Instructions

1. Purchase or prepare about 60 profiteroles for a 1-foot-tall tower. Prepare pastry cream according to your recipe. Insert a ¼-inch plain decorating tip into a pastry bag.

2. Spoon your pastry cream into the pastry bag and twist the bag closed. Poke the tip into each profiterole and squeeze enough pastry cream to fill each puff. Avoid splitting the profiterole by overfilling it with pastry cream.

3. Fill a bowl with water and ice and place it on the counter. Prepare the caramel sauce according to your recipe. Once the caramel is cooked, place the bottom of the saucepan in the bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

4. Cover the styrofoam cone with gold or silver food-grade paper, available at most craft stores, and place it onto the center of a decorative platter. Insert the first toothpick into the base of the styrofoam cone 1 inch above the base. Dip a profiterole into the caramel to coat one whole side and the top.

5. Insert the profiterole onto the toothpick, with the caramel side facing out. Insert another toothpick into the cone at the same height as the last and close enough to the last profiterole so that the puffs will touch. Dip another profiterole into the caramel and place it snug against the first.

6. Return the caramel back onto the stove if it cools and becomes too thick, heating it on medium until it melts again. Continue to insert toothpicks and attach the profiteroles while working your way around the styrofoam cone. Add one profiterole on top of the tower; and dip the remaining profiteroles into the caramel and attach to the platter surrounding the croquembouche.

7. Decorate the croquembouche with spun sugar, if desired, by first dipping a fork into the cooled caramel. Quickly spin the fork around the tower allowing the caramel to drip and pull into thin strings. Continue surrounding the croquembouche with spun sugar until the desired effect is achieved.