I tried a couple of versions of the Paris-Brest in Paris, which inspired the one I made this week using the recipe from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook. Thomas Keller’s take on the pastry incorporates peanut butter in the pastry cream for an American flair.
I made my pastry a bit smaller in diameter, about 3″ and piped more filling for height to resemble this one that I had in Paris. I love how dramatic it looks. Mine was a little shorter simply because peanut butter is pretty rich in comparison to that hazelnut flavored cream. But, for a surprise extra flavor I spread some Nutella on the choux base. I put it on half so I could also taste the pastry without it and compare.
I did one other slight adjustment to the filling. I added 25% more of the pastry cream so the peanut butter flavor wasn’t as intense. I thought it was a good change. I also liked having the bit of Nutella at the bottom. It wasn’t overpowering. I thought about doing jam but the Nutella was a good complement. A delicious pastry and one of my favorites made from pate a choux.
Week 40 of the Bouchon Bakery Book Project
Read the Project recap on Paris-New York
Bake with us!