Hazelnut & Chocolate Paris-Brest
Part 2 - GBBO 2024 Bake Along, Week 5 - Pastry Week
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Hello and welcome to week 5 of our GBBO bake along part 2! I’ve already done an episode rundown and tackled frangipane tarts in part one so go check it out if you haven’t already. Today we’re making Paris-Brest inspired by the baker’s showstoppers, they’re nutty, chocolatey, crunchy and delicious so let’s get on with it…
What is Paris-Brest?
Paris-Brest (the pastry) was originally invented to celebrate the 1,200 km Paris–Brest–Paris bicycle race. Creator of the race, Pierre Giffard tasked pâtissier Louis Durand with making a pastry to celebrate and promote the race. Durrand created a ring shaped choux pastry to represent the wheels of a bicycle, filled with a buttery, nutty mousseline filling and the Paris-Brest was born. Its popularity meant that it quickly spread and soon popped up in patisseries all over France, after all what’s not to like about choux pastry filled with praline mousseline!? It can be made into one large patisserie (as seen in Bake Off) or as smaller individual servings, I’ve opted for individual Paris-Brest as I find that should pastry is a bit more reliable in a smaller format and I don’t often find myself needing a giant Paris Brest.
