This Tower of Doughnuts Is the Perfect Centerpiece for Your Holiday Table–
Pastry chef Paola Velez makes an Old Fashioned Doughnut Croquembouche in this holiday episode of Pastries with Paola.
The following written content by Lucy Simon
We are celebrating the season with two special holiday episodes of Pastries with Paola before season two launches in the spring. First up is Paola’s holiday showstopper, the Old Fashioned Doughnut Croquembouche. Here, Paola riffs on the croquembouche, a classic French celebration dessert, by swapping out traditional choux pastry for crispy and fluffy old fashioned doughnuts flavored with toasty browned butter and warming cinnamon. This tower of doughnuts is held together with amber caramel and adorned with spun sugar and gold leaf– the perfect finishes for this wow-worthy dessert.
Made popular in France in Paris in the late 18th century, and in America in the 1980s, the croquembouche is a testament to the culture of excess and the embrace of the over-the-top. “The croquembouche is the it girl for the holiday season,” says Paola. “And you can make them with just about anything you like.”
Paola’s croquembouche tastes just as good as it looks. By adding Greek yogurt to the doughnut dough, she builds in extra structural support along with a light and tangy flavor that balances out the sweetness of the caramel. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, these cinnamon and brown butter-scented doughnuts will make any cozy holiday celebration a little extra.
Read more from Food and Wine for Paola’s step-by-step method and follow along with the video below.
Here’s another dessert that looks delicious, too:
