Recipe: Paris-Brest with mousseline cream – Road to Pastry

Step 1

Bring the milk, water, salt and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Make the sure the butter is fully melted before reaching the boiling point.

Step 2

Remove from the heat and immediately add all the flour.

Step 3

Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon then put the pan back on the heat and continue beating the dough

Step 4

Keep drying the dough up on the heat only for a few minutes until it comes away from the sides of the pan and leaves a thin film on the bottom of the saucepan

Step 5

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and let it cool down for a few minutes

Step 6

Add an egg and stir until it is completely absorbed in the dough

Step 7

Add all the other eggs one at a time. Slightly beat the last egg before adding it then pour it slowly little by little on the batter, checking frequently if it has reached the right consistency. When the batter is shiny but firm (i.e. not runny), it is ready to be used with a piping bag.

Step 8

Draw two 18cm circles on parchment paper

Step 9

Flip the parchment paper sheet (so that the ink is not in contact with the choux pastry). Using a pastry bag fitted with a large star (or plain) tip, pipe a first ring following the circle you've drawn

Step 10

Pipe a second inner ring. Make sure the joint is in a different place from the outer circle.

Step 11

Finally, pipe a third ring on top of the other two. Once again, make sure the joint is far from that of the bottom rings.

Step 12

On the other side of the pan, pipe another ring of choux pastry

Step 13

Brush the rings lightly with egg wash

Step 14

Sprinkle the bigger ring with sliced almonds

Step 15

Bake at 170° for about 45-50 minutes or until the choux pastry rings are golden brown and well dried.

Step 16

In the meantime, heat the milk with half of the sugar and the vanilla bean in a saucepan

Step 17

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and corn starch

Step 18

When the milk is boiling, pour it in three times over the egg mixture through a strainer and mix every time to prevent the yolks from curdling

Step 19

Put back the liquid mixture into the saucepan and cook on medium heat whisking continuously

Step 20

Allow the pastry cream to boil for 2 minutes then remove from the heat, add the cold, diced butter and whisk again until it is fully incorporated

Step 21

Pour the cream in a large container, cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge

Step 22

When the cream is at around 25°C, whip it at medium speed in the bowl of a mixer with the praliné paste

Step 23

Incorporated the soft, diced butter little by little and keep on whipping for around 5 minutes until the cream is soft and airy

Step 24

When the choux pastry ring has cooled down, slice the bigger ring of choux pastry in half horizontally with a serrated knife (the tip of the knife should be at all times in the ring hole; do not try to slice the ring like a cake)

Step 25

Place the smaller ring inside the bottom half of the bigger ring

Step 26

Pipe the mousseline cream on the bottom half of the baked ring in a connecting chain of rosettes (converging towards the inner hole) using a medium star tip and pastry bag

Step 27

If you feel your Paris-Brest is not tall enough, you can add another yummy layer of cream on top of the previous one

Step 28

Replace the top half

Step 29

Dust with powdered sugar