Fancy That Croquembouche Wedding Cakes

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	What is a Croquembouche?	Pricing Options
	A croquembouche or "piece montee" is a wedding cake made from filled choux buns held together with caramel in an impressive pyramid. A very popular choice if there is a French connection within your bridal party and equally popular with the many other couples looking for an unusual, elegant and more interesting option to a traditional British wedding cake.

	Decorations	Pricing Options
	The most popular decoration is spun sugar - a delicate cobweb of caramel wrapped around the outside of the pyramid. As caramel absorbs water from the surrounding air the effect of the spun sugar will be different on each croquembouche. Fresh flowers look great around the base of the croquembouche - either just a few to compliment your colour scheme, or a thick band of flowers and greenery all around the base. Chocolate or sugar roses can be used within the croquembouche for a great effect, replacing some of the choux balls. Sugared almonds give a pretty effect, either scattered amounsst the choux pieces or as more formal flower shapes, and these are the most traditional option.

	Fillings	Pricing Options
	The traditional and most popular filling is creme patissiere - a light vanilla pastry cream. The flavour works well on its own, beautifully complimenting the delicate taste of the choux pastry and the distinctive flavour of the caramel, and can be further complimented by serving the croquembouche with a chocolate sauce or a fruit coulis. If you prefer, the creme patissiere can be flavoured with the fresh flavour of Limoncello. Fresh cream is not suitable for use in a croquembouche; it becomes too warm with the caramel, and the entire structure will become unstable.

	How Big are They?	Pricing Options
	This 400 piece croquembouche is shown next to a 4 tier (12" 10" 8" 6") stacked wedding cake to demonstrate the impact of your centrepiece. The impact of the smallest size (120 pieces) is similar to a traditional two tier cake. If you are serving it as wedding cake, allow 1 piece per person plus an extra 20% or so, and for dessert allow 3 pieces per person.

	Croquembouche Toppers	Pricing Options
	Although the top of a croquembouche usually comes to a peak, we can add fun sugar figures, fresh flowers or bride and groom figurines to the top if you prefer.

	Can it Collapse?	Pricing Options
	It is almost impossible for a professionally made croquembouche to collapse - indeed they can be far more stable than a traditional cake. It must, however, be correctly handled, and this includes displaying it on an level table, and keeping it dry. It should not be refridgerated, and special care must be taken for marquee weddings as marquees can be very humid. I would usually advise having the cake cutting ceremony as soon as you come into the marquee or reception room, so that the photos show it looking at its very best. This also gives the caterers plenty of time to break it up before serving.

	Cake and Croquembouche	Pricing Options
	Can't decide between a croquembocuhe and a cake? This couple chose a 12" rich chocolate cake to serve 75+ guests, decorated with white Belgian chocolate curls, and we topped it with a thick band of fresh ivory roses and a 200 piece croquembouche. A rather untraditional chocolate penguin "bride and groom" topped it off.

	Traditional Butterfly Croquembouche	Pricing Options
	The best of both worlds for a French Bride and an English Groom. A small (120 piece) croquembouche sitting on top of a rich moist fruit cake covered in traditional white fondant icing and simply decorated with lilac sugar butterflies. The lilac theme is continued onto the croquembouche with tiny sprigs of fragrant fresh lavender and a sugar butterfly at the very top.

	Chocolate Croquembouche	Pricing Options
	Chocolate works very well with croquembouche, and we can supply chocolate sauce to be drizzled over the top of the croquembouche immediately before it is cut, or as part of the cake cutting ceremony. The chocolate also helps to soften the caramel, making serving even easier. The sauce is made from dark Belgian chocolate with fresh cream. For the ultimate indulgence we can supply a chocolate fountain for your guests to dip their pieces of choux in to.

	How do you Cut a Croquembouche?	Pricing Options
	Traditionally, the top of the croquembouche would be hit with a sword, silver mallet or even a champagne bottle, cracking the top off while the bridesmaids hold up the corners of the table cloth to catch the pieces. If you are planning to do this we can supply the croquembouche with empty pieces of choux at the top, and with extra caramel for a more satisfying "crack". We have a range of different swords available to hire. However, most couples simply push a knife or sword into the side of the croquembouche, much as you would with a traditional cake. The croquembouche is then taken away to be broken up, or left for guests to help themselves - we have found that silver salad tongs are an effective serving tool, but for less formal weddings you will find that your guests are happy just to get stuck in with their fingers!

	Delivery	Pricing Options
	The croquembouche is made fresh on the day of the wedding and delivered to your venue. Delivery is an important factor when deciding on your budget - your croquembouche needs to be delivered as soon as it is ready, straight to your venue - the equivalent of a taxi service for cakes. Price is based on £1 per mile round trip. We deliver throughout London, Essex, Kent, Herts, Beds, Bucks, Oxon, Northants, Warwickshire, Worcs, Glos, Wilts, SE Wales, Somerset, Dorset and Hants. You are very welcome to arrange for someone to collect your croquembouche from our kitchens if you prefer.

	Trying a Sample	Pricing Options
	It is important that your croquembouche tastes as good as it looks. You are very welcome to come for a tasting on any day that we are making a croquembouche - simply call for upcoming dates. We regret that we are unable to post samples. Alternatively we would be delighted to put you in touch with other satisfied customers, or you may wish to read our customer review section.

	Proud to have been Chosen	Pricing Options
	Fancy That! is proud to have supplied croquembouche to couples all over the south of England including to weddings at The Inner Temple, The Saville Club, Blenheim Palace, Highclere Castle, Heythrop Park, Weston Manor and Eynsham Hall. We hope that you will choose us to make your croquembouche for your wedding day and look forward to hearing from you.

Please note that in addition to our Oxfordshire base, we offer croquembouche from our new base in Battersea, London.

As there are so few croquembouche suppliers in the UK we have developed a way to build and transport your croquembouche safely and reliably. However, as the croquembouche must be made on the day it is to be eaten we do not recommend transport times of more than 4 hours. Your croquembouche will be delivered to your venue just before the time you need it, by a specially trained courier.

For transport times of more than 4 hours we can arrange for a chef to come to you to make the croquembouche on site. Please call or email for a quote, which will include costs and time for travelling. Depending on availability we are happy to travel overseas.

Always made on the day of the wedding, by a trained pastry chef, the croquembouche relies on the correct balance of caramel to hold it together yet allow it to be dismantled. As it is freshly made, refrigeration is not required but it must be kept away from humidity or steam. Left overs, if any, should be eaten!

High humidity softens the caramel making the croquembouche easy to pull apart. This occurs naturally in marquees, but otherwise a steamy kitchen is ideal. Serve three choux balls per guest as dessert, with a chocolate or caramel sauce, or one choux ball as wedding cake.

Fancy That Wedding Cakes
Larkhill Farm, Larkhill, Wantage, Oxfordshire OX12 8PJ
Tel: 01235 770700 office hours | Tel: 01235 770066 evenings | Fax: 01235 770778 | Mob: 07074 770078
alison@wedding-cakes.co.uk