Monday/the whole menu

Paris-Brest

Praline cream, toasted hazelnut, one ring. One batch, made between 10:10 and 14:00 today, and no second thing behind it.

What is in it

Ring: Choux paste piped in one circle. Flaked almonds go on before it bakes.
Top: It cracks as it rises. That crackled lid is the whole texture of it.
Cream: Praline mousseline: hazelnut and almond ground to a paste, beaten into butter.
Sugar: Icing sugar over the lid at the end, so it is still white on the shelf.

The shape is a bicycle wheel. It was made in 1910 for the Paris to Brest race.

Everything on the counter, drawn to scale. This is not a selection from a case. This is the case.

Six Paris-Brest, €7 each

Refilled from the back until the batch is out

From the fridge to the window, in the order it happened. Two and a half hours, once, for one thing.

10:10
The praline goes on the stove
Hazelnuts and almonds in sugar until the sugar takes colour, then the whole lot ground down to a paste. Everything after this is waiting for it to cool.
11:00
Rings piped, almonds on
One circle, one pass, drawn round a mark on the paper. There is no second go at a piped ring, and a joined-up ring is the only kind that rises evenly.
11:40
In the oven, and the door stays shut
Steam is what lifts a choux. Open the door early and the ring falls, and a fallen ring is not worth splitting.
12:50
Split, once they are properly cold
Cut through the middle with a bread knife. Warm choux tears instead of cutting, so this waits however long it waits.
13:35
Mousseline, and the lid back on
The praline beaten into butter and pastry cream, piped in one turn round the ring. Icing sugar over the top, last thing.
14:00
The slate goes into the window
Six onto the shelf. The rest of the batch waits in the back, and comes forward as the shelf empties.

The rest of the menu