31st of March!! My day! My Birthday!! well, mine and my sister's so, happy Birthday to me and to my much beloved sister that I love as much as I love my own self!
And, I think, celebrating my birthday with a croquembouche it's a pretty way to celebrate it right?!
Have I ever made choux pastry until today? No! Never!!
Have I ever made a croquembouche or profiteroles or eclairs until today? Never!!!
This was my very first time making choux pastry. Actually, not the first! Second, because I attempted this a few weeks ago and burned my caramel (and a few fingers too...) so, my croquembouche was a failure. Well, actually, not a total failure, because it taught me that making choux pastry is way, way easier than I ever thought it would be and therefore, after burning my caramel, I was not scared to attempt a second Croquembouche.
This one!
I think it's not perfect but, it's quite pretty and certainly, very delicious!
The cardamom and orange filling is to die for and all together, it's a very satisfying dessert.
The recipe is another triumph from Yvette van Boven "Home Baked" book and it is the second and last recipe challenge of the month.
As I wrote here, every month Deborah asks us to make and publish, on a certain day, two recipes from the chosen book of the month. March wise, this Pie was the first recipe challenge and this Croquembouche is the second and last recipe challenge of the month.
You can find all the recipes I made for the Rainydaybites Cook Book Club under the label with the same name and you can read more about this online Cook Book Club, in this post.