Paris Brest Cake Recipes

PARIS-BREST RECIPE

Steps:

• mix the flour, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add the softened butter and knead with hands for a few minutes to obtain a smooth paste. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough about 5/32 inches/4 mm thick between two parchment paper sheets. Freeze the dough. Take the dough from the freezer and let it stand for a few minutes at room temperature. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out 8 disks 1/5 inches/ 5 cm in diameter. Freeze again until ready to use.
• , preheat the oven to 355 F/180 C. Take a parchment sheet and, using a pencil, trace a pattern of a crown made of 8 circles of about 1/5 inches/4 to 5 cm in diameter. Turn the paper over and put it on a baking sheet. Place water, salt, sugar, and butter cut into pieces in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the sifted flour all at one time and mix well with a wooden spoon. Bring back the preparation to the heat for about 1 to 2 minutes to dry the dough (it will start sticking to the bottom of the pan). Take the pâte à choux (choux pastry dough) out of the heat and put it in a bowl. Let it cool for a few minutes.
• Beat eggs for an omelet. Start adding the eggs gradually. The dough must be neither too thick nor too liquid, it must form a ribbon. The test for the right choux dough: the furrow of a line drawn with the finger in the dough must close.
• Place the choux pastry in a pastry bag fitted with Ateco plain pastry tip 809. Arrange 8 choux buns of about 1/5 inches/4 to 5 cm diameter on the baking sheet covered with the prepared parchment template. Take the craquelin disks out of the freezer and place them on each choux mound.
• Bake 35 min to 40 min without opening the oven. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
• sift flour, and corn starch. In a separate bowl, combine sugar, egg yolks, add flour with corn starch, and mix with a hand whisk. In a large saucepan, bring milk with seeds of the vanilla bean to a boil. Pour hot milk into the yolk/flour mixture and continue mixing. Pour this preparation back into the pot and bring over medium heat again. Whisk until the cream thickens. Pour the ready pastry cream into a bowl and cover with plastic film making contact with the cream. Let it cool at room temperature.
• In a bowl of the stand mixer, place butter and whip it. Add the praline and mix it. Gradually add the smoothed pastry cream and whisk until homogenous.
• add cold whipping cream to the praline in three times and whisk with a hand mixer. Place the ready insert in a pastry bag fitted with any medium pastry tip and refrigerate.
• cut the crown in half horizontally with a serrated knife and gently invert the top onto parchment paper. Transfer the praline mousseline cream to a pastry bag fitted with an open star pastry tip and push it onto each of the 8 cavities' base. Poach on the praline insert, then finish with a layer of praline mousseline cream again. Cover with the cap of the crown and dust with icing (powdered) sugar.

PARIS-BREST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Place a small pan containing about 2-3 cups of hot water onto the bottom of your oven ( directly onto the bottom of the oven) to generate steam. Lightly grease a large baking sheet with shortening and then dust lightly with flour. Use a 10 inch pan as a template and draw a 10 inch circle onto the flour dusted sheet using a toothpick. Set aside.
• Place the 4 eggs into a small measuring cup and mix with a fork to combine, set aside.
• Combine the milk, water, salt and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When it comes to a full boil, add the flour all at once and stir to make a paste. Continue to stir over the heat for about 40 seconds until the paste dries a little. Remove from heat and place paste into a mixing bowl. Let cool about 4 minutes.
• With a mixer on low, mix the paste and slowly add the beaten eggs. Mix slowly but thoroughly until all of the eggs have been added. Place the paste into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round decorating tip. Pipe the paste out onto the sheet pan following the 10 inch ring you outlined. Pipe a second ring around the inside next to this ring. Finally, pipe another ring on top of these two rings. Lightly paint the set of rings with the remaining 1 beaten egg and press the sliced almonds into the paste.
• Place in the oven on the lowest shelf and bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and bake about 12 minutes more or until brown. Remove form the oven and using a long serrated knife slice off the top half of the puffed ring. Remove any bits of raw dough on the inside of the ring. Replace the top and place back in the oven to crisp the dough, about 5 more minutes. Cool on a rack.
• To Make The Filling: Whip the pastry cream until smooth. Place the heavy cream into a bowl along with the vanilla and beat on high until soft peaks are formed. Add in the confectioners' sugar and beat a little more. Fold the pastry cream in with the whipped cream and transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe the cream mixture into the ring and then replace the top. If you wish, sprinkle with additional powdered sugar.

