{"id":8269,"date":"2026-10-19T15:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8269"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:24","slug":"paris-brest","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/paris-brest\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris-Brest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cut into the wheel-like ring and a fragrant cream appears, filling the hollow choux. The Paris-Brest is a French pastry named after a long-distance cycling race. Pralin\u00e9, a paste of almonds or hazelnuts worked with sugar, is added to a cream made with ingredients such as milk and butter. Both the small single-serving ring and the large ring for slicing are made so that you taste the light shell and the thick filling together.<\/p>\n

Making the choux ring and layering a thin ring inside<\/h2>\n

In a choux recette (the formula of ingredients and the method), water or milk, butter and salt are first brought to a boil, then flour is added and worked in the pan so that the starch is heated. Eggs are then mixed in little by little to make a choux paste that spreads smoothly. The width and height of the piping change the shape of the baked ring.<\/p>\n

In the method taught by Naomi Nakahama, three rings are piped on top of one another with staggered starting points, brushed with egg, scored with a fork, sprinkled with chopped almonds and baked. There is also a method that fits a separately baked thin ring inside, adding another layer of pastry between the shell and the cream. The large ring, once cooled, is cut horizontally, cream is piped in, and the lid is dusted with powdered sugar, so the almonds peek out between the white sugar.<\/p>\n

Pralin\u00e9 and the creams it is combined with<\/h2>\n

Pralin\u00e9, made by heating nuts and sugar, then crushing and grinding them, is a paste in which the sugar and the oils of the nuts have blended, unlike crushed nuts scattered as a powder. How the nuts are roasted and the sugar is heated changes the nut aroma and the strength of the caramel.<\/p>\n

The classic mousseline combines custard with butter or with a separately made buttercream. In one method, part of the butter goes into the warm custard and the rest is added after it has cooled. One way of making the buttercream separately is to cool an anglaise of egg yolks and milk and then add softened butter and Italian meringue. Each component is made smooth before it is combined with the custard, and then the pralin\u00e9 is added, achieving both a lightness that is easy to pipe and a firmness that holds its shape.<\/p>\n

There are also methods that add butter and almond pralin\u00e9 to an anglaise, sometimes scenting it with rum. Depending on which ingredients are added after the eggs and milk are heated, the cream melts differently in the mouth, even though the nut aroma is shared.<\/p>\n

The 1891 cycling race and differing accounts of the pastry’s origin<\/h2>\n

Paris\u2013Brest\u2013Paris is a race of about 1,200 km that began in 1891. The Durand shop, which opened in 1907 in Maisons-Laffitte, a suburb of Paris along the route, says that in 1910 Louis Durand created a wheel-shaped pastry inspired by the race. It is said to have been created about 20 years after the race began, and the family has carried on the method of filling a ring of almond choux with pralin\u00e9 cream.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the Spanish edition of the Larousse culinary dictionary states that it was created in 1891 by Boj\u00e9, a pastry maker in the same town. There are different accounts of who created it and when, and there is also a story that the race organizer Pierre Giffard ordered the pastry. The accounts differ not only on the person credited as its creator but also on the year: 1910 versus 1891.<\/p>\n

The related “Paris-Nice” and the Paris-Brest in the 1930s<\/h2>\n

A 1909 cookbook by \u00c9mile Darenne and \u00c9mile Duval includes a “Paris-Nice,” a choux ring filled with pralin\u00e9-flavored cr\u00e8me Saint-Honor\u00e9. Ring-shaped choux filled with pralin\u00e9-flavored cream were also made under another name.<\/p>\n

The June 1932 Paris-Soir carried an advertisement selling Paris-Brest, and a 1936 guide from the Paris tourist office features an item made with chantilly, choux and almonds. In 1930s Paris, versions filled with creams other than the pralin\u00e9 cream handed down by the Durand family had also spread.<\/p>\n

According to a recollection handed down at the shop, Louis’s son Paul sought protection in 1930, but the request was rejected on the grounds that the pastry was already widely made. While the family guards its undisclosed formula, pastries of ring-shaped choux filled with nut cream spread to other shops as well.<\/p>\n

