Sufganiyot Croquembouche with Sour Cherry Cream
This Sufganiyot Croquembouche is a stunning tower of tiny traditional Israeli doughnuts filled with sour cherry cream held in formation by spun caramel.
Equipment
- Stand mixer with a hook attachment
- Dutch oven
- Candy Thermometer
- small saucepan
- 10-inch Paper Machier Cone
- Parchment Paper
- Piping Bags
- Ateco 802 round piping tip
- 1-inch doughnut hole cutter
Ingredients
Sufganiyot
- 1 ½ cups whole milk lukewarm
- 4 ½ tsp active dry yeast
- 1 vanilla bean
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ neutral oil I used canola, plus oil for frying
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tbsp vodka
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 5 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
Sour Cherry Pastry Cream
- 2 ½ cups half and half
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 reserved vanilla bean pod
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 5 egg yolks
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 4 tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 1 ½ cups sour cherry jam pureed
Caramel
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tbsp white corn syrup
To Garnish
- Maraschino cherries
- Confectioner's sugar
- Dried edible flowers optional
Instructions
For the Sufganiyot
- Sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Add the sugar and whisk to combine. Let stand for 10 minutes or until foamy.1 ½ cups whole milk, 4 ½ tsp active dry yeast, ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and using the back of your knife, scrape out the caviar. Add the caviar to the yeast mixture and set the vanilla bean pod aside.1 vanilla bean
- Whisk the oil, eggs, and vodka into the yeast mixture and transfer to the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Sift in the flour and add the salt. Mix on low until a sticky dough forms. It should quite sticky, so don’t panic.⅔ neutral oil, 4 large eggs, 2 tbsp vodka, 2 tsp kosher salt, 5 cups all-purpose flour
- Transfer the dough to a bowl greased with neutral oil. Cover and let rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
- Punch down the dough and transfer it to a very well-floured surface. Dust the dough with additional flour and roll it out to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a 1-inch doughnut hole cutter, punch out the doughnuts. Transfer them to a baking sheet liberally dusted with flour and cover. Let rise for 45 minutes.
- Pour the oil into a large Dutch Oven and place over medium-high heat. Heat the oil to 325°F.** Add 6-8 doughnuts at a time and fry them until golden on both sides. About a minute or two a side.
- Transfer the finished sufganiyot to a cooling rack suspended over a baking sheet. Set aside to drain. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts. Let doughnuts cool slightly before creating a hole in the bottom of them using a paring knife in order to add the filling. Set the doughnuts aside.
For the Pastry Cream ***
- Pour the half and half, sugar, salt, and the reserved vanilla bean pod in a small saucepan. Place over medium-low heat and cook until steam begins to gather on the surface of the milk. Don’t let it come to a boil.2 ½ cups half and half, ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 reserved vanilla bean pod, ½ tsp kosher salt
- While the half and half is heating up, whisk the egg yolks and cornstarch together. Ladle in a bit of the warm cream into the yolk mixture while whisking constantly to temper the eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the saucepan and gently cook until thicken.5 egg yolks, 3 tbsp cornstarch
- Take the pastry cream off of the heat and remove the vanilla bean pod. Add the butter and stir until the butter melts and is well integrated. Fold the jelly into the finished pastry cream. Don’t over mix, you want streaks of jelly, not a cohesive mixture. Pour the pastry cream into a bowl and cover. Transfer to the fridge and let set for a minimum of 2 hours.4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, 1 ½ cups sour cherry jam
To Assemble
- Once the pastry cream is ready, transfer it to a piping bag fitted with an Acteco 802 round piping tip. Pipe the cream into the sufganiyot until the overflow slightly.
- Once all the sufganiyot are filled, it’s time to assemble. Wrap a 10-inch paper mache cone with parchment paper. Cover a plate with parchment paper as well and set the cone in the center. Set everything aside.
- Pour the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook the sugar, swirling the pot occasionally until the sugar becomes molten and it reaches a golden color about 2 shades lighter than you want your finished caramel to be. Once you have the sugar where you want it, plunge the base of the pot into an ice bath to stop the cooking process.2 cups granulated sugar, ¼ cup water, 1 tbsp white corn syrup
- Lean a sufganiyah against the base of the cone, cream-filled side facing in. Dip one side of another sufganiyah into the caramel and press the caramel-dipped side into the other sufganiyot. Continue until you form a circle around the base of the cone.
- Start on the next layer by dipping the bottom of a sufganiyah into the caramel. Place it on top and between two of the sufganiyot in the first layer. Repeat this process until you get all the way around and to the top of the cone. Fill any gaps with caramel-dipped maraschino cherries.Maraschino cherries
- Dip the prongs of a fork into the caramel and rotate it around the croquembouche to form a halo of caramel. Dust the Croquembouche with confectioner’s sugar and decorate with dried flowers, if using.Confectioner's sugar, Dried edible flowers
Notes
** Try your best to keep the oil within a 300 - 350°F range. If the temperature is too low the doughnut will become overly oily, if It’s too high the outside will cook before the inside is done.
*** Because the pastry cream needs time to chill, I recommend putting it together while the doughnut dough is rising.