Rhubarb and custard Paris-Brest
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.
Ingredients
Stock syrup
- 400g of cane sugar
- 400ml of water
Rhubarb purée
- 8 sticks of rhubarb , trimmed and cut into 4 cm pieces
- 3 juniper berries
- 400ml of stock syrup
Poached rhubarb
- 8 sticks of rhubarb , trimmed and cut into ½ cm pieces
- 200ml of stock syrup
- iced water
Ginger crème pâtissière
Choux pastry
Garnish
- icing sugar, for dusting
- ginger biscuit , microplaned
Equipment
- Vacuum bag and machine
Method
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
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
- 8 sticks of rhubarb , trimmed and cut into 4 cm pieces
- 3 juniper berries
- 400ml of stock syrup
Transfer the rhubarb purée to a piping bag, and let cool in the fridge
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
- 8 sticks of rhubarb , trimmed and cut into ½ cm pieces
- 200ml of stock syrup
- iced water
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
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
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
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
- 4 eggs
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
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
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
Bake the pastry for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and leave to cool
Once cool, cut the choux pastry circles in half horizontally
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
- icing sugar, for dusting
- ginger biscuit , microplaned
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Rhubarb and custard Paris-Brest