\n\"Large\n
A large homemade Paris-Brest (January 14, 2018; location unknown). The ring-shaped choux is cut and sandwiched with cream. Photo: Loneshieling \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. No alterations to the content and no cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Cr\u00e9meux filled from below, whipped cream piped on top<\/h2>\n

In a method presented by Valrhona, the choux is not cut horizontally; instead, the cream is filled through a hole made in the bottom. The choux is baked with a ring of raw sugar, flour and butter, rolled thin and frozen, placed on top, and a sabl\u00e9 made with hazelnut flour and baked in a ring shape is also prepared separately and layered with it.<\/p>\n

In this pastry, the smooth filling and the whipped cream piped on top are made separately. The cr\u00e9meux filled through the hole in the bottom is made by emulsifying milk, gelatin, pralin\u00e9 and cocoa butter and chilling the mixture. For the ganache mont\u00e9e piped on top, gelatin is added to milk thickened with potato starch, this is emulsified with pralin\u00e9 and cocoa butter, cold cream is added, and the mixture is chilled at about 4\u00b0C for 12 hours before whipping.<\/p>\n

Each piped mound is hollowed out with a round tool warmed in hot water, and a small amount of pralin\u00e9 is filled in. You taste the nut aroma in both the light, milky cream and the rich paste at the center, while the sabl\u00e9, the topping dough and the choux each create a different texture.<\/p>\n

\n\"Paris-Brest\n
A reinterpretation by Philippe Conticini photographed at La P\u00e2tisserie des R\u00eaves in Paris (October 15, 2015). Small choux are formed into a ring, displayed under a dome at the counter. Photo: Sb2s3 \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Full-size image obtained. No alterations to the content and no cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Variations in \u00e9clair form and with small choux<\/h2>\n

There are also versions in an \u00e9clair<\/a> shape, as well as methods in which several small choux are lined up, each piped with cream and set on a separately baked base. Putting a small amount of lemon compote at the bottom adds acidity to the rich nuts. Even when the ring is changed into an elongated choux or a row of small choux, the structure of filling the hollow with a fragrant cream remains the same.<\/p>\n

\n\"American\n
Paris-Brest from Alpine Bakery in Alpharetta, Georgia, USA (August 19, 2018). According to the author’s description, it uses whipped cream, strawberries and vanilla custard. Photo: Skeslensky \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. No alterations to the content and no cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Using pistachio from the pastry to the cream<\/h2>\n

Some versions use pistachio instead of almonds or hazelnuts. A cake made in 2022 by Vincent Crochat, a pastry chef at Landemaine, used pistachio in the topping dough on the choux, the pralin\u00e9, the cr\u00e9meux, the mousseline, and even the sugar-coated nuts. You taste the pistachio flavor in each component, each with a different texture: the dough on the surface, the smooth filling, the piped cream and the sugar-coated nuts.<\/p>\n

He says he combined pistachio, which he loves, with the Paris-Brest, a pastry he is fond of, and he also cites the piped shape as a distinctive feature. While the name commemorating the wheel stays the same, the pastry’s individuality also shows in the nuts and the piping the maker chooses.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Darenne and Duval<\/strong>: Pastry cooks who co-authored a French pastry book in the early 20th century.<\/p>

Cr\u00e8me Saint-Honor\u00e9<\/strong>: A type of cream that combines custard with beaten egg whites.<\/p>

Chantilly<\/strong>: Fresh cream whipped with sugar or other additions.<\/p>

Paul Durand<\/strong>: A pastry cook, the son of Louis Durand, who took over the family business.<\/p>

Louis Durand<\/strong>: A pastry cook in Maisons-Laffitte. According to his shop’s history, he created the Paris-Brest in 1910.<\/p>

Naomi Nakahama<\/strong>: A pastry instructor at the Tsuji Culinary Institute group. Taught a Paris-Brest using three rings and a thin inner ring on a television program.<\/p>

Pralin\u00e9<\/strong>: A paste made by crushing heated nuts and sugar and grinding them.<\/p>

Mousseline<\/strong>: A cream given lightness by combining custard with butter or buttercream.<\/p>

Anglaise<\/strong>: A pourable, sauce-like cream made by gently heating milk, egg yolks, sugar and so on.<\/p>

