Paris-Brest

Cook the pastry cream. Heat the 500 ml milk until steaming. Whisk yolks, sugar and cornstarch smooth; temper with some hot milk, return everything to the saucepan and boil while whisking for 1 minute. The pastry cream is thick, glossy and bubbles steadily for the full final minute. Working temperature: 85 °C. Avoid tasting raw yolk mixture; use clean utensils.

Chill the pastry cream. Remove from the heat and emulsify 125 g butter into the hot pastry cream, then spread in a shallow tray, cover the surface and refrigerate until cold. The pastry cream is fully cold and set, with no warm centre. Working temperature: 4 °C. Refrigerate promptly and keep at 4 °C or below.

Cook the panade. Bring 125 ml water, 125 ml milk, 100 g butter, salt and 8 g sugar to a full boil. Add all the flour at once and stir vigorously until a smooth panade forms. The panade forms one smooth ball and leaves a thin film on the base of the pan. Working temperature: 100 °C. Take care around steam.

Dry the panade. Continue stirring the panade over medium heat for 2 minutes to dry it, then transfer it to a mixing bowl. The panade looks satiny rather than greasy and no longer emits heavy steam. Working temperature: 75 °C. Take care around the hot pan and steam.

Cool before adding egg. Leave the panade in the bowl for 5 minutes before adding egg. The panade is still warm but no longer hot enough to scramble egg on contact. Do not add the egg while the panade is hot enough to cook it.

Add the weighed egg. Beat in the 250 g weighed egg gradually until the paste is smooth and falls from the paddle in a thick V shape. The paste is glossy and drops in a thick V from the paddle without flowing like batter. Use the full 250 g only once the V-shaped consistency is reached.

Pipe and bake the wheel. Pipe two touching 22 cm rings and a third ring centred on top, brush very lightly with any trace of egg left on the bowl, scatter with almonds and bake without opening the oven for the first 30 minutes. The ring is deeply golden, expanded and firm enough that the sides do not buckle when lightly pressed. Working temperature: 190 °C. Do not open the oven early; escaping steam can collapse underbaked choux.

Dry the choux. Lower the oven to 150 °C and dry the fully set ring for another 10 minutes with the door briefly cracked only after it is structurally firm. The ring feels light for its size and the interior is dry rather than gummy when split. Keep hands clear of escaping oven steam.

Cool the choux shell. Transfer the ring to a rack and leave it for 30 minutes until completely cool. The ring is completely cool and dry before it is split for filling. Keep the shell dry and uncovered while it cools.

Equalise the cream and butter. Bring the cold pastry-cream base and the remaining 125 g butter separately to 18–20 °C and hold them in that range before mixing. Both the pastry cream and butter are in the same 18–20 °C working range. Keep cumulative room-temperature time for the dairy-and-egg components under 2 hours.

Whip the praline mousseline. Beat the softened butter smooth, beat in the pastry cream gradually, then beat in the praline paste until aerated and homogeneous. The mousseline is smooth, fluffy and holds a clean ridge from the whisk with no visible butter grains. Working temperature: 18–20 °C. If the mixture begins to look grainy, stop and correct its temperature before further whipping.

Fill and chill. Split the cold choux ring horizontally, pipe the mousseline evenly into the base, replace the top, dust with icing sugar and refrigerate before cutting into 8 wedges. The filling is firm enough to slice cleanly and the ring keeps its wheel shape. Working temperature: 4 °C. Keep refrigerated until serving.