Paris-Brest
A Paris-Brest is a traditional French pastry named after an old bicycle race between Paris and the city of Brest in Brittany. The pastry was created in 1910 and its circular shape is meant to represent the wheel of a bicycle. However, it is NOT meant to be used as a spare tire. You’ve be warned. A Paris-Brest is essentially a choux puff ring filled with a mousseline cream flavored with hazelnut praline, the choux in this version are topped with a crunchy crumble with a sprinkle of fleur de sel. It is every bit as clever as it is delicious.
Philippe Conticini of the famed Pâtisserie des Rêves does a beautiful version that was named best Paris-Brest in Paris last year (apparently the jury is still out in Brest) so you can imagine my excitment when i bought his French cookbook “Sensations” and got my little fingers on the prized recipe a few weeks ago. In a perfect world it would be easy to just follow some instructions to re-create this masterpiece at home and claim to your family and friends you’re the genius behind it. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world, the cookbook has some serious mistakes in it, and your family and friends wouldn’t believe you anyway. The choux puff and the crumble work perfectly but the praline cream recipe is just way off. And i mean waayyy off.
So i put my thinking hat on and did some tweaking and troubleshooting and came up with this version and was quite pleased with it. It may look complicated but it really isn’t. Not in anyway more difficult than a simple choux. I plan to try Conticini’s Paris-Brest next time i’m in Paris to try to crack its secret so stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy!
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Paris-Brest Recipe
(Inspired by Philippe Conticini: Pâtisserie des Rêves, Paris) - Makes 2 cakes. Serves 8 to 10 people.
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For the choux paste
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup whole milk
- 8 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 5 large eggs
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For the crumble:
- 3 tablespoons butter, soft
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel
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For the praline cream:
- For the buttercream:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- For the pastry cream:
- 1 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1/3 cup hazelnut praline paste
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For the praline cream:
- For the buttercream: place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook to 248’F on a candy thermometer. Meanwhile beat the egg yolks and the whole egg in a Kitchenaid until light in color. Pour the hot syrup over the eggs and keep beating until totally cool. Add the softened butter little by little until fully incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy. Reserve in the refrigerator.
- For the pastry cream: place the milk and vanilla bean in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the cornstarch until fully incorporated. Pour 1/3 of the hot milk over the egg mixture while whisking vigorously. Pour the mixture back into the pan with the milk and bring to a boil while stirring constantly until it thickens. Discard the vanilla bean. Cool pastry cream on ice.
- Combine the hazelnut praline paste with the buttercream and cooled pastry cream in a food processor and mix until you obtain a silky smooth praline cream. Refrigerate until ready to use.
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For the crumble:
- Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix with your finger until you obtain a paste. Place on a sheet of parchment paper and roll to 1/16 inch thickness. Refrigerate. Cut out 1 inch rounds using a cookie cutter.
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For the choux puff pastry:
- Preheat oven to 350’F. Place the water, milk, butter, salt and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and pour the flour over the milk. Using a wooden spoon, keep stirring the mixture until a “wet” dough forms. Keep stirring over medium-low fire for 5 to 6 minutes to “dry” the dough. Place the mixture in the bowl of a Kitchenaid equipped with the paddle attachment. On medium speed, add eggs one by one, waiting for them to incorporate into the dough before adding the next one. Place the batter into a pastry bag with a round tip, pipe into a crown (see picture). Place a round of crumble dough on top of each mound. Bake for 45 minutes. Let it cool.
- To assemble: split the choux puff ring in half the long way. Pipe the praline cream with a pastry bag. Cover with the top part. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Refrigerate the Paris-Brest until ready to serve.
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