Donut-hole Tree Tutorial

Waaayyyy back before the Internet (we may have had some sort of dial-up) and YouTube,I tried my hand at a croquembouche:

Source: http://dailydelicious.blogspot.com/2010/05/may-2010-daring-bakers-challenge-40.html

Yes, siree, I did. Made the dough, the cream filling, followed the recipe from one of my beautiful Christmas cookbooks to.the.letter… I made it to take as a showpiece to our family Christmas Eve dinner, but the cookbook didn’t say to keep it on the cool side, so eventually each puff started to slide d-o-w-n the cone. Even our sons, who were teenagers at the time, were so sad for me (it was touching, really). I ended up removing all the puffs and taking them on a platter. :(   Thank heavens they were delicious!

The Donut-Hole Tree I made for our Three Kings celebration this year (HERE) was a much easier alternative to a croquembouche. Certainly not as fancy, but certainly a much easier, fun “adornment” for the table.

(BTW, the idea came from One Charmed Party, where she made it for a Halloween party with regular donuts.)

Tutorial:

I started with a Styrofoam cone about 15” high, but of course you can use any size that’s suitable for your party. I will tell you that this 15” one required 4 or 5 dozen “holes,” so it holds A LOT (in fact, Mr. CHN had to run to the store for more!)

The cone can of course be purchased anywhere, but wouldn’t you know? I walked into our local Goodwill store and there was one, still in its original packaging, for a whopping $.25! Because I was concerned about cleanliness—with or without the packaging cover/from Goodwill or a regular store—and I wanted to be able to re-use it, I wrapped the cone in heavy-duty foil. Though probably not necessary, I held the foil in place with pearl straight pins so they’d be easy to find/remove after the party.

The trickiest part to building a donut-hole tree is holding it in place so it doesn’t tip over as the “holes” are removed.

Now, the last time I tried to use this candle holder (see picture below) with a candle, the long “spike” (what is that called?!) was so long that it broke the candle, so I’d asked Mr. CHN to cut it for me. Luckily, he hadn’t gotten to that, so I retrieved it from his workbench—it was PERFECT for the tree, because its length stabilized the Styrofoam perfectly!

To add dimension to the black candle holder I set it in a frosted-glass, beaded candle holder, but I still needing to secure the “hole” thing :).  Solution? I attached it with this awesome product—Scotch Restickable Discs. The black candle holder was “stuck” to the frosted-glass one, which was then “stuck” to the crystal cake plate. These discs are AWESOME! I use them everywhere in the house! Have you tried them yet?

To build the donut-hole tree:

1.  Insert the foil-covered Styrofoam cone into the spike in the candle holder.

2. Starting at the bottom, insert a toothpick close to the base of the cone, then insert a donut hole into the toothpick, making sure the toothpick doesn’t come through the hole.

3. Repeat the toothpick/hole process, adjusting the location of each toothpick to keep them close to each other.

4. Continue to build the tree in “rings” around the cone.

Finish the top of the tree with a donut hole at the top or a fancier topper if you have one (I was running late, because I didn’t want to build the tree too early to keep the holes fresh, and I hadn’t thought of a topper until that moment). Fill with edible greens (I used dill and it worked well, because it gives the illusion of evergreens). The tree was surrounded by Rolo Caramels, because they look like little crowns :), and they complemented the gold dots on the candle holder I’d used.

The possible uses for this tree are endless—Valentine’s Day, Easter, really, any holiday, any brunch, any reception! I hope you build your “tree” often! I know I will. 

And as for the croquembouche? I might try it again. Experience (and help from the Internet/YouTube) will make it a lot easier. :)  Have you made a croquembouche? Did it work the first time, or do you have a story to share?

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Zuni