One of my first priorities when in France is finding a Paris-Brest and masticating it in true American finesse.

I first discovered the French dessert on a solo trip in Paris. It was one of those categorically gorgeous days in Paris where I should have stopped walking, but I did not. Every inhale of breath taken on a spring day in Paris is a perfume. Intoxicating, sweet…leaving you addicted to life’s simplest moments. So I took advantage of my extra caloric needs by stopping in various Pâtisserie discovered along my walk. Upon first glance, the pastry didn’t spark my interest. It appeared quite avant gard and my taste buds, at that time in my life, were inexperienced. It was an elderly french woman who who started lecturing me in defiance when I pointed to a Pain au Chocolat. She started slewing a melody of french wisdom, the key chorus being “Paris-Brest” on repeat. I shrugged my shoulders at the same time the baker did. A universal sign of defeat, and so I found a Paris-Brest in my hands. I carried it to a bench under a tree, and so discovered in the following 15 heavenly minutes that quite literally every crumb of french culture is an art.

I’ve had time out of the air for the past few months and while needed, I discovered it isn’t unusual for a modern jetsetter to wake up craving some obscure European pastry. I’m proud to have spent several hours in the kitchen preparing, miserably failing, and persisting until I had a set of nearly perfect Paris-Brest which took me back to that french woman’s lecture at the first bite.

Learning a few culinary tricks from abroad is an integral part of the modern jetsetter lifestyle back at home. I beg you to try a Paris-Brest while in France, but until then, don’t miss an opportunity to bring this magic into your home. The Paris-Brest was created in 1912 in celebration of a cycling race from Paris to Brest and back to Paris — hence its resemblance to a bicycle wheel.

Since I’m not quite versed yet in French pastry to develop my own recipe, I tested several until I felt confident enough to adapt my own:

INGREDIENTS

For the Choux Pastry:

This is the basic type of pastry used for Paris-Brest and once you know it, it’s the basis of many french pastries (ahem, eclairs). It’s a versatile, simple technique and an excellent survival technique it you have an affinity for sweets.

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 5 regular eggs (4 for beaten for pastry, 1 beaten for egg wash)
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds (for topping)

For the praline cream filling:

This filling is made by first making a praline, crumbling it and adding it to a regular sweet cream filling.

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, chopped in halves
• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla extract
• 2 cups heavy cream

PROCESS

Prepare the Choux Pastry, which I promise, isn’t as daunting as French makes it sound. It’s made gently on the stovetop.

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Add water, milk, butter, sugar and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Add in flour, mix until smooth and put back over heat for about 3 minutes, scraping all sides with a heatproof spatula until dough is a smooth ball. Transfer to mixing bowl. Allow dough to cool to lukewarm temperature.
3. Once dough is lukewarm, add in four beaten eggs and mix well. Dough should be shiny, thick, smooth and pipeable consistency.
4. Add dough to large piping bag with regular round tip.
5. In a donut baking sheet, pipe six large even dough balls (2.5 centimeters) into each form. All balls should all touch each other and fill the entire form.
6. Brush gently with egg wash and sprinkle sliced almonds atop.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until pastries are a rich, even brown color. Do not open oven until then; any air before done baking will cause the pastries to deflate. Once baked, turn off oven and leave door ajar with pastries still inside. Leave them inside to set for 20 minutes, and then transfer to wire cooling rack. While cooling, prepare your praline cream filling…

Prepare praline cream filling. This is a highly customizable step but I’ll share the version that left me in heaven, which includes making a delicious praline crumble.

1. Add sugar and water to a saucepan over medium heat. Once sugar has dissolved, bring to a gentle boil. Stir regularly until it turns to a shade of dark amber. Remove from heat, mix in your hazelnuts and quickly transfer to a parchment paper lined baking tray. Allow to cool completely. Once cooled, blitz it in a food processor so you have a dreamy praline crumble.
2. Using a stand mixer, whip together heavy cream and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in 3/4 of the praline crumble. Add to a large pipping bag.
3. Once pastries are completely cooled, cut horizontally in halves. Pipe balls of praline cream along the bottom halves of the pastries. Top with remaining praline crumble before adding the top halves. Dust powdered sugar atop.
4. You are officially a french pastry chef.

TIPS

• Read through the recipe at least twice before attempting.
• Use four regular sized eggs, don’t even dare flirt with large. French pastries are all about using exact amounts (there is no intuitive guesswork). Too large eggs will leave your batter runny and you’ll try to compensate with flour, which even a teaspoon extra will result in something decidedly not French.
• Be generous with the size of the “balls” when piping into the donut tray. They will shrink once out of the oven and you’ll need a solid, strong pastry in order to cut horizontally in half and load with cream.
• Don’t open the oven while it bakes. Pastries will fall flat.

Ready, set, BAKE (clearly I’ve been watching GBBO far too frequently) xx