How to make
This cake has a 200-year history. Created by the French confectioner Louis Durand in 1891 in honor of the first Paris-Brest bicycle marathon with a mileage of 750 miles (1200 km). The round shape of the cake symbolizes a bicycle wheel. It's actually a huge eclair with cream!
In a pot pour the water and milk, add the butter and a pinch of salt. Put the pot on the stove and when the liquid boils, pour the flour at once. Stir, until the dough separates from the walls of the pot and turns into a ball.
Remove the pot from the heat, wait 5 minutes and add the eggs one after the other, by stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is well homogenized.
Draw a circle 6″ (15 cm) in diameter on a piece of baking paper. Put the dough in a pastry piping bag and draw a circle about 1.2″ (3 cm) thick on the inside of the outline. Sprinkle the dough with sliced almonds.
Bake the pastry at 360°F (180°C) in a preheated oven with a fan for about 25-30 minutes. Remove it from the oven and cool it on a wire rack.
For the dairy cream, beat the two egg yolks with the sugar in a saucepan, add the flour and vanilla and pour the milk. Put the saucepan on the stove and stir, until the cream thickens. Cool it.
Beat the softened butter at room temperature with the powdered sugar, until a smooth mixture is obtained. Add the cooled dairy cream to it in portions, while beating with a mixer.
Use a sharp knife to cut the large eclair horizontally. Fill the bottom half with cream, by using a piping bag. Cover it with the other half. Sprinkle the finished Paris-Brest cake with powdered sugar!
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