Hazelnut Paris-Brest

And here it is, the latest new recipe for 2020 holiday meals on my blog! A festive Paris-brest, to share with your family. No novelty for the cream, I've taken back my favorite recipe of cream for paris-brest, with 100% hazelnut praliné. On the other hand, a little novelty, I put my choux on a chocolate-hazelnut shortbread, so that once the little choux are swallowed, you'll have pieces of shortbread to enjoy with the coffee! For the visual, choux of different sizes, some with a cocoa craquelin, others with a layer of Azelia milk chocolate (the Valrhona hazelnut milk chocolate that I love), and of course when you cut them, a heart of pure praliné for even more delicacy! A nice way to end the ball of holiday recipes, don't you think?

Photos taken in Haviland's Souffle d'or collection.

Material :
Poches à douille
Douille 12mm pour le pochage des choux
Douille pour garnir les choux
Thermomètre spatule
Rouleau à pâtisserie



Prep time : 2h + cooking time
For 6/8 servings :

Praliné insert :

About 150g hazelnut praliné

Pour the hazelnut praline into half-spheres molds of different sizes (depending on the size of your future choux) and freeze.



If you don't have the time, or no half-sphere mould, you can also pipe the praliné directly in the cream at the time of assembly.

Shortbread cocoa & hazelnut :

60g softened butter
90g powdered sugar
30g hazelnut powder
A pinch of salt
50g egg
160g flour T55
30g cornstarch
30g cocoa powder

Mix the butter with the powdered sugar, the salt and the hazelnut powder.



Add the egg, emulsify the mixture, then add the flour, cornstarch and cocoa.



Mix quickly to obtain a homogeneous dough, but not too long to prevent the dough from shrinking when baking. Form a ball, put a plastic wrap on it and put it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.



Then spread it on 3mm thick and put it back in the fridge until it is ready to be cut before cooking.

Cocoa craquelin :

40g softened butter
50g cassonade sugar
10g cocoa
40g flour

Mix the softened butter with the cassonade sugar and then add the cocoa and flour.



Spread finely between two sheets of parchment paper and store in the freezer.

Choux pastry :

125g water
125g milk
4g salt
4g sugar
5g honey
100g butter
150g flour T55
250g eggs

Put the water, milk, butter, salt, sugar and honey in a saucepan.



Bring the mixture to the boil. Remove from the heat, add the flour, mix well to avoid lumps, then return to medium heat.



Stir constantly to dry out the dough until a thin film covers the bottom of the pan and the dough comes away from the sides of the pan.



Pour the dough into the food processor bowl and turn at medium speed so that the steam escapes. Then gradually add the eggs until the choux pastry is smooth and satiny.




Put the choux pastry in a pastry bag with a plain tip and pipe different sizes of choux pastry on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cut out circles of craquelin corresponding to the size of the choux, place them on about half of the choux.



Sprinkle the choux without craquelin with powdered sugar or an powdered sugar/cocoa butter powder mixture, then bake at 180°C for about 40 minutes.

Cocoa hazelnut shortbread :

When the choux are cooked, place them on the pre-spread shortbread dough according to the desired shape for your paris-brest (remember to space the choux a little bit, they will be more voluminous once garnished).



Cut out the dough with a knife and bake at 170°C for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Hazelnut praliné cream :

Crème pâtissière :
80g whole eggs
150g milk
150g liquid cream
25g sugar
28g cornstarch
150g praliné

Bring milk and cream to a boil.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar and cornstarch, then pour the hot milk over the mixture while whisking.




Pour it back into the saucepan and let it thicken over low heat, stirring constantly.



When the cream is ready, remove it from the heat and add the praline.




Pour into a dish, then film on contact and place in the refrigerator (or freezer if you're in a hurry, but be careful not to let it freeze).

Custard :
25g milk
20g egg yolks
20g sugar

Mix the three ingredients and pour them into a small saucepan.



Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until you reach 83°C (if you don't have a thermometer, you can check the cooking by dipping a spatula in the cream and then making a line on the spatula with your finger. If the line remains clean, the cream is ready), then pour immediately into another container to stop cooking.



Let the cream cool down.

Italian meringue :
30g water
90g sugar
45g egg whites

Put the water and sugar in a saucepan to make a syrup. When the syrup reaches 110°C, start whipping the egg whites. When it reaches 118°C, pour it over the whisked egg whites at high speed. Continue whisking until you have a cooled, firm and shiny meringue.



Buttercream :
Custard
125g softened butter

Put the butter in the bowl of the robot with the whisk. When the butter is well softened, gradually pour the cooled custard over it and continue whisking until the mixture swells and whitens.



Praliné cream :
Buttercream
75g italian meringue
Crème pâtissière

Add the 75g of Italian meringue to the butter cream and mix gently.



Then lightly whip the pastry cream to loosen it, then gradually add the previous mixture.




Whip the cream again to make it frothy and airy.



Place the cream in a piping bag with a plain or star tip according to your preference. Put the piping bag in a cool place for a few minutes to make it easier to pipe the cream.

Chocolate decoration :

If you want to do like me to decorate the choux without craquelin, here are the ingredients and the procedure to follow :
Ingredients:
Cocoa butter
Copper or gold coloring
Milk Chocolate

Melt the cocoa butter and mix it with the dye. Draw small circles on a sheet of rhodoid paper.



When the cocoa butter has crystallized, cut off the choux tops without craquelin.



Melt the milk chocolate very gently in a bain-marie, without ever exceeding 35°C, otherwise it will have to be tempered. Pour the chocolate on the sheet of rhodoid paper, spread it thinly and quickly stick the choux tops on the chocolate.



Allow to crystallize, then take them off the guitar paper. Then proceed to the assembly!

Assembly :

Cut out the choux tops. Pipe a little cream in the choux, then add the frozen praliée inserts, depending on the size of the choux.



Cover with cream, then place the choux tops. Place the choux on the shortbread, then proceed to the tasting and enjoy!