French Wedding Cake (Pièce montée)

Ingredients

• 250 ml Water
• 200 ml milk
• 150 g butter
• 200 g Flour
• 0.5 tsp Salt
• 6 Eggs
• 0.5 l milk
• 1 Vanilla bean
• 5 egg yolks
• 125 g sugar
• 50 g flour
• 25 g cornstarch
• 10 g butter
• 500 g sugar
• 250 ml Water
• 1 lemon (juice)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Heat water, milk and butter gently in a large pot for the dough. Once the butter has melted, bring to a boil. Sift in flour and salt, lower heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the dough absorbs all the liquid and lifts slightly from the pot (a white film on the bottom). Remove from heat and let cool.

2. 2.

   Beat the eggs into the dough one at a time until smooth and glossy. Preheat oven to 200°C. Place teaspoon‑sized dough balls on parchment paper on a baking sheet, leaving enough space as they will triple in size. Bake for about 25 minutes, remove from oven and puncture each ball with a knife so steam can escape and the balls don’t soften.

3. 3.

   For the cream, bring milk and vanilla bean to a boil in a pot. Whisk wheat flour and starch with a little cold water, add to the pot, stir quickly until it boils once. Remove from heat and let cool. Beat egg yolks with sugar until pale‑creamy. Fold in vanilla pudding and keep stirring while heating; do not boil. Take off heat, mix in butter. Cover with parchment paper so no skin forms. Let cool and fill balls with pastry cream using a piping bag.

4. 4.

   To assemble: dissolve sugar in water with lemon juice over medium heat, simmer until golden brown. Remove immediately from flame and place on a cold surface. Use a fork to dip each ball and arrange them ring‑by‑ring on a plate, building layers of decreasing size to form a cone. Optionally draw long caramel strands.

5. 5.

   In the remaining caramel, dip a fork and pull thin strands with quick motions. Work best on an oiled marble slab or parchment paper. Arrange the delicate sugar strands around the cake as desired.