New Year's Croquembouche and Pavlova Tree

Begin by boiling water and butter together in a saucepan until the butter has completely melted. Remove from heat and add the flour and salt all at once. Stir vigorously until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Let the dough cool slightly before adding eggs, one at a time, until the batter is smooth and glossy. Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F) and spoon or pipe small mounds onto a baking sheet. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown and airy.

For the vanilla pastry cream, heat milk in a saucepan. In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract until combined. Gradually add warm milk to the mixture. Return everything to the saucepan, cook over low heat until thickened, then cool completely.

Meanwhile, melt dark chocolate separately, and fold it into some of the cooled pastry cream to create the chocolate filling.

For the Swiss meringue, start by whisking egg whites and granulated sugar in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm. Transfer to a mixer and beat until stiff peaks form and the meringue is glossy.

To prepare the vanilla cream, melt white chocolate and let it cool slightly. Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form and gently fold in the melted chocolate until fully combined.

For the raspberry jam, simply measure out your raspberry jam ready for assembly.

Begin assembling by filling each profiterole with the pastry cream and chocolate cream using a piping bag. Stack the filled profiteroles in a cone shape, securing them with caramel (melt sugar until golden). Drizzle extra caramel over the filled croquembouche for decoration.

Pipe the Swiss meringue into tree shapes on parchment paper and bake until crisp. Once cooled, layer the meringue with vanilla cream and dollops of raspberry jam.