Pâte à choux
- 125 g water
- 125 g whole milk
- 100 g butter
- 4 g salt
- 4 g sugar
- 150 g flour T55
- 250 g eggs, beaten
Craquelin
- 100 g brown sugar
- 100 g butter, softened
- 100 g plain flour
Praliné noisette
- 500 g hazelnuts (with skin)
- 250 g sugar
- fleur de sel
Mousseline pralinée — → Crème Pâtissière
- 250 g pastry cream base
- 150 g butter, softened
- 150 g praline noisette
The Paris-Brest is an exercise in praline — everything builds toward that roasted hazelnut cream. The craquelin disc on top of the raw choux is what creates the caramelised dome; the mousseline must be piped at room temperature or it tears. Make the praline and the pastry cream the day before.
Method
Praliné noisette
- Toast hazelnuts at 160°C for 15 min until deeply golden. Rub off skins in a clean towel.
- Cook sugar with a splash of water to a deep amber caramel. Add hazelnuts and fleur de sel, stir to coat, pour onto parchment. Cool completely.
- Blend in a food processor until the mixture becomes liquid and smooth — this takes several minutes and passes through a crumbly stage first. Store in a jar.
Craquelin
- Mix butter, brown sugar, and flour into a smooth dough. Roll between two sheets of parchment to 2mm. Freeze until firm.
- Cut rings or discs slightly wider than the choux pipe diameter. Keep frozen until ready to use.
Choux
- Combine water, milk, butter, salt, and sugar. Bring to a boil. Add all the flour at once, stir off heat, then dry on medium heat until the dough pulls cleanly from the pan.
- Beat in mixer with paddle until steam subsides. Add eggs gradually until the dough falls in a slow ribbon — "ruban cassant".
- Pipe rings of ~80mm onto lined trays. Place a craquelin disc on each. Bake at 170°C for 35–40 min. Do not open the oven in the first 25 min.
Mousseline pralinée
- Make a small pastry cream using the base recipe quantities. Cool completely — it must be cold.
- Beat softened butter until very pale and airy. Add cold pastry cream in small additions, beating between each.
- Fold in praliné noisette. The mousseline should be smooth and hold its shape. Use at room temperature.
Assembly
- Split the choux rings horizontally with a serrated knife.
- Pipe mousseline generously into the base using a star nozzle — large rosettes, filling the full depth.
- Add caramelised hazelnuts between the cream rosettes. Place the lid, dust with icing sugar.
Background
The craquelin is what distinguishes a professional Paris-Brest from a homemade one. Placed on the raw choux before baking, it melts and caramelises during cooking, giving the characteristic cracked amber dome and adding a butterscotch note to the shell itself. Without it, the choux splits randomly and looks rough.
The mousseline must be piped at room temperature. Cold mousseline is too stiff and tears; warm mousseline slumps. If it's been refrigerated, let it come back to room temperature and beat it briefly before piping. The praline is the flavour backbone — homemade is far better than shop-bought. The Yann Couvreur version (post-mortem notes from November 2024) adds a layer of plain caramelised hazelnut inside the cream for texture contrast.
Mistakes I've Made
- Piping choux rings too thin. They collapse when baked and leave no room for the cream. Pipe generously — a thick ring.
- Mousseline too cold. It tears when piped and looks grainy on the plate. Always bring back to room temperature and beat before using.
- Under-toasting the hazelnuts. The praline tastes raw and flat. Aim for a dark golden — they should smell like roasted coffee.
- Opening the oven too early. The choux collapses. 25 min minimum before touching the door.
- Cream too sweet overall. Balance by reducing sugar in the crème pâtissière base, or increasing the praline proportion.
Sources
- Paris-Brest | CAP —
- Paris-Brest | Yann Couvreur —
- Paris-Brest Pistachio & Helva —
- Muri Paris-Brest —