PARIS-BREST

Steps:

• Toast sliver almonds in an oven preheated at 200°C/400°F until they turn golden.
• To make the choux paste first boil water with butter, sugar, and salt. Remove it from the heat and immediately add the flour, and combine, then return to the heat and continue beating the mass. Once the dough has formed and it has separated from the edges of the pan, transfer it to a bowl and wait for it to cool. Next, add the eggs, one by one, beating well to incorporate after each addition. The finished paste should be firm and shiny.
• Take a piece of parchment paper and trace two circles 18cm (7-inch) wide. Dab a bit of the choux paste in each corner of the paper, then place it ink side down in the baking tray. Press on the paper to stick it to the baking tray. Fit a piping bag with a nozzle 1.5 cm (3/5") in diameter and then fill it with the prepared choux paste.
• Pipe the paste onto the drawn circles, then glaze them with a beaten egg, and sprinkle each with slivered almonds that you've previously toasted. Bake in a 180°C/350°F oven for 35-40 minutes.
• When baked, turn the oven off, open the door ajar and wait for the rings to cool. Take out of the oven, and place them on a wire rack to cool down completely.
• Now, prepare the pastry cream. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with flour, sugar, and salt. Bring milk to a boil, then add it in thirds to the egg mixture, whisking after each addition to incorporate. Put the mixture in a saucepan, and place it over medium heat, whisking it continuously until it boils. Boil for two minutes, remove from the heat, add the butter, and mix to incorporate. Pour the pastry cream into a large tray, cover with cling film (it should touch the surface of the cream, or the top will dry out and a film layer will form!) and leave it in the fridge to cool.
• For the praline-flavored cream, first, boil the milk in a saucepan and whisk eggs with sugar in a separate bowl. Next, add some boiled milk to the eggs while constantly stirring (with a whisk!). Then, pour the tempered egg mixture into the milk while constantly stirring. Continue to stir until the mixture begins to boil, then remove it from heat. Now, whisk in the butter and the praline. Cover with cling film (it should touch the surface of the cream!). Leave to cool completely.
• For the Italian meringue, first, whisk the egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks. Then, in a saucepan, heat sugar and water until they start to boil and the syrup reaches the temperature of 121°C/250°F. At that point, while whisking the meringue, immediately pour the syrup into it. Whisk with the mixer set at maximum speed until the meringue has cooled to room temperature.
• Combine the cooled creams into one. Fill a piping bag fitted with a large fluted nozzle with the cream. Slice the choux rings horizontally in half and pipe the lower halves with cream. Once piped, cover with top halves of choux rings and dust with confectioners' sugar.
• Store in a cool place.

PARIS-BREST

Steps:

• Male the pastry wreath: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Trace a 9-inch circle onto a sheet of parchment. Flip parchment, making sure pencil mark is still visible, and place on a baking sheet.
• In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine butter, sugar, salt, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in the flour until combined.
• Return pan to medium-high heat and cook, stirring vigorously, until mixture pulls away from the sides and a film forms on the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes.
• Remove from heat and transfer contents to a bowl to cool slightly, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition, and waiting until each is entirely incorporated before adding the next egg. Use immediately.
• Transfer pate a choux dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip. Pipe a tiny dot under each corner of parchment, pressing to adhere parchment to baking sheet. Then pipe dough, tracing outline, into sixteen 1 3/4-inch mounds, holding pastry bag upright and keeping pressure consistent.
• Whisk remaining egg with pinch salt. Brush egg over top of pastry wreath.
• Bake until pastry just starts to puff, about 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake until pastry is fully puffed and golden brown, about 30 minutes.
• Turn oven off, remove wreath, and pierce top and sides about 8 times using the tip of a sharp knife to release steam. Return to oven, and prop door open with a wooden spoon. Let stand for 1 hour to dry.
• Transfer pastry wreath on parchment to a wire rack. Let cool completely.
• Fill and decorate the pastry wreath: Whisk heavy cream, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Separate pastry wreath into top and bottom halves using a serrated knife.
• Spread about 1 1/2 cups pastry cream over bottom ring. Pipe whipped cream in a swirl using 1/2-inch closed star tip. Reposition top pieces of pastry wreath over filling. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

PARIS-BREST CUSTARD CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. On a large piece of parchment paper, trace a circle 10 inches in diameter. Use this parchment paper to line a baking sheet, pencil side down (you should still be able to see the circle). In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt, and granulated sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring, 30 seconds to evaporate some of the moisture.
• Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer). Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running and, working 1 egg at a time, add 3 of the eggs, stopping after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add 1 more egg and mix until incorporated.
• Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip and using the pencil line as a guide, pipe the dough onto baking sheet in a ring. Pipe a second ring around the first one, hugging it so the 2 rings touch closely all the way around. Pipe a third circle, using up all the remaining dough, on the crack between the first 2 rings so that all 3 rings touch closely, forming 1 big ring with 3 parts.
• Whisk the remaining egg with the water. Brush the surface of the dough with the egg wash (do not use all of it). Sprinkle the almonds over the surface. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, about 25 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking. Let cool on the baking sheet. The recipe can be made up to this point up to 24 hours in advance. Hold at room temperature, lightly covered with aluminum foil.
• Custard: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the empty saucepan.
• Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. The custard can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Refrigerate until 1 hour before using.
• Whipped Cream: When ready to serve, whip the cream and brown sugar until stiff.
• Using a long serrated knife, cut the pastry ring in half horizontally. Set the top half aside. Using a clean pastry bag, pipe the custard filling onto the bottom half. Pipe the whipped cream on top of the custard. Place the top half of the pastry lightly on the whipped cream, dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve, cut into sections.