Rhubarb and custard Paris-Brest

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This Paris-Brest from Pip Lacey blends the classic English combination of rhubarb and custard with the famous French Paris-Brest. It's also a great way to master three pastry staples in one go: stock syrup, crème pâtissière and choux pastry.

First published in 2023

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Stock syrup

  • 400g of cane sugar
  • 400ml of water

Rhubarb purée

Poached rhubarb

Ginger crème pâtissière

  • 250g of full-fat milk
  • 50g of ginger
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 50g of sugar
  • 10g of plain flour
  • 10g of cornflour

Choux pastry

  • 250g of water
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 100g of butter
  • 150g of plain flour
  • 15g of cane sugar
  • 4 eggs

Garnish

Equipment

  • Vacuum bag and machine

Method

1

To make the stock syrup, put the sugar and water in a pan. Bring the syrup to the boil and stir until the sugar had dissolved, then remove the pan from the heat

  • 400g of cane sugar
  • 400ml of water
2

To make the rhubarb purée, boil the rhubarb in the stock syrup with the juniper berries. Once soft, strain the rhubarb from the syrup, reserving the syrup, and blend into a purée. Add some of the syrup back in as you blend if necessary, to get a nice consistency

3

Transfer the rhubarb purée to a piping bag, and let cool in the fridge

4

To make the poached rhubarb, first vacuum pack the rhubarb sticks with some stock syrup. Place the bag in a pan of simmering water for 2 minutes. Remove the bag from the water and place it in ice water

5

To make the ginger crème pâtissière, first add the milk and ginger to a saucepan. Bring the milk to a simmer, and then remove from the heat and set aside to cool down

  • 250g of full-fat milk
  • 50g of ginger
6

Whisk the egg yolks and dry ingredients together. Add a small amount of milk to the yolk mixture and whisk to combine

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 50g of sugar
  • 10g of plain flour
  • 10g of cornflour
7

Add the infused milk to a saucepan. Add the egg yolk mixture to the pan and cook on medium heat, whisking constantly, until the crème pâtissière thickens. Transfer the crème pâtissière to a piping bag and cool in the fridge

8

To make the choux pastry, first bring the water, salt and butter to the boil in a saucepan. Whisk flour into the mixture and cook for 2 minutes

  • 250g of water
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 100g of butter
  • 150g of plain flour
9

Let the dough cool for 15 mins, then transfer to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat the eggs into the dough one at a time

10

Transfer the dough to a piping bag and tie up the open end of the bag. Cool the mix in the fridge for 30 minutes

11

Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Cut a 2–3 cm diameter-wide hole in the piping bag

12

Squeeze and pipe a circle of the choux pastry onto the tray. Continue to pipe 5 more circles onto the tray until the mix is finished, and you have 6 circles evenly spaced on the tray

13

Bake the pastry for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and leave to cool

14

Once cool, cut the choux pastry circles in half horizontally

15

Pipe the custard and rhubarb purée in alternate dots on the bottom half of the Paris-Brest. Add some poached rhubarb on top and then add the top of the Paris-Brest. Finish by dusted icing sugar and microplaned ginger biscuits

First published in 2023

Pip Lacey may have first donned her whites at twenty-seven, but she has since worked in the kitchens of Gordon Ramsay and Clare Smyth, been mentored by Angela Hartnett, headed up Michelin-starred Italian restaurant Murano and built her profile through her debut restaurant Hicce.

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