The famous Paris-Brest, revised and corrected by Philippe Conticini! I’ve been wanting to make it for so long… ever since Conticini appeared on the set of Le Meilleur Pâtissier: season 2 last year, since one of the challenges was to make this version of the Paris-Brest. It had already caught my eye at the time (and yet, I’ve never eaten a Paris-Brest in my life, like many other things actually…) And then, this dessert also made the cover of Fou de Pâtisserie a few months ago (issue 3) and since then, I’d set my mind on making it very soon. Time went by… I had time to discover many Conticini-style Paris-Brests across the culinary blogosphere and I finally took the plunge 2 weeks ago, just before the start of the school year, for a family birthday. The watchword was “no chocolate!”, so I took my revenge with praline ^^
In any case, I loved this dessert! The praline taste is well pronounced and this insert of pure praline is a little marvel in the mouth, not to mention the crunch the craquelin brings to the choux bun! Above all, don’t forget to let the dessert come back to room temperature (about twenty minutes is enough) so that the cream is perfect.
And above all… what makes all the difference is that the praline was homemade. I also used Philippe Conticini’s recipe. What a marvel! I was eating it by the spoonful, that’s how good it was!
Edit of 31/03/2019: I had the opportunity to make this dessert again this weekend, which allowed me to change the photos in the article, much prettier and more appetising than the previous ones. I’m also taking the opportunity to make a few adjustments to the method of the recipe. I find it simpler to freeze the choux pastry, as well as the praline insert. I added a gelatine leaf to the mousseline cream, it’s not compulsory. The chef uses it more for its aerating power than to thicken.
Ingredients & preparation
6 components · Full recipe
The Praline Insert (make the day before)
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) praline paste
- 35 g (1.2 oz) full-fat single cream
Preparation
1
Emulsify cold by pouring the cream over the praline paste in three additions.
2
Transfer to a piping bag without a tip and fill a half-sphere mould with 3 cm (1.2 in) diameter cavities.
3
Cover with cling film pressed directly onto the surface and freeze.
Craquelin (can be made ahead)
Ingredients
- 40 g (1.4 oz) soft butter
- 50 g (1.8 oz) light brown sugar
- 50 g (1.8 oz) plain flour
- 1 pinch of fleur de sel
Preparation
1
In a bowl, mix together the flour, light brown sugar and fleur de sel, then add the soft butter and knead for a few minutes until you have a smooth, even dough.
2
Roll the dough out to 2–3 mm thickness between 2 sheets of baking paper.
3
Cut out 8 discs of 4 cm (1.6 in) in diameter.
4
Freeze until needed.
Choux Pastry (can be made ahead)
Ingredients
- 62 g (2.2 oz) water
- 62 g (2.2 oz) milk
- 2 g (0.1 oz) salt
- 2 g (0.1 oz) caster sugar
- 60 g (2.1 oz) butter
- 80 g (2.8 oz) type 45 flour
- 125 g (4.4 oz) whole eggs
Preparation
1
In a saucepan, combine the water, milk, salt, sugar and butter and bring slowly to the boil.
2
Remove from the heat and add the sifted flour all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon.
3
Return to the heat for 30 seconds to dry out the dough (until it begins to catch on the bottom of the pan). Remove from the heat and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater. Mix for a few minutes to cool the dough (this stage is called the panade).
4
Beat the whole eggs together as you would for an omelette (this makes it easier to control how much you add).
5
Add the eggs gradually. The dough should be neither too thick nor too runny — it should fall off the spatula in a ribbon. A groove traced with your finger in the dough should close up slowly.
6
You now have two options: either pipe the choux pastry immediately using a piping bag fitted with a 10 mm plain tip, or fill a half-sphere mould to freeze it. I use the second method — it’s very practical for getting organised in advance and ensures all the choux are exactly the same size.
7
Transfer the choux pastry to a piping bag without a tip and fill a half-sphere mould with 4 cm (1.6 in) diameter cavities. Smooth with a palette knife, cover with cling film and freeze until the domes are completely solid and easy to unmould (you can prepare these several days in advance).
Baking the Choux (on the day)
Ingredients
- None
Preparation
1
The advantage of this freezing method is that it is much easier to arrange the choux domes in a crown shape. You can handle them without any fuss and without worrying about making a mistake and having to re-pipe everything.
2
Arrange 8 choux on a baking tray lined with baking paper, then place a frozen craquelin disc on top of each one.
3
Leave the choux to thaw at room temperature for about thirty minutes.
4
Preheat the oven to 240°C / 465°F using conventional (top and bottom) heat, not fan.
5
Place in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 170°C / 340°F. Bake for about forty minutes. Do not open the oven door during baking, as this will cause the choux to collapse.
6
Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool at room temperature.
Praline Mousseline Cream
Ingredients
- 250 g (8.8 oz) fresh whole micro-filtered milk
- 40 g (1.4 oz) egg yolks
- 50 g (1.8 oz) caster sugar
- 10 g (0.4 oz) type 45 flour
- 10 g (0.4 oz) cornflour
- 50 + 150 g (5.3 oz) soft butter
- ½ vanilla pod
- 1 sheet of gelatine
- 120 g (4.2 oz) praline paste
Preparation
1
Soak the gelatine sheet in a bowl of cold water.
2
Sift together the flour and cornflour.
3
In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks, then fold in the sifted flour and cornflour.
4
Bring the whole milk to the boil in a large saucepan with the vanilla seeds and pod. Place a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl then pour the hot milk in a steady stream over the egg mixture, whisking constantly to loosen the cream. Pour everything back into the saucepan.
5
Whisk over a medium heat until the cream thickens. Once the cream comes to the boil (bubbles appear), cook for at least 2 minutes.
6
Squeeze out the gelatine and stir it in with a whisk.
7
Add the 50 g (1.8 oz) of butter and whisk again until incorporated.
8
Pour into a wide, flat dish. Cover with cling film pressed directly onto the surface and leave to cool to room temperature.
9
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the soft butter with the whisk attachment, add the praline paste, then gradually incorporate the smoothed pastry cream and whip until you achieve a “mousseline” texture. This takes a few minutes.
10
Transfer the cream to a piping bag fitted with a 20 mm plain tip and refrigerate until ready to assemble.
11
If your mousseline is too soft to pipe right away (this happened to me), spread it out in a wide, flat dish, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. After an hour, whip the cream again — it should be much easier to pipe.
Assembly
Ingredients
- None
Preparation
1
Cut the crown of choux through the middle horizontally. If some of the choux come apart from each other, that’s not a problem.
2
Pipe a little praline mousseline cream into the base of each of the 8 cavities, press a frozen hemisphere of pure praline insert in gently, then finish with another layer of praline mousseline cream.
3
Replace the top of the crown.
4
Refrigerate for at least 30 to 45 minutes to allow the cream to set and the insert to thaw.
5
Just before serving, dust with a little icing sugar.
6
If you are keeping the Paris-Brest in the fridge before serving, remember to take it out about twenty minutes beforehand — otherwise the mousseline cream will be too firm. Find the step-by-step choux pastry instructions with pictures in my previous article: choux pastry (step by step with pictures).
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