Paris-Brest with Praline Mousseline

Before you start

Paris-Brest is a wheel of choux pastry split and filled with praline cream. Its ring shape is usually credited to a bicycle race between Paris and Brest, though the details of who created it vary depending on who tells the story. What matters in the kitchen is that a ring of choux bakes differently from small puffs: it needs a lower temperature and a longer bake so the thick sides dry all the way through.

The filling is a mousseline, which is pastry cream enriched with softened butter and flavored here with praline paste made from caramelized nuts. It is richer and firmer than plain pastry cream, so it can be piped tall in rosettes. Both the pastry cream and butter must be at about the same cool room temperature when you combine them, or the mousseline turns curdled or greasy.

Ingredients

• Praline paste100 g (⅔ cup) blanched hazelnuts
• 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar
• 1 pinch fine salt
• Pastry cream300 ml (1¼ cups) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks (about 70 g)
• 75 g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
• 30 g (¼ cup) cornstarch
• Mousseline150 g (⅔ cup) unsalted butter — soft, about 20°C (68°F)
• Choux ring75 ml (5 tbsp) water
• 75 ml (5 tbsp) whole milk
• 65 g (4½ tbsp) unsalted butter
• ¼ tsp fine salt
• 85 g (⅔ cup) bread flour
• 3 large (about 150 g) eggs — beaten
• 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp milk — for egg wash
• 30 g (⅓ cup) sliced almonds
• 1–2 tbsp powdered sugar — for dusting

Method

1. Make the praline. Toast the hazelnuts at 170°C (340°F) for 10 minutes until golden. Cook the sugar dry in a heavy pan over medium heat, swirling, until it melts into deep amber caramel. Stir in the warm nuts and salt, pour onto parchment and cool completely, about 20 minutes.
2. Break the brittle into pieces and process for 5 to 10 minutes, scraping down often, until it passes through a coarse powder into a fluid paste. You will need 120 g; keep the rest airtight.
3. Make the pastry cream: heat the milk, whisk the yolks, sugar and cornstarch, and temper with the hot milk. Return to the pan and whisk over medium heat until it bubbles, then cook 1 minute more. Cover the surface and cool to about 20°C (68°F), roughly 1 hour at room temperature or 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
4. Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Trace a 20 cm (8 in) circle on parchment and flip it over on a baking sheet. Cook the choux paste: boil the water, milk, butter and salt, add the flour, stir and dry over low heat for 2 minutes, then beat in egg until glossy with a V-shaped drop.
5. Pipe a ring of paste just outside the traced line and a second ring inside it so they touch. Pipe a third ring on top, over the seam. Brush with egg wash and scatter the almonds.
6. Bake 40 to 45 minutes without opening the oven for the first 30, until the ring is a deep, even brown and the ridges look dry. Turn off the oven, prop the door open and leave the ring inside for 10 minutes, then cool on a rack.
7. Finish the mousseline. Beat the soft butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat the pastry cream smooth, then add it to the butter a spoonful at a time. Beat in 120 g praline paste. The cream should be smooth, light and hold a firm peak.
8. Slice the ring horizontally with a serrated knife, about one-third from the top. Pipe tall rosettes of mousseline around the base, set the top on and chill for 30 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Tips for success

• If the mousseline looks curdled, the pastry cream was colder than the butter; warm the outside of the bowl briefly and keep beating. If it looks soupy, chill it 10 minutes and beat again.
• Store-bought hazelnut praline paste works and saves 30 minutes. Avoid chocolate hazelnut spread, which is too sweet and soft.
• Score the top ring into portions before filling. The crisp lid cuts cleanly and the cream is not squashed out.

Substitutions

Hazelnuts

Use half blanched almonds and half hazelnuts for a classic mixed praline, or all almonds for a milder, sweeter cream.

Mousseline

Fold 120 g praline paste into 400 ml whipped cream for a lighter, softer filling. It holds for only a few hours.

Bread flour

All-purpose flour gives a slightly softer ring that may sag a little when filled.

Variations

Individual Paris-Brest

Pipe 8 cm rings with a smaller star tip and bake 25 to 30 minutes. Fill each with a ring of rosettes.

Pistachio version

Replace the hazelnut praline with 100 g pistachio paste and top the ring with chopped pistachios.

Troubleshooting

The ring collapsed after cooling

The thick sides were not baked through. Bake until deep brown and let the ring dry in the turned-off oven.

Praline paste stays sandy

Keep processing; the oils release slowly. If your processor overheats, rest it for a few minutes and continue.

Mousseline split into a greasy mess

The temperatures did not match. Bring both components to about 20°C (68°F) and beat; a short burst of warmth around the bowl usually brings it back.

Caramel crystallized into white lumps

Stirring dry sugar too early can seed crystals. Swirl rather than stir until melted, and keep cooking; lumps often melt as it darkens.

Storage

Refrigerate the filled Paris-Brest and serve within 24 hours; let it stand 15 minutes at room temperature before slicing so the mousseline softens. Praline paste keeps airtight at room temperature for up to 1 month.

Safety notes

The pastry cream is boiled, so the yolks are fully cooked. The finished dessert contains dairy and must stay refrigerated. Contains tree nuts (hazelnut, almond), wheat, egg and milk.