Paris-Brest (Best Recipe)

Paris-Brest is an indulgent iconic French dessert made of choux pastry and hazelnut praline cream or creme praliné. Its round shape has its own history and is so gorgeous that it makes the dessert really unique. Take a bite of this signature French treat!

Yes, you are right about reading the name of the dessert Paris-Brest and not Paris-Breast. It has nothing to do with a woman's anatomy. The name of the Paris Brest pastry comes from a bicycle race.

The authentic Paris-Brest recipe (Paris Brest recette in French) is maintained by the family-operated pâtisserie Durand. The Durand family tried to file a patent in 1930, but the request was rejected due to the extensive distribution of the dessert.

The secret recipe ingredient is Paris Brest praliné, making a difference from all the other dessert variations.

Most Paris-Brest recipes make one large ring of choux pastry, split in half and filled with cream. Some pastry chefs use individual-sized mini circles to make mini Paris Brest.

French chef Philippe Conticini put his twist on the classic dessert, creating a circle of cream puffs with a delicious craquelin topping. Paris-Brest by Philippe Conticini is well-recognized and loved around the world (the whole recipe is below).

What is Paris-Brest?

Paris-Brest is a signature French dessert made of choux pastry (pâte à choux in French), praline mousseline cream or (praline crème mousseline in French), and sprinkled with roasted almond slices and icing sugar.

If you wonder how to pronounce the dessert's name, it is simply "pah-ree-breast."

Paris-Brest history

Paris-Brest was created in 1910 by a French pastry chef Louis Durand to celebrate the famous bicycle race Paris-Brest-Paris.

The Petit Journal editor-in-chief, Pierre Giffard, actually asked Mr. Durand to create a dessert.

He wanted to promote a 745 miles/1,200 km race and develop sales in a Parisian newspaper.

As a result, the cake got a circular shape representing a bicycle wheel. The square, rectangular, or S-shape Paris-Brest also exists and has the authentic cake's taste and flavor, but not the shape.

Over the years, it has become a famous French dessert found in pastry shops all over France and is now made worldwide.

If you wonder where to taste the iconic French dessert and what is the best Paris Brest patisserie, here is a list of 11 top pâtisseries in the world - most of them are in the French capital.

Why you should try this recipe

• Also called a Paris Brest cake, this classic French dessert makes a gorgeous table centerpiece.

• Choux pastry isn't hard to make: it's easy and quick. You will need only 15 minutes to make pâte à choux (choux pastry in English) before bringing it to the oven.

• Known as crème Paris Brest, praline mousseline cream - combination of hazelnut praline pastry cream (crème pâtissière in French) and butter - will please hazelnut lovers.

Paris-Brest ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

• Butter: The recipe calls for unsalted butter, preferrable with 82% fat content. Use the butter straight from the fridge for the choux pastry and softened butter to make the craquelin and mousseline cream. So take the butter out of the refrigerator 1-2 hours before you start.

• Sugar: You will need golden or dark brown sugar to make the craquelin and granulated white sugar for the rest of the dessert.

• Flour: the recipe calls for wheat flour - all-purpose flour (plain flour in the UK).

• Salt is a surprising ingredient in desserts. A pinch of salt enhances their flavor and improves texture.

• Water: use cold water to make the choux pastry. You can experiment with a milk-water ratio of 50-50%, but using only water for choux pastry gives the best baking results.

• Eggs: use chilled eggs to separate egg yolks from egg whites. Then bring egg yolks and whole eggs to room temperature.

• Milk: use whole milk or low-fat milk if preferred.

• Vanilla bean: the best to use is Madagascar vanilla beans.

• Corn starch is used as a thickening agent while making pastry cream.

• Praline: Nutty praline paste is essential to making the authentic Paris-Brest dessert. You can make French praline paste yourself or use store-bought hazelnut praline.

• Whipping cream with 30% fat content is the best to make the recipe. You can use heavy whipping cream with 35% and higher fat content if desired.

• Icing (powdered) sugar: make it at home with a coffee grinder or use store-bought powdered sugar.

Recipe variations

Over the years, chefs worldwide created their cake interpretations and modern takes on the classic recipe.

• French chefs Pierre Hermé and Cyril Lignac and American chef Daniel Skurnick light up the cream, making crème légère.

• Sébastien Bouillet adds hazelnut nougatine to the dessert, while Ludo Lefebvre sprinkles his Paris-Brest with chopped hazelnut nougatine.

• Pastry chef Michelle Palazzo fills her dessert with pistachio buttercream, while another chef Julie Elkind uses caramel mousseline cream.

• Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon's owner in the USA, created his unique strawberry-coconut version of the famous Paris-Brest. He adds coconut flavor to the cream and sprinkles the dessert with freeze-dried strawberries.

• James Beard Award-winning chef Gabriel Rucker finally brought a roasted-peach version of Paris-Brest.

And it is not the end of Paris-Brest variations. It continues. So, what flavor is next?!

How to make Paris-Brest

Make craquelin 

To make craquelin, mix the flour, brown sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the softened butter and knead with your hands for a few minutes to obtain a smooth paste (photo 1).

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough about ⅙ inch (4 mm) thick between two parchment paper sheets.

Make sure it fits 8 disks ⅕ inches (5 cm) in diameter (photo 2). Freeze the dough.

Take the dough from the freezer and let it stand for a few minutes at room temperature.

