Silky Puff Tower

Overview

Some time ago, I watched "The Star Chef Arrives". The appearance of the puff tower deeply attracted my baby and me. Caramel is layered one by one, and then elegantly wrapped into a crispy puff tower that shines with golden light. The baby is even more obsessed and pesters me to make puff towers every two or three days. Because she had a cough at the time, she didn't make any dessert, so her wish came true a month later, which coincided with Christmas and New Year's Day, so it seemed quite fitting! The little one especially likes this unique gift from his mother. The baby also participated in it, helping me make the tower mold, helping me press the extruded puff dough, teaching me how to make a beautiful tower shape, etc. Just like a little gourmet, haha~ This is our happiest and happiest parent-child time! I look forward to the future being like this, simple yet sweet! Puff tower is a traditional French celebration dessert. The tall puff tower is people's longing for full happiness, symbolizing a full house of descendants and a good harvest! The outer layer of sweet and crispy caramel wraps the puffs filled with smooth cream. It has a rich taste and rich aroma, which is very suitable for the colorful and grand atmosphere of the festival~ For the vision of happiness, let us build a tall puff tower together!

Tags

• baking
• butter
• colored candy
• corn starch
• egg
• egg liquid
• egg yolk
• low gluten flour
• white sugar
• milk
• salt
• water

Ingredients

Steps

1. 1 Cut the A4 paper into a fan shape (radius 21cm, angle 90 degrees)

   

2. 2 Overlap the left and right sides to form a cone shape, and then secure it with tape

   

3. 3 Wrap the outside with tin foil.

   

4. 4 Make puffs. First: weigh the flour and set aside;

   

5. 5 Put water, milk, salt and butter in the pot, heat over low heat, stir evenly with a wooden spoon, after the butter melts, turn up the heat and bring to a boil. (It must be completely boiled, that is, not only the edges but also the center part must be boiled)

   

6. 6 Turn off the heat, add the cake flour and stir with a wooden spoon. (At the beginning, the flour will be filled into the air, so stir slowly. After it turns into a batter, stir vigorously.) Then, light the fire again, stir with a wooden spoon and heat it over medium heat. When the bottom of the batter makes a sound and a mask forms on the bottom of the pot, turn off the heat.

   

7. 7 Add 1/3 of the eggs, use a wooden spoon to cut the dough thinly, and then stir evenly from the bottom of the bowl,

   

8. 8 Add the second egg and beat in the same manner. (After the dough is cut into thin pieces, the surface area increases, making it easier to mix with eggs; the amount of eggs added depends on the subsequent situation, so 1/3 of the eggs should be left for adjustment.)

   

9. 9 Check the firmness of the dough. Use a spoon to bring up the batter. If the batter is in sections, it means the dough is still too hard. You can add the remaining egg liquid little by little and stir. If the batter curve is very soft and the batter forms an inverted triangle shape without slipping, you can stop adding eggs.

   

10. 10 Put the batter into a piping bag and pipe out a round shape on the baking sheet.

    

11. 11 Put the egg liquid in a bowl

    

12. 12 Dip a fork into some egg wash, press it on the surface of the dough, and flatten the top tip to ensure that the puffs are of the same height.

    

13. 13 Place in the preheated oven and bake at 200 degrees for 10-15 minutes. After the puffs have expanded and set, lower the temperature to 180 degrees and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the surface is brown. Be sure to bake them in place, otherwise the puffs will collapse when they come out of the oven. Do not open the oven door during baking.

    

14. 14 Finished product ~ 30 liters and two baking pans, a total of 62 pieces.

    

15. 15 Make the custard sauce. Method: Make three egg yolks and set aside; sift and weigh the powder, mix and set aside;

    

16. 16 Beat the egg yolks with a whisk, add sugar and mix until pale.

    

17. 17 Add cake flour and cornstarch. (Just stir until no powder is visible, do not overmix.)

    

18. 18 Milk is heated.

    

19. 19 Add 1/3 of the warm milk to the egg yolk paste, mix evenly, then add the remaining milk and stir.

    

20. 20 After stirring evenly, sieve and pour into the pot.

    

21. 21 Over medium-high heat, stir from the bottom of the pan to combine and heat through. (When the liquid becomes creamy, it will burn. Be careful not to stop stirring.) When the liquid reaches a certain concentration and becomes creamy, it will become sticky, heavy and lack of elasticity. At this time, heating should be continued. (Be careful not to stop heating at this time, otherwise a lot of unmelted flour will be left due to insufficient heating) Continue to heat until the batter loses its stickiness and becomes shiny, then turn off the heat. PS: Since this step requires quick operation and there is no time to take pictures, I will describe the steps in words~

    

22. 22 Transfer the batter to a container, cover it with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out, and immediately place the basin in ice water to cool. Once completely cooled, place in the refrigerator and set aside. (Rapid cooling is to prevent bacterial growth)

    

23. 23 Sandwich filling. Take out the refrigerated custard batter and beat it until creamy with a whisk. Put it into a piping bag~

    

24. 24 Make a small hole in the bottom of the puff.

    

25. 25 Insert the piping bag into the hole and squeeze the custard sauce inside.

    

26. 26 Caramel making. First, weigh and mix the sugar and water. PS: Before making caramel, remember to coat the prepared tart mold with salad oil for easy removal and consumption.

    

27. 27 Heat over low heat until melted, without stirring, until caramel color, remove from heat. (If the caramel is not boiled enough, the adhesive force will not be enough to fix the puffs; if it is boiled too much, it will turn black and bitter, so be sure to control the heat.) After the syrup is boiled, the puff tower must be assembled immediately. The steps must be done quickly. There is no time to take pictures, so describe in words~

    

28. 28 Assemble the puff tower. Dip the puffs in syrup, stick the puffs together with the syrup side, press them tightly with your hands, and connect them into a circle. Because the first layer is the foundation, no gaps should be left. When placing the puffs, always pay attention to the position of the puffs and ensure that they surround the tower mold strictly.

    

29. 29 Arrange the puffs in the same way and press them firmly with your hands.

    

30. 30 Use chopsticks or a fork to dip into the melted caramel, and draw the string back and forth around the puff tower so that the sugar threads wrap around the surface of the puff tower. Finally, decorate with colored sugar, and the caramel-drawn puff tower is complete! When you take your first bite, you'll fall in love with it!