Croquembouche

Work one stick of room temperature butter with three quarters of a cup of packed light brown sugar until smooth and creamy with no individual bits of butter.

Add a pinch of salt; if the butter is still lumpy, zap it in the microwave about eight seconds and work it again.

Work in one cup of flour until the flour disappears; it will seem dry and a little crumbly.

Knead by folding and pressing it down on itself until it comes together in one evenly mixed piece that looks like cookie dough.

Put half the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll to about an eighth of an inch, rotating the parchment 90 degrees between directions.

Cover and chill the cracklin 10 to 15 minutes.

For the pate a choux put half a cup of whole milk, half a cup of water, half a teaspoon of kosher salt, a tablespoon of sugar and seven tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Add the flour all at once, stirring rapidly but gently at first, then really aggressively once the flour disappears.

Turn it into a bowl, let it rest a little, then add the eggs one by one, fully incorporating each; the dough separates and looks like it will not recombine, and it will.

Stop when the mixture falls off the spoon in a V shape; too loose and the puffs will not puff and go hollow.

Spoon the pate a choux into a pastry bag, avoiding air pockets, lift the sides, settle the dough, twist the top and secure it with a rubber band.

Punch about 70 one-inch rounds out of the chilled cracklin, one at a time, returning it to the fridge whenever it softens.

Trace a seven by five grid of one-inch circles on parchment paper with a permanent marker, turn the sheet ink side down onto a baking sheet and anchor it with tiny dabs of pate a choux at the corners.

Hold the tip just above the parchment at an angle between the edge and the centre of a circle, apply even pressure until the circle fills, then lift with a flick; fill every circle on both sheets.

Instead of an egg wash, rest a cracklin circle on top of each piped mound.

Preheat to 425F, put the sheets on racks in the top and bottom thirds, drop the temperature to 375F, rotate top to bottom and 180 degrees after 20 minutes and bake 30 to 40 minutes.

Let them rest in the oven to dry out.

Bore a small hole in the bottom of each puff with the tip of a paring knife to let trapped steam escape and to give a spot to fill through; cool fully. They should feel totally hollow.

Mix the chocolate into the pastry cream while it is still hot, then press film onto the surface and chill.

Fill a pastry bag with the pastry cream, hold each puff over the tip at the hole and squeeze firmly but gently without overfilling.

For the caramel combine two cups of sugar and half a cup of water in a large saucepan over medium heat; wear gloves.

Once bubbles cover the whole surface, brush the sides of the pot with a wet pastry brush to dissolve the stuck-on sugar crystals.

Keep it on medium until it turns golden, then dial the heat down to reach a dark amber without overcooking, and pour it into a heatproof measuring cup so the pot's heat does not burn it.

Hold each puff by the edges just below the cracklin, dip the domed top into the caramel, let the excess drip off and set it on a baking sheet.

Set a base ring of about 11 puffs on an upturned plate, cake stand, cake round or foil-covered tart pan base, positioned caramel side out.

Decrease each ring by one puff as the tower builds; there is no form inside, it is built hollow.

Dip the sides of each puff in the second batch of caramel and hold it in place against the ring, angling each one slightly inward to create the slope.

As the caramel hardens it forms threads; wrap them around the tower with an offset spatula.