Skip to content
Small Pastries

Mini Paris-Brest

Mini Paris-Brest are French pastries made with choux pastry topped with sliced almonds and filled with light, fluffy Chantilly cream.
Recipe Mini Paris-Brest
  • Difficulty Medium
  • Preparation 20 minutes
  • Cooking 30 minutes
  • Servings for 6 people

Mini Paris-Brest are a light dessert that combines two very simple preparations into a truly indulgent treat that everyone loves.

The Paris-Brest Recipe is French and dates back to the late 1800s, when it was created for a bicycle race. Made as a cake, it was originally filled with mousseline cream, that is, a pastry cream enriched with butter. Today there are many variations of this French dessert, but they all start with a Choux Pastry decorated with sliced almonds.

We decided to fill our Paris-Brest with Chantilly Cream, which is light and very quick to make, since it doesn’t even need cooking. A light dusting of powdered sugar finishes the dessert, keeping the delicate, simple flavors of a perfect end-of-meal treat.

If you’re looking for more tasty Choux Pastry Desserts, we suggest making Éclairs, Cream Puffs, Zeppole di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph’s Day Pastries) and, for a savory version, Tuna and Ricotta Puffs. And for more tempting French dessert recipes, try Macarons, Opéra Cake and soft, fragrant Madeleines.

Now let’s tie on our aprons and preheat the oven: today we’re making light, delicate Mini Paris-Brest together.

Ingredients for 6 people

Copy Ingredients List
Open in App

Method

  1. To make the Mini Paris-Brest, start with the Choux Pastry: bring the water and milk to a boil with the pinch of salt and the butter, then pour in the flour all at once and stir vigorously until you have a compact ball of dough that comes away from the sides of the pot. Transfer the dough to a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and, running the machine at medium speed, work the mixture until it has cooled slightly.
    Mini Paris-Brest, step 1: making the choux pastry dough in the pot
  2. At this point, start adding the eggs one at a time, adding the next egg only when the previous one has been completely absorbed. When you have a creamy but firm dough, turn off the mixer and transfer the choux pastry to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. On the back of a sheet of parchment paper, draw 6 circles, each 10 cm (4 in) in diameter, then flip the sheet over and place it on a baking sheet. Then pipe rings of dough, using the guidelines you’ve just drawn.
    Mini Paris-Brest, step 2: piping rings of choux pastry onto parchment paper
  3. Scatter sliced almonds over the surface of the Paris-Brest and bake in a conventional oven at 200 °C (400 °F) for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 190 °C (375 °F) and bake for another 15 minutes. When the Paris-Brest are nicely golden, turn off the oven and let them cool for about ten minutes with the door open, then take them out and let them cool completely.
    Mini Paris-Brest, step 3: choux rings topped with sliced almonds
  4. Meanwhile, make the Chantilly Cream: pour the cream and the vanilla bean seeds into a large bowl and start beating the mixture with an electric mixer. When the cream starts to thicken, add the sifted powdered sugar a little at a time, still beating, until you have a thick, fluffy cream; transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
    Mini Paris-Brest, step 4: whipping the Chantilly cream
  5. When the Paris-Brest are completely cold, cut them in half horizontally and fill the bottom half with swirls of Chantilly cream. Close with the top half and finally dust with powdered sugar. Your Mini Paris-Brest are ready to serve. Finally, remember to download our App with exclusive content and fewer ads!
    Mini Paris-Brest with Chantilly cream

Variations and Alternatives

If you like, you can fill the Mini Paris-Brest with the Creams you like best, or add some fresh fruit or dark chocolate chips on top of the Chantilly cream. Hazelnut or pistachio spread is also a great match: spread it on the base of the Paris-Brest before filling it with the Chantilly cream.

Mini Paris-Brest with Chestnut Cream

For the choux pastry:

  • 100 g water
  • 100 g milk
  • 100 g butter
  • 4 large eggs
  • 150 g “00” flour
  • 1 pinch of salt

For the chestnut cream:

  • 300 g mascarpone
  • 350 g fresh cream
  • 350 g chestnut cream or chestnut spread
  • 30 g powdered sugar

To garnish:

  • sliced almonds to taste (or chopped, or crushed)
  • 5-6 marrons glacés
  • powdered sugar to taste

To make the Mini Paris-Brest with Chestnut Cream, start with the choux pastry, following the method above. For the chestnut cream, combine the fresh cream, mascarpone and powdered sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until you have a thick, fluffy cream. Add the chestnut cream and fold it in with a spatula, moving from top to bottom so the mixture doesn’t deflate, then transfer the cream to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.

When the Paris-Brest have cooled completely, cut them in half horizontally, fill one half with the cream, scatter over some pieces of marron glacé and close with the other half of the Paris-Brest. Dust with powdered sugar, and your Mini Paris-Brest with Chestnut Cream are ready to serve.

Tips

The appeal of Mini Paris-Brest lies in the contrast between the crisp choux pastry and the soft, delicate Chantilly cream, which is why we recommend filling them only just before bringing them to the table, so the choux pastry doesn’t go soft.

Storage

Mini Paris-Brest can be kept in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 2 days.

Comments