Today’s lesson is on Paris Brest and I was expecting a large one, but chef decided to give us a 5 inch version which is good, because this will be an individual portion, no cutting required! On a side note, my partner was ill and I hope she gets well real soon.

Apparently, Paris Brest got it’s name when it was created in France in 1910 to celebrate a cycling event, a race from Paris to Brest and back to Brest. It’s a choux pastry, piped into a round, baked till crispy and filled with mousseline cream. So here’s the recipe.

(Makes about four 5-inch rounds or eight 2.5-inch rounds)

Ingredients

For choux pastry

  • 130g eggs (about 3 whole eggs)
  • 120g bread flour
  • 100g butter
  • 100ml water
  • 100ml milk
  • 5g sugar
  • 3g salt

For the mousseline cream

  • 350g milk (divided into 300g and 50g approximately)
  • 250g butter
  • 120g sugar (to be divided approximately in half)
  • 60g egg yolks
  • 60g custard powder
  • half a vanilla pod
  • 1 tbsp hazelnut paste (optional)

Method

For the choux pastry

  1. Preheat oven at 190 degrees and prepare 5-inch or 2.5-inch template and place the template underneath baking paper lined trays.
  2. In a saucepan, boil milk, butter, sugar, water and salt till boiling.
  3. Add the flour all at once and stir to mix well.
  4. Cook the paste till it forms a ball.
  5. Turn the cooked paste into a mixing bowl and using a paddle attached to mixer, mix at low speed to cool the paste.
  6. Add the yolks gradually until the batter is smooth and shiny.
  7. Transfer into a piping bag fixed with a piping tip of your choice. It can be round or star.
  8. Pipe into 5-inch or 2.5-inch rounds, making sure there is space in between to allow for expansion.
  9. Top with almond flakes.
  10. Bake in preheated oven of 190 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

For mousseline cream

  1. Boil about 300g of milk, half the sugar and vanilla bean in a pot.
  2. In a mixing bowl, whisk yolks, the remaining sugar, 50g of milk and custard powder till well mixed.
  3. Drizzle the boiling mix from 1 into the yolk mix slowly to prevent cooking the egg yolks and mix well. This is called tempering.
  4. Return the mix to medium heat and cook till lava consistently, stirring continuously throughout.
  5. Remove from heat and stir in butter and whisk with hand whisk till smooth and fluffy.
  6. Add hazelnut paste if desired.
  7. Place a cling foil on the paste to prevent a skin from forming on the paste and leave to chill in fridge until ready to use.

To assemble

  1. Slice the choux puff in half.
  2. Fill a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle with chilled mousseline cream and pipe onto the choux puff.
  3. Chill in fridge and viola! Ready to be consumed.

The cream might be a bit heavy and I would mix with some whipped cream to lighten the mixture a bit.