White chocolate and caramel Christmas wreath

MAKES 1 LARGE WREATH ( 40 CHOUX PUFFS) PREP AND COOK TIME 2 HOURS 15 MINUTES

2 cups (440g) caster sugar ½ cup (125ml) water

290g white chocolate melts gold and silver edible glitter

CHOUX PUFFS

1½ cups (375ml) water 120g butter, cubed ¼ teaspoon salt

1½ cups (225g) plain flour 5 eggs, beaten lightly

CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE

1½ cups (330g) caster sugar 8 egg yolks

¾ cup (110g) plain flour 2⅔ cups (660ml) milk

⅓ cup (80ml) Grand Marnier 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 strips orange peel

40g butter

1 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fanforced). Line two large oven trays with baking paper.

2 CHOUX PUFFS Place water, butter and salt in a medium saucepan over mediumhigh heat; bring to the boil. Add flour; beat with a wooden spoon over heat for 3-5 minutes or until mixture comes away from base and sides of pan. Transfer to a large bowl of an electric mixer and beat on low speed for 3 minutes or until slightly cooled. Gradually beat in the eggs, a little bit at a time, until mixture is smooth, glossy and thick.

3 Place the mixture into a large piping bag with a 1.3cm plain nozzle. Pipe little piles of mixture about 3cm in diameter and 3cm high. With a wet finger, smooth down any little peaks on top of the puffs. Bake for 10 minutes, then swap the top and bottom trays, and cook for a further 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 160°C (140°C fan-forced) and bake for another 30 minutes. Ten minutes before the end of cooking time, remove the puffs from the oven and, using a small knife or a 5mm sharp piping nozzle, pierce the bases of the puffs and lay them on the side for the last 10 minutes of cooking to let the insides dry out. When time is up, the puffs should be golden brown and hollow in the centre. Cool.

4 CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE Place sugar and egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 5 minutes on high speed until light and creamy. Add the flour and beat for a further minute until well combined. In a large saucepan, combine the milk, Grand Marnier, extract and orange peel; bring to a simmer. Remove orange peel and gradually add the milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture in a thin steady stream, beating on low speed. Return the mixture to the saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and whisk continuously for 4-5 minutes or until the custard has thickened and darkens to a yellow colour. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. While still slightly warm, whisk in butter. Place in a tray and cover the surface with plastic wrap to avoid a skin forming on top. Refrigerate until ready to fill profiteroles.

5 To fill, place the Crème Pâtissière into a piping bag with a 4mm nozzle. Insert nozzle into the hole on the bottom of each puff; fill slowly and carefully (Step 5, below), until profiterole has a decent weight and you feel resistance when piping.

6 Place the sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; stir until dissolved, then do not stir again. Swirl the pan occasionally to prevent the sugar from burning. When caramel is a deep golden colour, remove the pan from the heat (dip base of saucepan briefly in a bowl of cold water in sink to stop burning). Dip the top of half of the filled profiteroles into the caramel and leave to set (Step 6). If the sugar starts to harden, place it back on the heat until it’s loose again.

7 In a heatproof bowl over a barely simmering pot of water, melt the white chocolate. Dip tops of remaining half of profiteroles in white chocolate; leave to set.

8 Place a dinner plate (about 25cm) on a large cake board. Dip a caramel-covered profiterole sideways into the caramel or melted white chocolate and “glue” it to a chocolate-covered one, placing it on your board, leaving a 1cm gap from plate. Alternating between the caramel-coated and chocolate-coated profiteroles, work your way around the plate until you have three-quarters of a circle, remove plate and complete the circle. Dip the bases of the remaining profiteroles in the caramel or melted white chocolate, one at a time, and position them on top of the first layer. Using a fork, dip tip into caramel, drizzle lightly over wreath, moving the fork to draw out thin threads (Step 8). Sprinkle wreath with edible glitter. Unfilled Choux Puffs suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.