking, filling and stacking your profiteroles (and possibly suffering 3rd degree caramel burns in the process!) you want to add a little extra bling to bring the whole thing together right? 

Of course you do! 

The traditional and possibly most impressive way to do this is to create some spun sugar and swirl it around the outside of your bouche. 

The simplest way to do this is to have a saucepan of warm caramel on hand and use a fork or teaspoon dipped in the caramel to drizzle it over the tower from a bit of a height, flicking your wrist as you go so that you end up with fine sugar strands rather than big blobs of caramel.  

Another way is to lay out a long sheet of baking paper, dip a fork into your caramel and move it back and forward over the paper to form a whole lot of long, thin threads of caramel. Quickly, before the sugar cools and hardens, pick up the caramel (careful not to burn yourself!) and drape it around your tower like a lovely winter scarf.


Of course if your making a chocembouche you can swap a caramel scarf for a delicious drizzling of more chocolate instead!




Aside from a draping of caramel or a drizzle of chocolate, there are a huge number of other ways to decorate your croquembouche!

Why not stick on some sugar almonds, chocolate shapes, fondant butterflies or stars or even some edible flowers grown right in your own backyard (my personal favourite!).  
    

 

 So, there you have it! Making a croquembouche really is incredibly simple and there are a hundred and one different ways you can put your own spin on it to make a truly unique desert! 

Below I have listed the recipes I used for my caramel and also my profiterole filling, but you could really fill them with whatever you like! 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic  Caramel

3 cups caster sugar 
1 cup water 
1/4 cup liquid glucose 


Put all ingredients into a saucepan over med-high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and continue cooking until it turns a darm amber colour. 

Immediately remove from heat and use before it cools (if it cools to much simply reheat on the stove until soft again)
 

 

Creme Patissiere

4 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
25 plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
350ml milk (whole fat)



Whisk the yolks and sugar until light in colour and thick then add the flour, whisking to incorporate.

Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan (or microwave) and then slowly pour into the egg/sugar mix, whisking continually to make sure the eggs don't scramble. 

Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook over med-low heat, whisking constantly to prevent the mixture sticking to the bottom until the mixture starts to boil. Continue cooking and whisking for a further two minutes until the mixture is thick and remove from the heat.

Stir in the vanilla and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl and cover with clingfilm (so it is actually in contact with the custard) to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate until completely cool. 


To fill profiteroles: Put the creme patisserie into a piping bag was 1/2 cm wide tip and use a knife to poke a hole in the base of each profiterole. Pipe the custard into the profiterole.