Recipe of ‘Paris Brest’ by Maria Goretti
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
85g all purpose flour
85g unsalted butter
½ cup water
½ cup milk
4 eggs
Toppings (Kiddies version- chocolate ganache, strawberries & whipped cream)
200g cooking chocolate
125 ml cream
½ cup whipping cream
A big bowl of strawberries
Toppings (Adult’s version- Hazelnut praline & whipped cream)
1 cup hazelnuts (toasted at 175 degrees for 10 min)
¼ cup almond flakes (toasted at 175 degrees for 5-8 min)
Caramel from 1 cup sugar
Process:
• For the Praline, pour caramel over the toasted nuts and blend in a mixer
• For the pastry: Put the butter in a non-stick pan
• Add ½ cup water
• Add ½ cup milk
• Boil on a medium flame
• Take the pot off the flame and add the all-purpose flour while stirring continuously
• Once well mixed, cook the batter for 5 min, stirring continuously
• Knead the batter well
• Once the batter is cool, start adding the whipped eggs, ½ an egg at a time
Tip – The batter should meld into a nice gooey consistency that stretches but doesn’t break
• Put the batter into a piping bag with a ½ inch nozzle at the end
• Take a baking tray lined with silicon paper
• Draw 2 circles using your baking rings as a guide
• Trace out 2 touching, concentric circles inside your mark
• Pipe another circle in between the 2 circles of batter
• Repeat the process for the second pastry
• Brush the batter with milk
• Top with almond flakes
Tip – Place the rings around the circles of batter to help them retain shape as they rise
Bake at 200 degrees for 20 min and then at 175 degrees for 30 min
• Once the pastry has cooled, slice them into halves with a serrated knife
• Smear the inside of one pastry with hazelnut praline
• Onto this layer pipe, on roses of whipped cream
• On the other pastry smear chocolate ganache
• Pipe on whipped cream roses
• Top off with a generous dose of strawberries
• Place the top halves of the pastry back on
• Shower with powdered sugar
Your Paris-Brest Pastry is ready to serve!
Wikipedia - “The pastry was created in 1891 to commemorate the Paris–Brest–Paris bicycle race.[1] Its circular shape is representative of a wheel. It became popular with riders on the Paris-Brest cycle race, partly because of its energy-giving high calorific value.”