Paris-Brest

The classic ring of choux with crème mousseline praliné, created for the Paris–Brest bike race.

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Not tried yet. The ring might come out flat, a crumble disc on top of the pâte before baking helps it rise evenly. The pâte might be a bit short for 3 rings, make it ×1.5 if so.
The vanilla pod in the mousseline can be skipped, the praliné is strong enough.

Prepare the praliné, 100g go in the mousseline and 50g in the middle. Keep the rest in a jar.
Prepare the pâte à choux.
Draw a ø20cm circle on a parchment sheet and flip it over on a baking sheet.
Pipe a ring of pâte with a 12mm star-shaped nozzle just inside the circle, a second one inside against it, and a third one on top in between.
Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
Bake at 170°C for 40 minutes (do not open the oven!). Let it cool down on a grid.
Prepare the crème mousseline and whip in 100g of praliné at the end.
Cut the ring horizontally in two, about 1/3 from the top.
Pipe the mousseline on the base in big rosettes with the star-shaped nozzle.
Pipe the 50g of praliné in a line in the middle of the mousseline.
Put the top back on and dust with icing sugar.
Let it set for at least 1 hour in the fridge. Take it out 20 minutes before serving.

Steps

Roast the hazelnuts and almonds at 160°C for 15 minutes. Rub the hazelnuts in a towel to remove most of the skins.
Boil the sugar and water to 118°C.
Add the warm nuts all at once and stir, the sugar crystallizes and turns sandy, that’s normal.
Keep stirring over medium heat until the sugar melts again and caramelizes to an amber colour.
Spread on a parchment sheet with the fleur de sel and let it cool completely.
Break into pieces and blend in several bursts, letting the blender cool down, until it turns into a smooth runny paste (5-10 minutes).

Boil the water, sugar, butter and salt in a saucepan.
Add the flour all at once and stir over heat until it doesn’t stick to the sides.
Move to a bowl and incorporate the eggs one by one until a “V” shape forms.

Split the vanilla pod, scrape the seeds and heat the milk with the pod and seeds to a simmer.
Whisk sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks in a bowl.
Remove the pod, pour the hot milk over the mix, then return to the pan.
Boil for 1 minute while whisking constantly.
Off heat, let it cool down to around 50°C and whisk in half of the butter.
Cover with film “au contact” and let it cool down to room temperature (~20°C), not in the fridge.
Whip the crème and add the remaining butter little by little until it’s light.
If it splits, the crème and butter weren’t at the same temperature. Warm up the bowl for a few seconds and keep whipping.

Category: pastry