Using a round cookie cutter, cut out 8 disks ⅕ inches (5 cm) in diameter (photo 3). Freeze again until ready to use.

Make choux pastry

To make a choux pastry, preheat the oven to 355 degrees F (180 degrees C). Take a parchment sheet and, using a pencil or a permanent marker, trace a pattern of a crown made of 8 circles of about ⅕ inches (4 to 5 cm) in diameter.

Turn the paper over and put it on a baking sheet. Place water, salt, sugar, and butter cut into pieces in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.

Remove from the heat and add the sifted flour all at one time, and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Bring back the preparation to the heat for about 1 to 2 minutes to dry the dough: it will start sticking to the bottom of the pan (photo 4).

Take the pâte à choux (choux pastry in English) out of the heat and put it in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Let the dough cool for a few minutes.

Beat eggs for an omelet in a small bowl. Start adding the eggs gradually, slowly mixing. The dough must be neither too thick nor too liquid; it must form a ribbon (photo 5).

The test for the right choux dough: the furrow of a line drawn with the finger in the dough must close.

Place the choux pastry in a piping bag fitted with Ateco plain pastry tip 809.

Arrange 8 choux buns of about ⅕ inches (4 to 5 cm) in diameter on the baking sheet covered with the prepared parchment template (photo 6). 

Take the craquelin disks from the freezer and place them on each choux mound (photo 7).

Bake the round pastry for 35 min to 40 min without opening the oven (photo 8). Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Make praline mousseline cream

To make praline mousseline cream, sift flour, and cornstarch. In a separate bowl, combine sugar, and egg yolks, add flour with cornstarch, and mix with a hand whisk (photo 9).

In a medium saucepan with a thick bottom, bring milk with the seeds of the vanilla bean to a boil. Pour hot milk into the yolk/flour mixture and continue mixing.

Pour this preparation back into the pot and bring over medium heat again. Whisk constantly until the cream thickens (photo 10).

Pour the ready pastry cream into a bowl and cover it with plastic film making contact with the cream. Let it cool at room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, place softened butter and whip it. Add the praline and mix it (photo 11).

Gradually add the smoothed pastry cream and whisk until homogenous (photo 12).

Make whipped cream

To make the praline insert, add cold whipping cream to the praline in three times and whisk with a hand or stand mixer (photo 13).

Place the praline whipped cream in a large pastry bag with any medium pastry tip and refrigerate.

Assemble Paris-Brest

The final step is to assemble the Paris-BrestFirst, cut the crown in half horizontally with a serrated knife (photo 14) and gently invert the top onto parchment paper.

Transfer the praline mousseline cream to a pastry bag fitted with an open star pastry tip and push it onto each of the 8 cavities' bases.

Poach on the praline insert (photo 15), then finish with a layer of praline mousseline cream again. Cover with the cap of the crown and dust with icing (powdered) sugar (photo 16). Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Expert Tips

• Add flour all at once to the water and butter mixture while making the choux pastry dough.
• Add eggs gradually, beating the mixture with a hand whisk, a wooden spoon, or a stand mixer until the choux pastry is smooth.
• Don't open the oven door while baking choux buns.
• Cool the pastry cream at room temperature (please, don't refrigerate).
• Take the dessert from the refrigerator 20-30 minutes before serving.
• Make-ahead option: You can prepare praline paste a few days in advance, also craquelin, and keep it in the freezer. For mousseline cream, you make it the day before and refrigerate it. Take it from the fridge to room temperature about 1 hour before assembling the dessert. Whip it and pipe.

Storage

Store Paris-Brest pastry in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 48 hours.

Can you freeze it? While some may say 'yes' to the freezing of Paris-Brest, it is best to avoid it. However, you can freeze craquelin and choux pastry dough for up to 3 months. To thaw, bring the choux dough to the fridge overnight.

You can also freeze the unfilled baked choux ring or crown. Wrap it with plastic film and freeze it for up to 1 week. Thaw at room temperature and crisp in the oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 10 to 15 minutes. Let the pastry cool before assembling.

International inspirations for Paris-Brest

Paris-Brest became the first dessert as a gourmet symbol of the cycling race between the two French cities.

• American chef Thomas Keller went ahead and created his Paris-New York dessert, where he flavored the cream with peanuts instead of hazelnuts.

• Another Paris-New York pastry was created by Noémie Tessier, executive pastry chef of Angelina Paris, USA, who added pecan flavor to the classic mousseline cream.

• Chef Eunji Lee, born in South Korea and trained in Paris, invented his New York-Seoul dessert while working in New York City, USA. He topped his dessert with brown rice craquelin and filled it with hazelnut-pecan praline and brown-rice cream.

• The Michelin star pastry chef Guillaume Godin created the Paris-Londres cake, a dessert in the shape of a bridge "to represent unity and as a nod to famous bridges in London and Paris." But he went beyond the choux pastry in his creation and used pâte sucrée combined with mousse, apple tatin, and Chantilly cream.

• French chef Eric Frechon, inspired by a bicycle ride Paris-Deauville, created his pudding cake - Paris-Deauville. He kept the round shape from Paris-Brest but ultimately changed the recipe.

Recipe FAQ

Love choux pastry? Try these next!

• Chouquettes (French Sugar Puffs)
• Cream Puffs Dessert
• Gruyere Cheese Puffs (Gougères)
• Browse all the Choux Pastry Recipes

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The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from cuisine.journaldesfemmes.fr. It was originally published on April 23, 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.