STILL LOOKING FOR A CROQUEMBOUCHE THAT WON'T COST THE EARTH Post Reply

[pigeonairre]

I'm getting married in St Pancras in November and have a last minute desire for a Croquembouche! PAtisserie valerie, maison blanc and Paul are the big players in this type of patisserie, but they come with a HUGE price tag!

Does any one know of a humbler patisserie/small scale caterer who could make a decent yet affordable Croquembouche for approx 60 people? I have heard that they are notoriously difficult and have to be made on the day - thus the price tag!

Fingers crossed! Any suggestions welcome!

Thank you,

Pigeonairre

[supergirl]

Congratulations on your wedding!

Unfortunately, what you have been told is true. I am not sure how much the people you mentioned are charging but it might be wise (as you are getting married in St Pancras) comparing it to the price of a return to Lille + the cost of the dessert on the day (except it depends if you are getting married in the morning).

I would love to be able to say to you, I will make it for you. I am not a professional caterer but cooking and food are my passions and I bake everything including choux and macarons (for ourselves and parties my frienda are having)... But as it is your wedding you want it to be absolutely perfect and in order to commit to a perfect croquembouche I would have to do it a few times before hand and I feel like your wedding is pretty soon?
Be aware of Patisserie Valerie, I think they charge way too high for the quality/taste of their products.

You might want to ask Erwan from Deli Boutique on St John Hill. He owns a french bakery and I am pretty sure he would be happy to help and most probably cheaper from Patisserie Valerie and the likes. I will PM you if I have more ideas.

Good luck on the day, hope you ll find your dream croquembouche and you ll have your perfect day!

[pigeonairre]

Thank you for your reply - excellent knowledge of the Croquembouche!

I did laugh at the return to Lille advice! We are not looking for a majorly fancy croque, like some of the Antoinette-esque proportioned towers I have seen - although they ARE lovely, they scream, "Not in the budget, look the other way!" to me. Maybe I should just asj my catererer to stack up loads of profiteroles in a mountain and call it a cheats croquembouche!

I will def try the patiserrie on St John's Hill. I have enquired at the lovely Macaron patiserrie opp Clapham Common, but they are a bit tardy with a response!

Ears are flapping for anymore suggestions.

Many thanks for taking the time to sen d such detailed advice.

xx

[leslos]

Hi. I had one for my wedding. I used suzelle cakes on replingham road southfields. They transported it to Kent for me. We had it as the dessert so they cost was not too bad. I think there maybe a different owner now but they were great for mine and really helpful.

[Raspberry-Sorbet]

You could ask Laura Amos at the dessert deli - she is a pastry chef and I am sure does catering as well as her stand on Northcote.

[Annabel (admin)]

Nightingale Patisserie on Nightingale Lane. They have all manner of wonderful cakes, pastries etc. I had Mr NappyValleyNet's 40th B'day cake made there and it was wonderful.

Annabel x

[pigeonairre]

i just had a quote from maison bertaux in soho for...£1,000 for 60 people! OH MY GOD.

All of the patisserie's mentioned so far, have referred me to Patisserie valerie. may have to change tack.

thank you though.

any more ideas welcome. x

[MrsAmanda]

I had my wedding cake from Patisserie Valerie and it was lovely. We had a chocolate mousse cake, which was served as pudding, and I didn't think it was overly expensive. I can understand why everyone charges a lot for croquenbouche, they are fiddly and choux paste is much superior made and eaten same day.

Have you tried Konditor & Cook? They do bespoke cakes so might be able to help.

[pigeonairre]

Hi there, thanks for reply. My caterer actually used to work for Konditor and cook and unfortunately they don't do the mighty croque! She doesn't want to attempt it as she has ten million other duties on the day. She is researching as well and may pull in a favour from someone she knows, but thought i'd try and help lighten the load. The search continues. So, was that a recommendation for patisserie valerie? i think my boyfriend thinks that it is too expensive.