Paris-Brest: Milk Chocolate & Hazelnuts
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We are so excited to share with you a little bit of France today. The delicious french pastry called “Paris-Brest” is creamy and crunchy! A real delight for the tastebuds!
Traditionally made with hazelnut buttercream or mousseline, we chose to make a sugar-free chocolate hazelnut ganache for this recipe. Once whipped, this delicious chocolate ganache is a real game changer!
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Bon appétit!
Difficulty: 
Prep time: 45 mins / Cook time: 1 hr / Servings: 6 Paris-Brest
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Hazelnut Chocolate Ganache
5.6 oz (160g) - Heavy cream
5.3 oz (150g) - Milk chocolate
14.1 oz (400g) - Heavy cream
5.3 oz (150g) - Hazelnuts
1 pinch - Sea salt flakes
Hazelnut Praline Paste
10⅝ oz (300g) - Hazelnuts
5¼ oz (150g) - Sugar
1½ tsp (3g) - Sea salt flakes
Craquelin
1.25 oz (35g) - Butter
1.25 oz (35g) - Coconut sugar
1.4 oz (40g) - All-purpose flour
Choux Pastry
3 - Eggs
5.3 oz (150g) - Milk
5.3 oz (150g) - Water
1 tsp (6g) - Sea salt
1 tsp (6g) - Xylitol
4.7 oz (135g) - Butter
5.8 oz (165) - All-purpose flour
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We advise that you prepare all the above ingredients before starting.
You will typically need: a scale, measuring cups, mixing bowls.
Hazelnut Chocolate Ganache
1 - Pour the 5.6 oz (160g) of heavy cream into a saucepan (or like us a saucier pan) and bring it to a boil.
2 - Add the chocolate to a mixing bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Let sit for a minute or two and emulsify the ganache using a silicone spatula.
Tip: We store our ingredients in these mixing bowls and mini glass bowls from Duralex while cooking. We love Duralex for their quality products and low prices!
3 - When homogeneous, pour the 14.1 oz (400g) of cold heavy cream, mix until well combined, and refrigerate until needed.
4 - Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C), spread the hazelnuts on a baking tray lined with parchment paper (or a silicone mat), and roast them for about 10 minutes.
5 - Once roasted, save a few hazelnuts for later and transfer the rest to a food processor (or high-speed blender). Blend them until creamy, and transfer the hazelnut butter to a bowl. Mix in the sea salt flakes and set aside until needed.
Tip: Here, we are using the excellent Breville Sous Chef food processor. If you opted for a blender instead, Vitamix blenders are by far the best we have ever owned: Vitamix Explorian, Vitamix Professional Series 750, and the new generation Vitamix A3500.
Hazelnut Praline Paste
1 - Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
2 - Spread the hazelnuts on a baking tray lined with parchment paper (or a silicone mat) and roast them at 350°F (175°C) for about 10 minutes.
3 - Add the sugar to a saucepan (or like us a saucier pan) and gently melt the sugar over medium-low heat until the caramel is golden brown.
Tip: All-Clad is the gold standard for professional quality stainless steel cookware.
4 - Once the caramel is ready, pour it on a silicone mat with the help of a spatula, and allow it to cool completely. Then, break the caramel into pieces by hand, and set aside.
5 - Add the roasted hazelnuts and the caramel pieces into a food processor (or a powerful blender such as a Vitamix). Then, blend until completely smooth. It may take around 4 to 6 minutes depending on how powerful your blender is.
Tip: If you want to learn more about Vitamix, check out our detailed article "The Ultimate Buyer's Guide To Vitamix".
6 - Transfer to a bowl, mix in the sea salt flakes with a spoon, and set it aside.
Craquelin
1 - Combine the butter, flour, and coconut sugar into a mixing bowl. Then gently mix everything together using your hand until it forms a dough.
2 - Place the craquelin dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll it out thinly using a rolling pin.
3 - Remove the parchment paper on top and cut large donut shapes using large and small round cookie cutters.
4 - Next, place the parchment paper back on top of the craquelin and transfer to the freezer until later.
Choux Pastry
1 - Preheat your oven to 355°F (180°C).
2 - Crack the eggs into a pouring jug and set them aside.
3 - Add the milk, water, butter, xylitol, and sea salt to a saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil.
4 - When boiling, add the flour to the saucepan and cook for at least 3 minutes while continuously mixing with a spatula to dry the dough.
5 - Transfer the dough to a stand mixer bowl and, using the paddle attachment, mix for about 2 minutes on medium speed to help the dough cool down.
Tip: The KitchenAid Artisan Design Series and the KitchenAid Professional 600 Series are superstars among stand mixers and will look amazing in your kitchen!
For more information, check out our detailed article "The Best KitchenAid Mixers & Blenders".
6 - While continuously mixing, add the eggs to the dough one at a time. You know the choux pastry is ready when it is completely smooth and shiny.
7 - Transfer the dough to a piping bag with a medium-size open star pastry tip and pipe the choux pastry (into the same donut shape as the craquelin) on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
8 - Next, take the craquelin out of the freezer and rapidly pick up the disks one by one using an offset spatula and place one on each Paris-Brest. Then, transfer them into a 355°F (180°C) oven and bake for about 35 minutes. When baking, do not open the oven until the timer runs off, otherwise your choux pastry may fall back. Once baked, remove them from the oven and let them cool completely.
Tip: if your kitchen is too warm and the craquelin becomes too soft, place it back in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
Assembling The Paris-Brest
1 - Transfer the ganache and hazelnut butter to a stand mixer bowl and whip for a couple of minutes (or until fluffy). Transfer the whipped ganache to a piping bag with an open star pastry tip and place it back in the refrigerator.
2 - Using a sharp knife, roughly chop a few hazelnuts, and cut the Paris-Brest in half. Add the hazelnut praline paste at the bottom followed by the chopped hazelnuts.
Tip: We love these knives and recommend this quality kit from GrandTies for home and professional chefs. They are made from high-carbon stainless steel and are very versatile. Check out our detailed product review video for more information.
3 - Peel the skin off from the roasted hazelnuts and cut them into quarters. Next, nicely pipe some hazelnut butter on the top of the Paris-Brest and decorate with the hazelnut skin and chunks.
4 - Finally, pipe the whipped ganache on the bottom of the Paris-Brest and place the top over.
5 - Enjoy!
Watch our video for more details!
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Disclaimer: baking/cooking times vary according to each appliance. Make sure to always control halfway through for success.
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🎬 Everything we used for this recipe:
🍶 Kitchenware: Coming soon!
🍳 Ingredients: Coming soon!
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The information provided in this recipe is not nutritional or medical advice. Please read our disclaimer.