Paris Brest: the detailed recipe

Preparation of the choux pastry: In a saucepan, combine water, milk, salt, and butter and heat over medium heat until boiling. Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the flour all at once, and mix with a spatula. Return to the heat to dry out the dough while stirring vigorously: the dough should not stick to the spatula or the saucepan (3 min) (paste). Remove from heat and let it rest in a bowl for 10 minutes to cool.

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, whisk them, and gently incorporate this mixture into the paste; the dough should be smooth and shiny. Pour into a piping bag (large and round). Take a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw a circle of 20 cm.

Make a first circle of dough inside the ring, then a second circle attached to the first, still inside, and then a third circle overlapping the other two. Gently apply the beaten egg using a brush, then sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake at 180 °C for 45 minutes (the dough should be well golden). Let cool on a rack.

Preparation of praline mousseline cream: in a saucepan, combine milk, vanilla seeds and pod, 65 g of sugar and heat over medium heat. In a mixing bowl, whisk together 4 egg yolks and the remaining sugar (65 g) until light in color. Then add the cornstarch and mix to obtain a smooth preparation.

Pour 1/3 of the hot milk over the eggs/sugar/cornstarch in the mixing bowl, mix well and then return everything to the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously until thickened, then transfer to a bowl to cool completely in the fridge, covering with plastic wrap (the pastry cream is finished).

Once cooled, rework the pastry cream with a mixer until it is smooth, then cream the butter with a spoon (or with the mixer). Add the butter in two parts to the pastry cream, mixing with the mixer until fully incorporated, resulting in a light and fluffy cream. Finally, add the praline and whisk to completely incorporate it. The mousseline cream is ready; cover it directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

The assembly: cut the crown into 2/3, set the top aside. Place the mousseline cream in a large, fluted piping bag. Spread a first layer of cream at the bottom of the pastry, then a second layer by making rosettes with the fluted nozzle; then a final layer of cream in a line over the rosettes.

To finish, place the lid on the cream. For decoration, dust with powdered sugar.