Twenty-five years ago, or so, I found the magic. I was paging through a cookbook, the seminal “La Methode,” Jacques Pepin’s sequel to his even more seminal “La Technique.” As I was grazing through the ...

A croquembouche is a traditional French dessert that’s usually served at special occasions. With Christmas right around the corner, we thought this would be the perfect time to make a holiday version ...

Croquembouche features little baked puffs filled with pastry cream and then stuck together with caramel to form a beautifully shaped mound. Twenty-five years ago, or so, I found the magic. I was ...

There was one other major problem, which I can blame only on myself. The way Pepin makes his croquembouche, he dips the top of each puff in caramel (others leave out this step). It is much easier to ...

So I decided to try. How hard can it be? As it turns out, it is pretty hard. But it is also spectacular, both in appearance and taste. I ended up with a beautiful croquembouche that tasted even better ...