Paris Brest is a classic French Dessert traditionally made with Choux Pastry and a praline flavored cream. The pastry is piped and baked into a circular shape to represent a bicycle wheel. The wheel being indicative of the famous Paris Brest Cycle Race. All I know is its delicious and not as difficult as you might think to make.
Since most french bakeries serve an almond or hazelnut cream filled version, I thought it would be fun to try something different. Creamy all natural sunflower butter was my first choice! I’m so obsessed with the flavor of SunButter and knew it would be a great addition to creme patissiere for my filling.
I mean seriously, I can eat this stuff by the spoonful with just a glass of milk. SunButter has 7 grams of protein per serving and more vitamins and minerals than most nut butters. It’s also nut allergy free. Safely processed for those who love the taste of nut butter when it doesn’t love you back.
Now let’s get you started on making your choux pastry. I bet you’ve never made pastry dough on the stove before huh? Well let me tell you, you’re going want to make it all the time. No kneading, rolling, or folding required!
Simply heat the milk and butter mixture, then stir in your flour until it forms a moist ‘cookie dough like’ clump of pastry. Transfer your dough into a mixer and beat in the eggs. Boom! Spoon into a piping bag and get to work.
You can choose to make one large paris brest recette or six small ones. I love personal sized desserts, so I went with several small ones. Its so much easier to grab a single pastry for snacking 🙂
After the pastry is baked and cooling, make the sunflower butter creme patissiere. A creamy pastry filling with a rich sunflower taste. Slice the baked pastry in half and pipe circles of the cream. Sprinkle with toasted sunflower seeds, place the top of the pastry onto the cream and dust with powdered sugar.
The final result is a gorgeous “pastry wheel” that should have you saying heck yes or ‘diable oui’ in French.
Tips for Making Sunflower Paris Brest:
- Choux Pastry dough can be made the day before and kept in the fridge or used right away.
- Make your Creme Patissiere the day before and store in the fridge. Add it to your sunflower butter right before piping.
Pastry
- Use a 2 inch round piping tip to pipe your pastry.
- Pipe pastry into a doughnut baking tray. Spray a very light coating of non stick spray in the pan.
- Pipe 5-6 large round circles in a ring, making sure each circle touches.
- If you have a tip on the top of your piped circles, simply wet your finger with water and gently press it down to make an even surface.
- Gently brush with egg wash before baking.
- Bake pastry on the middle to lowest rack.
- Let pastry cool in the doughnut pan before removing.
- Use a serrated knife to cut the pastry in half, creating a top and bottom.
- The pastry should have open round pockets on the inside. Perfect for holding your piped sunflower cream.
Sunflower Pastry Cream
- Use Creamy Natural SunButter Sunflower Butter
- While the cream and milk are warming, whisk together your sugar egg paste.
- Use a large enough bowl that you can pour in the hot milk without it splashing out.
- Whisk constantly as you pour the hot milk into the egg paste.
- Then pour everything back into the saucepan on the stove.
- Stay on a low simmering heat continuing to stir until the cream thickens.
- Be patient, it will take a couple of minutes.
- Once its thick and has formed into a cream, remove from heat. Stir in your butter and vanilla.
- Scoop the creme patisserie into a wire sieve and press through into a bowl using a rubber spatula.
- By straining the cream, any uncooked egg or rough pieces will be eliminated.
- Cover the bowl of smooth cream with plastic wrap.
- Make sure to press the plastic wrap into the bowl against the layer of cream to prevent a skin from forming.
- Chill for a couple of hours.
- When you are ready to assemble your paris brest pastry, transfer cream to bowl of stand mixer.
- Add 1 Cup of Creamy Natural SunButter and mix using whisk attachment until combined.
- Transfer to piping bag with a 2 inch star piping tip and pipe 5-6 large round dollups onto bottom layer of pastry.
- Sprinkle toasted sunflower seeds onto cream and then place on the pastry top.
- Dust the finished paris brest with powdered sugar.
Sunflower Paris Brest
Ingredients
Choux Pastry
- ½ Cup Whole Milk
- ½ Water
- 7 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 2 tsp Granulated Sugar
- ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 ¼ Cups All Purpose Flour
- 4 Eggs
Sunflower Creme Patissiere
- 1 Cup Whole Milk
- 1 Cup Heavy Cream
- 1 Whole Egg
- 3 Egg Yolks
- ½ Cup Granulated Sugar
- ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
- ¼ Cup Cornstarch
- 7 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extra
- 1 Cup SunButter Natural Sunflower Butter
Toppings
- 1 Cup Toasted Sunflower Seeds
- Powdered Sugar for dusting
Egg Wash
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp water
Instructions
Toasted Sunflower Seeds
- Place 1 Cup of raw sunflower seeds (not in shell) on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly brown. (option to coat in honey before toasting)
- Set aside to cool.
Choux Pastry
- *make Creme Patissiere prior to baking pastry.
- Preheat 350 F and prepare a six doughnut baking tray.
- In a medium sauce pan on medium-high heat, add milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt.
- Heat until butter is melted, stirring with a rubber spatula.
- Once the butter is melted, turn temperature to a medium-low heat.
- Add all the flour at once, whisk quickly to incorporate and make smooth.
- Use the spatula to press and fold the batter as it firms.
- This should slightly dry the mixture, cooking the flour. (about 1 minute)
- Remove from heat and transfer to bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment.
- Let cool for a couple of minutes.
- Turn mixer on to a medium low speed and let some of the hot air work out of the dough. (30 seconds)
- Add one egg at a time. Stopping to scrape sides and bottom of bowl between each egg.
- Don’t over beat the dough. It will curdled at first, but soon turn into a nice uniform shiny consistency.
- You will know its ready, when you turn off the mixer and lift the paddle. If the dough hangs from the paddle without dripping off right away its done.
- Transfer dough to a piping bag fitted with a 2 inch round piping tip.
- Pipe 5-6 large balls in a circular shape around the doughnut rings.
- Smooth tops with a wet finger.
- Brush lightly with egg wash.
- Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
Sunflower Creme Patissiere
- *Make Creme Patissiere then place in the fridge to set.
- Combine eggs, flour, cornstarch, and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk together to form a paste.
- In medium saucepan, bring milk and heavy cream to almost a boil. (just starting to bubble in the center)
- Remove hot milk from heat and slowly pour into bowl of egg paste. Whisking constantly to prevent eggs from cooking.
- Once all milk is incorporated, pour mixture back into saucepan on stove.
- On medium heat continue to whisk as the cream thickens.
- The thick cream should start to bubble after a couple of minutes.
- Remove from heat, then add chopped butter and vanilla.
- Stir until butter is melted and cream is smooth.
- Transfer cream to a metal sieve and press through into another bowl using a rubber spatula.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap, pressing plastic directly onto cream to prevent a skin forming.
- Place in fridge and chill for 2-3 hrs.
- Once pastry is baked and cooled remove cream from fridge.
- Transfer to bowl of stand mixer and add sunflower butter.
- Whisk until smooth.
- Scoop sunflower pastry cream into a piping bag fitted with a 2 inch star piping tip.
Assemble
- Slice baled pastry in half to create a top and bottom.
- Pipe 5-6 dullops of sunflower cream in a circle on bottom half of pastry.
- Sprinkle toasted sunflower seeds onto cream.
- Place top of pastry onto cream.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar.