Created in 1910 by Louis Durand, a pâtissier in Maisons-Laffitte, to celebrate the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race. The wheel shape references the bicycle wheel. It has remained in continuous production in French pâtisserie ever since, and in the hands of Pierre Hermé became one of the most celebrated reworkings of a classical dish — his version using a praline mousseline of exceptional richness.
A ring of choux pastry, split horizontally, filled with praline mousseline cream (pastry cream enriched with praline paste and lightened with butter), dusted with icing sugar and flaked almonds on top. The technical demands are: a correctly baked choux ring (hollow, crisp, even), a correctly made praline (caramelised nuts ground to a paste), and a correctly made mousseline (stable enough to hold its shape when piped, light enough to eat without heaviness).
Paris-Brest succeeds through intensity — the praline mousseline is extraordinarily rich, deeply nutty, with the bitterness of caramelised sugar underlying the sweetness. It asks for nothing alongside it. The choux ring's slight eggy sweetness is the only counterpoint needed.
- Choux ring must be piped in a continuous, even circle without gaps — gaps produce structural weakness and the ring splits when filled - Bake with the oven door propped slightly open in the final minutes to allow steam to escape — this dries the interior and prevents the ring from collapsing as it cools [VERIFY technique] - Praline paste: caramelise nuts to a deep amber, pour onto silicon or oiled marble, cool completely, grind to a paste. The grinding stage requires a powerful processor — the paste must be completely smooth before it can be incorporated into the cream - Mousseline: pastry cream at room temperature beaten with softened butter — the butter must be at exactly the same temperature as the cream or the mixture will split Decisive moment: Incorporating the butter into the pastry cream for mousseline — if either component is too cold, the butter forms lumps; if either is too warm, the butter melts into a greasy mass rather than emulsifying. Both must be at approximately 20°C. [VERIFY temperature]
PASTRY TECHNIQUES — Block 1