Paris-Brest
Another Daring Bakers challenge, and I couldn’t be happier. This one was brought to us by Luisa from Rise of the Sourdough Preacher. I have always wanted to make this historic pastry. Paris Brest is a French dessert made up of pate choux (choux pastry), piped into a ring and baked. The ring is sliced horizontally and filled with praline whipped cream. I’ve eaten half of it. There. I said it.
Pate choux is a magical pastry. The choux batter is first made in a saucepan on the stove top, then spooned or piped onto a baking sheet. It is then baked in the oven where it puffs up into a golden brown, airy pastry that is nearly hollow inside. The best part is you can fill it with whatever you want… ice cream, whipped cream, cheese to name a few.
Grease and flour a baking sheet then draw a 8″ diameter circle.
In a saucepan, bring a cup of water and a stick of butter to a boil, stirring until butter has melted.
Mix in flour and salt, constantly stirring, until mixture pulls away from side of pan.
Let flour/butter mixture cool for 5 minutes, and then mix in the eggs one at a time.
As you mix in each egg, the mixture will separate into big pieces.
And then eventually coming back together.
Fill a large piping bag with the pate choux.
Begin to pipe over the circle on your baking sheet. Pipe out two rings (one tracing the circle and one on the inside), then pipe out a ring or two on top. Once it is fully piped, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with almonds, and sift a little powdered sugar.
Bake for about 50 minutes, or until puffed and golden.
Time to make the praline!
In a medium saucepan, heat almonds and sugar until sugar melts and becomes amber in color.
Like this!
Pour praline on a parchment-lined baking sheet and let cool.
Once cooled, pulverize it in a food processor.
Gently fold the pulverized praline into whipped cream that has been sweetened with hazelnut liqueur.
Seriously. Give me a spoon. Now.
Cut your Paris-Brest in half horizontally and pipe the praline whipped cream around the bottom layer.
Cut the top of the Paris-Brest into generous pieces.
And fit them back on top. This makes it easier to slice out each piece.
It is a grand dessert. A show stopper! And it isn’t too heavy.
Enjoy!
- 1/2 cup (1 stick or 113 g) Unsalted Butter, cut into bits
- 1 cup (125 g) All-Purpose Flour
- Pinch of Salt
- 5 large Eggs, 1 of them lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup (25 g) Sliced Almonds
- Powdered Sugar, for garnish
- 1/2 cup (105 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 cup (50 g) Sliced Almonds
- 2 cups (just about 500 ml) Heavy Cream
- 1/4 cup (75 ml) Praline Liqueur (I used Frangelico)
- Lightly butter a baking sheet and dust it with flour, shaking off the excess. Using your finger, draw a 8-inch diameter circle in the center of the sheet.
- Place the butter in a medium-size heavy saucepan with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the butter is melted.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the flour and salt all at once. Cook, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon for 1 minute, or until the mixture leaves the side of the pan and forms a ball.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool for 5 minutes. Add the 4 whole eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition to form a shiny dough.
- Spoon the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch plain tip. Pipe the dough on top of the circle you've marked on the baking sheet, then one circle along the inside. Pipe one or two additional dough rings on top of the bottom two.
- Brush the dough ring with the beaten egg, and sprinkle with the almonds. Sift powdered sugar over the almonds and dough.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 35 minutes longer, or until the pastry ring is puffed and browned. Transfer to a rack to cool the pastry completely.
- With a long serrated knife, carefully slice the pastry ring in half horizontally.
- Butter a baking sheet. In a heavy 8 1/2-inch skillet, combine the granulated sugar and almonds. Place over medium-low heat and cook until the sugar melts, shaking the pan occasionally (do not stir). When the sugar has melted and turned an even golden brown, carefully pour the syrup onto the prepared baking sheet. Let the praline cool completely.
- Break the praline into small pieces and pulverize in a food processor. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
- In the large bowl of an electric mixer, at medium speed, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add the praline liqueur, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold in the crushed praline.
- Place the bottom half of the pastry ring on a serving plate. Fit a pastry bag with a large star tip and fill it with the cream filling. Pipe the filling into the bottom of the pastry ring. Replace the top of the pastry ring and lightly sift powdered sugar over the top.
- Serve the Paris Brest at once or refrigerate for up to one hour before serving. Refrigerate any leftovers.
- You can make the choux pastry a day before. Just chill in the refrigerator. You can also make the pastry ring, wrap it up, and refrigerate until ready to use another day.
- Electric mixer
- Sauce Pan
- Baking sheet
- 2 large Piping bags
