Doughnut Croquembouche

July 11, 2018

Listen, I’ve searched through and through my family tree to hunt out any trace of French in my lineage. It’s nowhere to be found. Apparently my undying fascination of French culture is built on a foundation of croissant consumption, not some innate inner tug towards the homeland. Regardless, I will forever get starry-eyed over the language, the scenery, and those precise methods of cooking. There’s something about that place that just feels like a fairytale, you know?

So even though there’s not a hint of Parisian in my blood, today we’re whipping out treats for Bastille Day which is coming up on July 14th. Why? Well, I think there’s some of you out there who are a little like me- willing and ready to celebrate just about anything at any point in time if there’s fun and food and a party to be had. So let’s do this. Let’s celebrate the French Revolution, okay?

Croquembouche is a classic French dessert usually made by towering a cone-shaped stack of profiteroles and spinning it in a web of candied caramel. I’m not typically one to shy away from making intricate, time-requiring desserts, but the thought of making over a hundred homemade cream puffs while risking third-degree burns to spin magma-hot candy around said tower was all out-terrifying to me. No thank you. Instead, I decided we’d take the easy (and delicious) way out by making a doughnut croquembouche. Spoiler alert: I even skipped the effort of homemade doughnuts and bought these! That means less time baking, more time spent eating doughnuts- a wise decision, if you ask me.

So here’s your tutorial: a DIY doughnut croquembouche for you to make for Bastille Day, a wedding, a birthday party or whatever else is deemed worthy of loads of doughnut holes (which is really anything my opinion.) Let’s get started!

What You’ll Need:

One New 5″x18″ Styrofoam Cone (I bought mine here)

12 Dozen Doughnut Holes (I ordered mine a day in advance from our local donut shop for less than $20)

1 Bag of Mini Powdered Sugar Doughnuts

About 300-400 Toothpicks

Additional Powdered Sugar and A Sifter, If Desired

Directions:

Begin by inserting toothpicks about halfway into the base of the styrofoam cone. The toothpicks should be placed in sets of two about an inch apart. You can go ahead and stick in a few doughnut holes to make sure that you’re spacing out your toothpicks well. I chose to place toothpicks into the bottom quarter section of the cone before putting the doughnuts on, but you can do this however you’d like. Make sure your doughnuts are snug together on the cone so that the styrofoam cone isn’t visible beneath. Continue filling in the cone from bottom to top until you get to the very end of the cone. Arrange doughnuts on the peak of the cone and feel free to use toothpicks to stick a couple more doughnuts on top of the tippy top doughnuts as well.

Next, fill in the cone with some of the powdered sugar doughnuts. I chose to do this step last so that I could space the powdered sugar doughnuts out well. Alternatively, you could use some powdered sugar doughnuts as well. Simply remove a doughnut hole and barely squish the doughnuts around it to make room for the slightly larger powdered sugar mini doughnut. Place the mini doughnut on the toothpicks and continue arranging a few more around the cone as desired. I chose to place one on top as well, but this is your choice.

Finally, if desired, use a fine sifter to sift on a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Be sure to do this step just before serving.

What Else You Need to Know:

Each doughnut requires about two toothpicks to ensure that it stays on the cone well.
Be gentle with the top of the cone! I broke mine while trying to pull out a toothpick. You can glue this back on, but it’s an added step that isn’t necessary.
If you use a larger or smaller cone, the amount of doughnuts and toothpicks you’ll require will differ.
Fresh doughnuts taste best, so do try to assemble this the day you’re planning to serve it.

And That’s All It Takes to Make a Doughnut Croquembouche!

Truly, this has got to be one of the cutest shortcut DIYs I’ve ever made. I hope you’ll give it a try for your upcoming parties. In the meantime, viva la France! Viva la dougnuts! Viva la croquembouche!