To successfully prepare a Paris-Brest, a dessert as noble as it is hearty, you have to be patient and spend a little time in the kitchen.

In his column on Europe 1, our journalist Pierre Herbulot explains how to make a success of the recipe of chef Jacques Genin, famous pastry chef and chocolate maker in Paris.

It is one of the greatest classics of French pastry.

A cake with a praline buttercream in the shape of a bicycle wheel, invented at the beginning of the 20th century by pastry chef Louis Durand to celebrate a cycling race, Paris-Brest-Paris.

This is also the recipe proposed by chef Jacques Génin, famous chocolate maker and pastry chef from Paris, on Europe 1. To succeed in this rather delicate preparation, it is in any case necessary to be patient and methodical, in order to achieve a most gourmet pastry.

Jacques Genin's Paris-Brest recipe

Ingredients

For the choux pastry

- 75 g of flour


- 50 g of butter


- 62.5 g of milk


- 62.5 g of water


- 1 pinch of salt


- 1 tablespoon of sugar


- 119 g of beaten egg


- 30 g of crushed hazelnuts

For the pastry cream

- 187 g of milk


- 63 g of cream


- 1 vanilla pod


- 30 g of egg yolk


- 37.5 g of sugar


- 22.5 g of cornstarch

For the Paris-Brest cream

- 125 g of butter at room temperature


- 300 g of pastry cream


- 150 g of hazelnut praline

The steps of the recipe (2 hours of preparation)

1.

 The day before, prepare the pastry cream by boiling the milk and the cream in a saucepan.

In a salad bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, cornstarch and vanilla bean seeds.

Pour in a third of the hot milk-cream mixture, then transfer everything back to the saucepan and boil for one minute without stopping stirring.

Pour the pastry cream into a container, film on contact and put it overnight in the refrigerator.

2.

 Also the day before, prepare the choux pastry by heating the milk, water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan.

When the butter is well melted, bring everything to a boil then throw in the sifted flour all at once.

Mix well on the heat to "dry" the dough for a minimum of one minute.

Off the heat and in another container, add the eggs little by little.

Put the choux pastry in a piping bag (20 mm) and set aside overnight in the refrigerator.

3.

 The next day, spread the choux pastry in the shape of a circle on a sheet of baking paper, cover completely with hazelnuts and bake for 45 minutes at 175 degrees.

Never open the oven door during cooking.

The choux pastry must be well puffed and especially golden, almost brown.

If it is still too pale, continue cooking.

4.

 Meanwhile, in a salad bowl or the bowl of a food processor, vigorously whisk the butter with the praline.

When the mixture is homogeneous, add the pastry cream and mix at maximum speed.

Reserve the pastry cream in a piping bag in the refrigerator until use.

5.

 When the choux pastry has cooled, cut it in half with a saw knife crosswise.

Garnish generously with Paris-Brest cream, close with the cap and cover with icing sugar.

Put the cake back in the refrigerator for an hour before eating it.