Chocolate & Orange Choux Wreath

With a bit of delay, here is the recipe I made for New Year's! A choux pastry crown, paris-brest style, with chocolate and orange 😊 The recipe is quite easy, choux pastry and mousseline cream, and you can use clementine or mandarin, or even blood orange instead of orange if you wish.

Equipment:
Stand mixer
Whisk
Perforated baking sheet
Piping bags

Ingredients:
I used Koro cacao nibs: code ILETAITUNGATEAU for 5% off the entire site (non-affiliated).
I used Valrhona's Guanaja chocolate: code ILETAITUNGATEAU for 20% off the entire site (affiliated).

Preparation time: 50 minutes to 1 hour + 30 minutes of baking
For 10 to 12 people:

Choux pastry:

65g water
85g whole fresh milk
2g salt
2g caster sugar
60g butter
80g flour
125g whole eggs

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Bring the water, milk, salt, sugar, and butter to a boil.

Off the heat, add the sifted flour all at once. Return to the heat and dry the dough over low heat with a spatula for a few minutes until a thin film forms at the bottom of the pan.

Place the dough ball in a bowl (or stand mixer bowl) and mix a little to cool it down before incorporating the slightly beaten eggs gradually at medium speed. Wait for the dough to be homogeneous before each addition.
Stop mixing when the dough has a satin appearance: the track left by a finger drawn through the dough should close back up.

Then, put the choux pastry in a piping bag fitted with a small star tip, and pipe a crown about 20 to 22cm in diameter (I added a few cacao nibs to the choux pastry at this time). With the remaining dough, you can pipe mini choux for decoration.

Bake in the preheated oven at 180°C for 30 to 35 minutes, the crown should be puffed and golden brown when out of the oven. Let cool completely.

Orange & Chocolate Mousseline Cream:

2 eggs
60g sugar
35g cornstarch
The zest of 2 oranges
200g whole milk
160g fresh orange juice
35g butter (1)
140g Guanaja chocolate
200g butter (2)

Whisk the eggs with the sugar, orange zest, then add the cornstarch. Then add the orange juice.

Heat the milk, then pour it over the previous mixture, stirring well.

Pour all back into the saucepan, and thicken over medium heat while whisking constantly.

Next, add the butter (1) cut into small pieces, then the chocolate. When the pastry cream is homogeneous, cover it with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until cooled.
Then, proceed to the preparation of the mousseline cream: whisk the butter (2) until very creamy, then gradually add the pastry cream. The cream should swell and become fluffy. If it splits (i.e. if you see small bits of butter in it), you can fix it by slightly heating the mixer bowl with a blowtorch (or if not available, a bain-marie) while continuing to whisk at medium speed.

Assembly:

2 oranges
A bit of cacao nibs
Some candied orange peels.
Icing sugar & cocoa powder

Cut the oranges into segments.
Once the mousseline cream is ready, place it in a piping bag fitted with a fluted tip.
Cut the choux pastry crown in half, then pipe a bit of the orange/chocolate cream at the bottom. Cover with orange segments.

Then pipe the rest of the cream on top (use the remaining to fill the mini choux).

Add pieces of candied oranges and cacao nibs, then cover with the top of the choux pastry.

Decorate with the mini choux, icing sugar, cocoa powder, cacao nibs, orange peels... then enjoy! (and remember to take the cake out of the fridge a few minutes before tasting, it will be better)