The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.
This was my first Daring Bakers challenge so I was very excited but nervous about it at the same time. The recipes were very easy to follow and I really enjoyed making the cream puffs, something I've been wanting to do for a while now, but haven't gotten around to . The only problem I had was with the pastry dough. My first batch spread and turned out flat, which I think was due to not fully incorporating the last egg. So I started over and my second batch came out perfect. I made both the vanilla and coffee pastry creams, which were simple, but my arm was exhausted once I finished. I was running out of time when I was assembling so it's not pretty, but it tasted good, which is what matters most. I really enjoyed my first challenge and I can't wait for the next.
