Strawberry Paris Brest Recipes

STRAWBERRY PARIS-BREST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter a baking sheet and dust it with flour. Mark a circle nine inches in diameter in the flour.
• Bring the water to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the butter, one-half teaspoon of the almond extract and 1 tablespoon of the sugar. When the butter has melted, lower the heat and add the flour and ground almonds all at once, stirring vigorously, until a smooth mass forms that leaves the sides of the pan. Continue beating over low heat a minute or so longer, until the mixture begins to film the bottom of the pan.
• Remove from heat and beat in the eggs one at a time, beating each until it has been thoroughly incorporated in the paste before adding the next. Beat until the mixture is smooth and glossy. If desired, the cooked water, butter, flour and almond mixture can be transferred to a food processor and the eggs added one at a time through the feed tube with the machine running, until a smooth, glossy mixture forms.
• Using a large spoon, drop high mounds of paste next to each other just inside the circle traced on the baking sheet, forming a ring 9 inches in diameter, about 2 inches wide and 2 inches high. Gently smooth the top with a knife dipped in water.
• Place in the oven and bake for one hour, until the ring is brown and there are no beads of moisture on the surface. Using a sharp knife, pierce the finished ring in several places along the side to allow steam to escape. Shut off the oven and return the ring to the oven for 20 minutes to dry. Transfer it to a rack and allow it to cool to room temperature. Place the rack on a sheet of foil.
• Mix one-half cup of the sugar with one-fourth cup of water in a skillet. Boil over medium-high heat, swirling the pan until the sugar dissolves, until the syrup becomes a rich honey color. Immediately dribble the caramel syrup over the top of the ring in an irregular pattern and allow the syrup to harden for 10 minutes.
• Carefully split the ring in half horizontally.
• Whip the cream until softly peaked. Add the remaining sugar and almond extract and whip until stiff. Spread half the whipped cream over the bottom half of the ring. Arrange the strawberries in a single layer on the cream. Top with the remaining whipped cream and cover with the top half of the ring. If desired, fill the center of the ring with more strawberries, and serve.

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.