Vanilla Praline Cream Puffs

Rehydrate the gelatine in water for 15 minutes.

Make a ganache: melt the white chocolate in a double boiler until it just begins to melt. Add the hazelnut praline and hazelnut paste.

In a small saucepan, heat the full-fat liquid cream (1). Off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatin.

Pour one third of the cream over the white chocolate praline mixture and mix to create an emulsion. Then pour a second third then a third to obtain a smooth, homogeneous mixture.

Add the very cold whipping cream (2).

In a bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar and fleur de sel then add the softened butter and knead for a few minutes until you obtain a smooth dough.

Roll out the dough to a thickness of 2–3 mm between 2 sheets of parchment paper.

Cut out 8 discs 7 cm (2.8 in) in diameter and 8 discs 3–4 cm (1.6 in) in diameter (this way the craquelin covers the choux well).

In a saucepan, combine the water, milk, salt, sugar and butter and gently bring to a boil.

Off the heat, add the sifted flour all at once. Stir well with a wooden spoon.

Return to the heat for 30 seconds to dry out the dough (until it starts to stick to the bottom of the saucepan).

Remove from heat and place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Run the mixer for a few minutes to cool the panade (the name for the choux pastry at this stage).

Beat the whole eggs into an omelette (this makes it easier to control how much egg you add).

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale.

Add the cornstarch and mix.

In a large saucepan, bring the milk to a boil with the split and scraped vanilla pod. Remove from heat and infuse for 20 minutes covered. Remove the vanilla pods then bring back to a boil.

Pour a little of the hot milk into the bowl in a thin stream, whisking constantly, to loosen the cream, then pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.

Whisk over medium heat until the cream thickens (about 2–3 minutes).

Transfer to a bowl and add the butter cut into pieces. Whisk vigorously until the butter melts then press plastic wrap directly onto the surface.

Prepare 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Since the choux are not all the same size, I recommend baking them separately rather than together.

Place the large craquelin discs on the large choux and the small craquelin discs on the small choux. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 240°C / 465°F.

Place the tray of smaller choux in the oven first and immediately lower the temperature to 170°C / 340°F. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (adjust according to your oven). During this time, prepare the second tray. Do not open the oven door during baking.

Transfer the small choux to a wire rack and leave to cool at room temperature.

Pipe pure praline into the small choux.

Cut the top off each large choux bun (wide enough to slip the small one inside).

Place the pastry cream in the bowl of the stand mixer and whisk at full speed for 2-3 minutes to aerate it well. Transfer to a piping bag without a nozzle.

Fill the bottom of each large choux puff with pastry cream, then push a small praline choux inside. You can add a little more pastry cream on top to conceal the inner choux.

Replace the cap of the choux.

Whip the praline ganache with an electric mixer until firm enough to pipe but not over-whipped.

Pipe a large ball of whipped praline ganache on top then hollow out a hole using a Parisian scoop previously heated (with a blowtorch or under very hot water) and pipe a little vanilla pastry cream inside.

Decorate with a few halved hazelnuts, hazelnut skins and praline shards.