It was once a cycling race, from Paris to Brest, on the coast of France. A little less sporty is the cake that is based on a bicycle wheel, made of choux batter and filled with praline cream.
Ingredients for the praline
- 100 g white caster sugar
- 100 g hazelnuts
- arachis or hazelnut oil (optional)
Ingredients for the buttercream
- 160 g egg yolk
- 50 ml of water
- 250 g sugar
- 250 g butter
- 6 tbsp praline
Ingredients for the choux
- 300 ml whole milk
- 150 g butter
- a pinch of sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 150 g flour
- 300 g egg
- almond shavings
Ingredients for the finishing
Extra needed for Paris-Brest
- baking paper
- food processor
- hand or electric mixer
- piping bag with coarse serrated nozzle
- piping bag with smooth nozzle
- baking tray
Getting started with the Paris-Brest cake
PRALINE
- Heat a dry pan over high heat, add the caster sugar and let it caramelize. Stir in the hazelnuts and spoon the mixture onto a piece of baking paper. Then turn it into a paste in a food processor.
- If it is too dry, add a small splash of peanut or hazelnut oil.
BUTTER CREAM
- Beat the egg yolks with a (hand) mixer until light and stiff. Put the water and sugar in a pan and boil for about 5 minutes to a syrup. Slowly pour the sugar syrup into the beaten egg yolk. Beat cold and set aside.
- Beat the butter until fluffy and mix it with the cooled sugar-egg mixture. Keep some of the praline aside and mix the rest well with the buttercream. Spoon the buttercream into the piping bag with the coarse serrated mouth.
SOOS
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the milk with the butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the flour through a sieve. Mix well and cook the batter until the flour starts to 'sweat'. Let the batter cool briefly and gradually fold in the eggs. Spoon the batter into the piping bag with the smooth nozzle.
- Line the baking tray with baking paper and draw a circle with a diameter of approximately 40 centimeters on the paper. Pipe a large ring of the choux batter onto the drawn circle and sprinkle with slivered almonds.
- Bake the batter in the oven for about 40 minutes.
- Cut the choux so that you get two layers. Brush the bottom with the reserved praline and pipe the buttercream on top. The trick is to get it right! Place the top of the choux back on top.
- Sprinkle the Paris-Brest with icing sugar.
Enjoy your meal!
The Brabander Bakes
This recipe comes from the new book by Hidde de Brabander. In De Brabander Bakt he shares his knowledge and recipes. De Brabander Bakt is for sale from November 23 (€20 via Bol.com).
Text and image:De Brabander Bakt
