They look as glamorous as they taste. The hazelnut and almond praline cream within the soft and buttery choux pastry and crunchy slivered almonds on the outside is the perfect combination. The recipe makes one large ring and 8 small rings. If you would like to cut the recipe in half I do recommend it. Do not refrigerate these, it makes them turn soggy. Instead try to eat them fresh.
The original recipe is from Bruno Albouze's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeKXoxPwdL4
The recipe is here, and pictures of the process are below.
Ingredients:
Praliné
4 ounces (120g) almonds
2.7 ounces (80g) hazelnuts
A pinch of salt
7 ounces (210g) granulated or pearl sugar.
Choux Pastry:
1/2 cup (125ml) water
1/2 cup (125ml) milk
125 g unsalted butter
1 tsp (5g) salt
2 tsp (10g) granulated sugar
1 cups (150g) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
Powdered sugar for dusting and sliced almonds.
Praliné Mousseline Cream:
Custard:
1 1/3 cups (350ml) milk
1/3 cup (60g) granulated sugar
4 ea. (80g) egg yolks
20g flour
20g corn starch
4 Tbsp (60g) high quality unsalted butter, at room temp
Other ingredients for the Praliné Mousseline cream:
8 ounces (240g) praliné paste (reserved from earlier)
10 Tbsp (150g) high quality unsalted butter, at room temp
Directions:
Making the caramelized nuts:
Toast nuts in a 350ºF preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Let cool. Rub with a kitchen towel to remove some of the skin off the hazelnuts (doesn’t work as well for almonds).
Place a regular (NOT non-stick) pan on the oven and start heating up to medium heat. Add the sugar as it’s heating up and gently stir with rubber spatula. As sugar melts, keep stirring until it’s all melted. If it turns golden brown before the sugar is all melted, then simply take it off the heat and keep stirring. Any clumps of sugar should melt. Turn off the heat and fold in the toasted nuts.
Transfer the caramelized nuts onto a silicon mat/parchment paper and let cool completely. Break into pieces (save some to be crushed for adding to the Paris Brest later).
Praliné paste:
While a food processor is running, throw in some of the caramelized nut pieces and blend for 5 minutes or until it turns into paste. Save 8 ounces (250g) for the praliné mousseline and refrigerate praliné leftover for later use.
Custard:
Bring milk to a simmer.
Meanwhile in a separate bowl, beat egg yolks with sugar until light yellow in color. Mix in the flour and cornstarch.
Turn off the heat. Add hot milk gradually into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return custard to the stove, bring to boil and cook for 2 minutes on medium high heat while whisking constantly. It should have the consistency of thin pudding.
Turn off the heat and whisk in the first 4 tablespoons (60g) butter.
Transfer custard onto a tray lined with plastic wrap, cover with plastic wrap in contact and let cool to room temp then chill completely in a refrigerator.
Choux pastry:
Bring water, milk, butter, sugar and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat.
Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in flour. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture pulls away from sides for about a minute and film forms on bottom of pan.
Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or whisk. Mix on low speed for about 1 minute, then add three of the eggs at once and beat on low speed until soft peaks form when you touch the batter with your finger. Add one more egg and mix. You can do this without a mixer in a bowl with a spatula, but let the dough cool a few minutes before adding eggs.
Piping Large Wheels:
On a parchment paper, draw a 6 inch circle; flip over parchment. With a ½ inch round piping tip, pipe a thin 1/2 inch thick ring of dough just outside the 6 inch circle that is drawn on the parchment. Pipe another ring outside the first ring making sure the ring of dough are touching. Pipe a final ring of pâte à choux on the top, along the center seam between the first two rings of dough. Dust the dough with powdered sugar and coat with sliced almonds.
For the individual Paris-Brest:
Pipe out 16 3 inch diameter wheels onto 2 large baking sheets (8 cakes per tray) lined with a silicon mat or parchment using a 1/2 inch open star pastry tip.
Bake:
Bake in a preheated 350ºF oven. Bake large pâte à choux in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes. Then, turn oven off leaving the door ajar for 15 minutes. Bake one sheet at the time. Bake small pâte à choux rings for 40 minutes, turn off the oven, and leav the door ajar for 15 minutes. Do not open the oven door during baking or it will deflate.. Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack.
Praliné Mousseline Cream:
Beat chilled custard on high speed with whisk attachment for one minute or until smooth.
Then, mix in the praliné paste.
Add 10 tablespoons (150g) butter and continue beating until creamy and fluffy; about 5 minutes.
The praliné mousseline can be kept refrigerated for up to 4 days. Add cream to piping bag with open star tips (curved teeth)
Assembling the Paris Brest:
Using a knife, carefully split the pastry shell in half horizontally so you have a top and a bottom. Pipe the praliné mousseline into the hollow center of the shell twice; the first layer should fill the bottom shell straight. Then, the second layer should be nicely designed. Hold the piping bag at 45 degrees. Squeeze out filling forming an horizontal 8 shape motion; (only for the large Paris-Brest).
Add some crushed caramelized nuts (made earlier) in between the two mousseline layers. Put back on each shell, dust with powdered sugar and serve. For small Paris Brest, simply make two swirls around the circle, add caramelized nuts.
This recipe is best served right away! Covering it up or refrigerating it makes it soggy, so try to eat it fresh!
2 large wheels or 16 small wheels (or one large wheel, 8 small wheels). 16 servings.
The sugar and toasted hazelnuts and almonds for making the praline. It took me three times to get the caramel right (it's not my forte)
Third try is the charm! The praline turned out great.
Some of the praline gets crushed up and reserved for later, whereas the rest gets pureed for adding into the buttercream.
The choux pastry.
Piping the large Paris Brest wheel.
Piping the small Paris Brest wheels.
Decorating the large Paris Brest wheel before baking.
Decorating the small Paris Brest Wheals before baking.
Large Paris Brest wheel after baking and before assembly.
The small Paris Brest wheels before filling and assembling.
Before Paris Brest assembly, the delectable Praline Mousseline cream must be made with the pureed praline from earlier.
Time for assembling the large ring. It first needs to get cut in half.
The large Paris Brest wheel after adding the Praline Mousseline cream.
The large Paris Brest wheel after adding the crushed up praline from earlier.
The large Paris Brest wheel is assembled and about to be dusted with powdered sugar.
Absolutely beautiful, now for assembling the small wheels.
A small Paris Brest wheel after adding the cream and crushed praline.
A completed small Paris Brest wheel before dusting with powdered sugar.
SO LOVELY.
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