Almond Paris Brest

You will notice every now and then I dabble in traditional global sweet treats, where Italy, France and America tend to feature more often than not.

The latest traditional treat I have explored is the Almond Paris Brest. This beautifully elegant pastry treat is a French ring-shaped pastry that is filled with cream patisserie and sprinkled with almonds (or topped with an almond paste) and icing sugar.

The delicacy was created in 1891 by a pastry cook whose patisserie was positioned along the route of the bicycle race from Paris to Brest (hence the name).

This treat is a mix between a Profiterole and a Éclair, with an almond twist.

Elegant, tasty, rich and creamy this treat is satisfaction!

Ingredients:

Choux Pastry:

125g butter
250ml water
150g flour
2 tbsn sugar
4 eggs

Almond Paste:

130g flour
90g butter
70g sugar
40g almond meal

Crème Patisserie:

750ml milk
6 egg yolks
160g sugar
55g corn flour
1 tsn vanilla essence

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 200c degrees and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Draw 14 x 5cm circles on the paper allowing for 2 cm apart.
Melt butter and water in a saucepan on medium heat on the stove. Bring to the boil.
Remove off heat and add the flour and sugar, stirring until a ball is formed.
Return to a low heat and cook for 1 minute.
Place the dough into a bowl and add the eggs one at a time, using a hand whisk, beating until the mix is smooth and glossy.
Place the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm star nozzle.
Pipe a 5cm ring around the drawn circles as a guide.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180c degrees and bake for a further 15 minutes until puffed and slightly golden.
Cut the puffs in half horizontally and place in the oven turned off for 2 minutes to dry out.
In a bowl mix all the almond paste ingredients and once combine kneed for a minute until smooth and pliable.
Place the paste in between 2 sheets of paper and using a rolling pin flatten to 3mm thick.
Cut 5cm rounds out of the paste (I used a 5cm cookie cutter) and place the circles on top of the pastry rings.
Place the rings on the top half of all the pastries and place back in the oven for 8 minutes or until golden, leave aside to cool.
To make the crème patisserie, place the milk into a saucepan on high heat and heat until boiling.
In another bowl add remaining ingredients and whisk with a hand whisk until the egg mix is well combine.
Still whisking, pour the boiling milk into the egg mix until well combine.
Place the mix back on the heat in the saucepan on low heat until boiling and thickened. Set aside to cool.
Once the crème patisseries has cooled place in a piping bag and pipe the mix on all the remaining pastries halves (that do not have the paste).
Once the mix is used up place the pastry top with the almond mix almont side up on the crème.
Dust with icing sugar and serve.