Today, I brought you a French pastry recipe that I adore: the Paris-Brest!
This circular pastry, a reminder of the bike wheel, is created in 1910 to commemorate the Paris–Brest–Paris bicycle race at that time. This dessert is made of choux pastry garnished with a praline flavored mousseline cream. Choux pastry is neither hard to make nor easy, but I detailed the right steps to make it.
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Paris-Brest

RECIPE

Choux Pastry

  •  180°C
  •  35 min.

  • Put water, butter dices and salt in a large cooking pan then turn your cooker on. Please make sure water doesn’t start to boil before butter totally melts.
  • When butter entirely melts, reduce fire and add flour. Mix well with a wooden spoon.
  • Keep stirring on medium fire until the mixture dries. It might take 3 to 4 minutes. This is an important operation to make a perfect choux pastry.
  • Remove the cooking pan from cooker and keep mixing to cool down the dough.
  • Add the beaten eggs one by one: this means that you add the first egg, mix well until it totally gets into the dough, then you add the next one.
  • Cover a cooking plate with parchment paper and form your choux, eclairs or the famous circular shape of your Paris-Brest. Decorate with slivered almonds.
  • Cook for 30 to 35 minutes on 180°C preheated oven. It is crucial to never open the oven once the choux pastry starts to bake. Otherwise, it flatten.
  • Let your choux, eclairs or Paris-Brest cool in the oven, turned off and opened.

Mousseline Cream with Praline

  • Mix the egg yolks and sugar very well until the mixture turns white. Then, add the cornstarch.
  • Meanwhile, boil the milk.
  • Add the boiled milk to the egg yolks then put the mixture to cook on moderate fire.
  • Cook until obtaining a consistent cream.
  • Remove cream from fire and stir to cool it.
  • Add the praline.
  • Let the cream cool for 10 minutes before adding the softened butter.
  • Put the cream in a glass bowl and cover with cellophane. Make sure the cellophane is in contact with the cream to avoid having a solid cream layer on top when it cools.
  • Put the mousseline cream in the fridge for at least half an hour.
  • Garnish your choux, eclairs or Paris-Brest with the cream.

ENJOY YOUR HOMEMADE TREAT!
Paris-Brest