Paris-Brest is a French circular pastry dish made with choux pastry, filled with praline cream and garnished with slivered almonds.
Paris-Brest is enjoyed throughout the year in France, and can be found in pastry shops around the country. It is often served with a café au lait in the afternoon or as a dessert after a meal.
Origin & Cultural Significance
Paris-Brest was invented by Louis Durand, a pastry chef in the late 19th century. He created this dessert to commemorate the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race in 1891. The round shape of the pastry is meant to represent a bicycle wheel.
This iconic pastry can be found with various alterations to the recipe, although the fundamental elements of choux pastry and praline-flavored cream are maintained. Today, some pastry chefs incorporate fresh berries or fruit compote into the cream filling.
French Paris-Brest Recipe
Paris-Brest is a French circular pastry dish made with choux pastry, filled with praline cream and garnished with slivered almonds.
Ingredients
- Water - 1/2 cup
- Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup
- All-purpose flour - 1 cup
- Eggs - 4
- Salt - 1/4 tsp
- Heavy cream - 2 cups
- Praline paste - 1/2 cup
- Powdered sugar - 2 tbsp
- Slivered almonds - for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- First, make the choux pastry as follows. In a saucepan, combine water, butter, and salt. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and add all-purpose flour. Stir vigorously until the mixture forms a smooth ball.
- Remove from heat and let it cool for a minute.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition until you have a glossy, thick dough.
- Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip.
- Pipe a ring shape onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 425°F, then reduce the temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Leave to cool.
- To make the praline cream, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form.
- Gently fold in the praline paste and powdered sugar until well combined.
- Once the choux pastry has cooled, slice it in half horizontally.
- Fill the bottom half with the praline cream.
- Place the top half back on, creating a sandwich.
- Garnish with slivered almonds.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 653Total Fat: 54gSaturated Fat: 29gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 254mgSodium: 178mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 2gSugar: 16gProtein: 10g
Nutrition is provided and calculated by Nutritionix. It is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimation.