Why It Works
- Caramelizing the nuts and sugar collectively infuses the praline with a nutty caramel taste, whereas the addition of baking soda makes it simpler to grind right into a paste and deepens its total taste.
- The mix of milk and water within the dough browns the choux ring and ensures a crisp shell.
- Egg wash helps the almonds adhere to the floor of the choux ring.
- Utilizing pastry cream and butter on the right temperature will produce a delicate, fluffy crème mousseline.
The Paris–Brest is a basic French pastry, that includes a crisp, almond-studded baked ring of pâte à choux that is cut up in half horizontally, liberally crammed with praline crème mousseline—a heady combination of vanilla pastry cream, nutty praline paste, and whipped butter—and completed with a dusting of powdered sugar.
Severe Eats / Debbie Wee
This bakery staple was created in 1910 by pastry chef Louis Durand, as an homage to the long-distance Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race (the pastry’s round form is supposed to evoke that of a bicycle wheel). Pâtisserie Durand, which continues to be owned and operated by the Durand household, claims to have the unique recipe, however thankfully this hasn’t prevented pastry cooks all over the world from placing forth their own spins on the dessert.
Our recipe retains issues basic. The praline paste begins as a scaled-down batch of Stella’s hazelnut brittle—a mixture of water, sugar, corn syrup, hazelnuts, almonds, and salt cooked to a tawny brown and cooled on a greased baking sheet. Including baking soda partway by way of the method alkalizes the sweet, each deepening its taste and making it simpler to grind right into a nut butter–like paste in a meals processor.
For the choux ring, we observe our foolproof technique. A 50/50 mixture of milk and water for the liquid part of the dough yields a crisp and well-browned shell when baked, whereas including a contact of sugar to the choux base lends it refined sweetness that enhances the creamy hazelnut filling.
Piping the choux ring requires a gradual hand and a little bit of endurance. It consists of piping three particular person rings—two concentric circles touching one another, and a 3rd piped on high to overlap them. When baked, the three choux rings fuse collectively to type the pastry’s attribute bicycle-tire form (it’s essential that the rings are all touching, in any other case you’ll find yourself with distinct rings). If piping is not your robust swimsuit, do not fret; when you make a mistake, you possibly can all the time begin over by scraping any piped batter again into the pastry bag. We evenly brush the ring with egg wash and sprinkle it with sliced almonds earlier than transferring it to the oven to bake.
Now it’s time to whip up the crème mousseline. Crème mousseline typically goes by one other identify: German buttercream, or, as Stella calls it, “whipped vanilla custard frosting.” We start by beating softened butter with the paddle attachment in a stand mixer till it is creamy and clean, after which incorporate the ready praline paste, beating in just a few tablespoons of the pastry cream at a time till clean. The ultimate step is aerating the crème mousseline. To perform this, change to the whisk attachment and whip till the combination is mild and fluffy.
Severe Eats / Debbie Wee
Assembling the Paris–Brest could look like essentially the most intimidating half, as photo-worthy renditions require a talented piping hand. However do not let inexperience cease you, since there’s no incorrect strategy to do it so long as the filling sits tall inside the underside half. With apply (or perhaps a little bit of luck), it will be a showstopper, however irrespective of how skilled the filling appears, we promise it will be no much less scrumptious.