Italian meringue<\/strong>: A meringue made by adding hot sugar syrup to beaten egg whites.<\/p>

Emulsification<\/strong>: The process of finely dispersing fat and water and blending them uniformly.<\/p>

Cr\u00e9meux<\/strong>: A smooth, creamy component. Some pralin\u00e9 cr\u00e9meux are made with milk, gelatin, pralin\u00e9 and cocoa butter.<\/p>

Ganache mont\u00e9e<\/strong>: A cream that is chilled and then whipped. Some are made with pralin\u00e9, cocoa butter, milk, cream and so on.<\/p>

Sabl\u00e9<\/strong>: A baked dough containing fat, with a crumbly texture.<\/p>

Compote<\/strong>: A component made by cooking fruit. Some are made with lemon.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. Notre histoire \u2013 P\u00e2tisserie Durand<\/a> \u2014 The family history of the shop’s founding in 1907 and the creation in 1910, the race starting in 1891, 1,200 km \/ wheel \/ choux with nuts.<\/li>
  2. Patisserie Durand – Destination Yvelines<\/a> \u2014 A regional profile of those involved, and the 1910 family history \/ Giffard \/ succession.<\/li>
  3. From the “Gretel” Studio [The Cyclist’s Paris-Brest] | Gretel no Kamado | Latest Media Information | Tsuji Culinary Institute Group General Information Site<\/a> \u2014 Three-ring piping and a thin inner ring, gelatinization \/ inverted triangle, anglaise \/ butter \/ almond pralin\u00e9.<\/li>
  4. Cr\u00e8me mousseline et cr\u00e8me \u00e0 paris-brest \u2013 Recettes | Chocolat Valrhona<\/a> \u2014 Mousseline with butter alone or with buttercream, the custard \/ anglaise \/ Italian meringue process, pralin\u00e9 \/ rum, \u00e9clair shape.<\/li>
  5. Paris-Brest Revisited | Valrhona Chocolate<\/a> \u2014 Frozen sugar dough \/ separately baked sabl\u00e9, cr\u00e9meux filled through a hole in the bottom, ganache for whipping made with starch and gelatin (12 h at 4\u00b0C), hollow filled with pure pralin\u00e9.<\/li>
  6. Paris Brest craquant | Chocolat Valrhona<\/a> \u2014 Structure of three small choux, lemon compote, pralin\u00e9 base and whipped cream.<\/li>
  7. Pralin\u00e9 \u2013 Fabrication professionnelle et maison | Chocolat Valrhona<\/a> \u2014 Pralin\u00e9 as a paste of sugar and nuts, roasting \/ heating the sugar \/ grinding \/ emulsifying, differences in aroma.<\/li>

  8. \u30fbLarousse Cocina, “Paris-Brest”<\/a> \u2014 Attribution to Boj\u00e9 and to 1891.<\/p><\/li>

  9. \n

    Furansu Gashi Kenkyujo (French Pastry Research Institute), “What Is the Relationship Between Paris-Brest and Paris-Nice?” (2015-07-11)<\/a> \u2014 The recollection of the 1930 application gathered through on-site reporting, the structure of the Paris-Nice in the 1909 cookbook, and the author’s own research into the 1932 sales advertisement and the chantilly type in the 1936 tourist office guide.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  10. \n

    Boulangerie Landemaine, “Le Paris Brest \u00e0 la pistache,” April 29, 2022<\/a> \u2014 Vincent Crochat’s own explanation of his motivation and the piping, a structure using pistachio in multiple layers.<\/p>\n<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The ring of the Paris-Brest recalls a bicycle wheel. Carrying the name of a race that links two cities, this pastry fills the hollow of its choux with the aroma of nuts and is set on the table as a single ring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6620,"menu_order":24,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Paris-Brest","subtitle":"Choux shaped like a bicycle wheel, with nut pralin\u00e9","topics":"Ring shape \/ Pralin\u00e9 \/ Cycling race","country":"France","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["nuts","cream"],"texture":["smooth"],"occasion":[],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[154],"class_list":["post-8269","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"manual","sweetlore_related_articles":[8267,8252,8253,8256,8261,8262,8263,8264]},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t