Paris-Brest Recipe

This Paris-Brest recipe creates an iconic French pastry with a crisp, golden ring of almond-topped pâte à choux filled generously with rich and silky praline crème mousseline. Featured on Dinner in Paris with host Romain Avril, this elegant French dessert combines delicate choux pastry, creamy vanilla pastry cream, butter, and praline paste to create beautiful contrasts of crispness, richness, and nutty flavour.

The Inspiration

Paris-Brest is a legendary French pastry recognized for its distinctive ring shape, crisp pâte à choux shell, and luxurious praline cream filling. Its structure immediately sets it apart from many other French desserts. Instead of using puff pastry, sponge cake, or tart dough, this classic Paris-Brest recipe begins with pâte à choux, the same versatile pastry foundation used for many light and hollow French pastries.

On Dinner in Paris, host Romain Avril builds the dessert around two important components: an almond-topped choux pastry ring and a rich praline crème mousseline. The contrast between these elements is central to the finished dessert.

This recipe showcases the precision of classic French pastry work. The ingredients themselves are familiar, but careful temperature control, proper cooling, accurate piping, and thoughtful assembly are what transform them into an elegant pâtisserie-style dessert.

Ingredients

Pâte à Choux

125 ml (1/2 cup) water
125 ml (1/2 cup) whole milk
100 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
150 g (1¼ cups) flour
4 large eggs

Praline Crème Mousseline

480 ml (2 cups) whole milk
4 egg yolks
100 g (½ cup) sugar
40 g (⅓ cup) cornstarch
200 g (14 tbsp) butter (or 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp), softened
150 g (½ cup) praline paste
2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping

50 g (⅓ cup) sliced almonds
Powdered sugar, for finishing

Method

Prepare the pâte à choux. Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F. Line baking tray with parchment paper. Draw a 20 cm / 8 inch circle as guide.
Cook the choux base. In saucepan combine water, milk, butter, sugar and salt. Bring to simmer over medium heat.
Butter must fully melt before mixture boils. Add flour all at once. Stir vigorously with wooden spoon.
Mixture will form thick paste. Continue cooking 2–3 minutes. It is done when the dough pulls away from sides cleanly.
Transfer dough to mixing bowl. Cool 5 minutes. Dough should still be warm, not hot.
Add eggs one at a time. Mix thoroughly after each addition. The final texture should be smooth and glossy.
Let cool 10 minutes. Transfer dough to piping bag fitted with large round tip. Pipe ring following template circle.
Pipe 2 more rings beside the 1st one. Sprinkle sliced almonds over top. Bake 35–40 minutes.
Do NOT open oven during first 30 minutes. Remove from the oven when it is golden brown, crisp and hollow sounding. Cool completely on rack.
Make creme mousseline. Heat milk over medium heat until steaming.
Meanwhile, Whisk egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and cornstarch. Slowly whisk hot milk into egg mixture.
Temper gradually to avoid scrambling eggs. Return mixture to saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly. It is done once it is thick but still smooth.
Transfer pastry cream to bowl. Cover surface directly with plastic wrap. Cool completely.
Once cool, beat softened butter until smooth in a separate bowl.
Gradually beat pastry cream into butter. Add praline paste and beat one last time. The final texture should be light and silky.
Assemble. Slice cooled Paris-Brest horizontally using serrated knife.
Pipe praline cream generously onto bottom half. Use star tip for classic appearance.
Replace top ring gently. Dust generously with powdered sugar. Chill slightly before serving.

Serving Suggestions

Paris-Brest makes an impressive centrepiece for a French-inspired dinner, birthday celebration, holiday dessert table, afternoon gathering, or special occasion where an elegant pastry feels appropriate.

Serve each slice so the distinct layers remain visible. The golden almond-topped choux should form the upper and lower structure, with a thick layer of praline crème mousseline clearly visible through the middle. Using a serrated knife can help preserve the delicate pastry structure when portioning the finished dessert.

Final Thoughts

This Paris-Brest recipe is a celebration of classic French pastry technique, combining crisp pâte à choux with luxurious praline crème mousseline and sliced almonds for a dessert that is as impressive visually as it is satisfying to eat.

Find more recipes from Dinner in Paris here!