Paris-Brest

the wheel-shaped choux pastry of the French pâtisserie: a crisp ring of choux split and piped full of silky hazelnut praline mousseline, scattered with flaked almonds and dusted with sugar

Origin: France

From the journey of Hazelnut.

The Paris-Brest is one of the grand classics of the French pâtisserie, and it is the supreme showcase of the hazelnut praliné, the caramelised-nut paste that is one of the foundations of the French sweet kitchen. It was created around 1910 by a pâtissier whose shop stood on the route of the Paris-to-Brest bicycle race, and it was shaped, in tribute, as a wheel: a large ring of choux pastry, baked crisp and hollow, split and filled with a praline-flavoured mousseline, the rich, silky cream of crème pâtissière beaten with butter and thick with the paste of caramelised hazelnuts and almonds. The praliné is the heart of it: deep, toasty, and faintly bitter with caramel, it is what lifts the Paris-Brest above a mere cream cake into one of the most satisfying of all French desserts, the crisp choux, the flaked almonds on top, and the cool, nutty cream within playing against one another in every bite. It remains a fixture of the French pâtisserie window, made both as a great sharing wheel and as small individual rings, and it is, for many, the dessert that best captures the flavour of the hazelnut in the French tradition.

Ingredients

Choux

  • 125 ml water
  • 125 ml whole milk
  • 100 g unsalted butter
  • 150 g plain flour
  • 4 whole eggs (plus 1 more for glazing)
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 30 g flaked almonds, for the top

Praline Mousseline

  • 500 ml whole milk
  • 4 whole egg yolks
  • 100 g caster sugar
  • 40 g cornflour
  • 200 g unsalted butter, softened
  • 180 g hazelnut praline paste (praliné)

Method

  1. Make the crème pâtissière for the filling first, so it can cool: whisk the yolks, sugar, and cornflour to a paste. Bring the milk to the boil, pour it onto the yolks whisking, return to the pan, and cook, whisking hard, until very thick. Scrape into a bowl, press cling film to the surface, and chill completely.
  2. Make the choux: heat the water, milk, butter, and salt until the butter melts and it boils. Tip in the flour all at once and beat over the heat until the dough forms a ball and films the pan. Cool for a few minutes, then beat in the eggs one at a time to a smooth, glossy paste that drops reluctantly from the spoon.
  3. Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan). On a lined tray, pipe the choux into a ring about 22 cm across (a double or triple ring of piped rounds for height), brush with beaten egg, and scatter with flaked almonds. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until deep golden and crisp, without opening the oven for the first 25 minutes.
  4. Finish the mousseline: beat the softened butter until pale, then beat in the cold pastry cream a spoonful at a time, followed by the praline paste, until silky and smooth. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.
  5. Split the cooled choux ring horizontally. Pipe the praline mousseline generously over the base in tall, even rosettes, set the lid on top, and dust with icing sugar. Chill for an hour before serving, and eat the same day.

Notes

The praliné, the paste of caramelised hazelnuts and almonds, is what defines the Paris-Brest; a good ready-made praline paste is convenient, or make your own by caramelising equal weights of toasted hazelnuts and almonds with sugar and grinding to a paste. The classic is one large wheel to share, but individual rings are elegant and easier to serve. Some pâtissiers hide a core of pure praline or a praline crémeux inside the mousseline for an extra hit of hazelnut.

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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