The Paris-Brest-Paris is a bicycle endurance event that takes place every four years since 1891 and covers a distance of 1,200 kilometres from Paris to Brest and back.
The Paris-Brest pastry was created in 1910 by Louis Durand, a pastry chef from the city of Maisons-Laffitte near Paris. He wanted to create a dessert that would pay homage to the race and its participants. The shape of the pastry was inspired by a bicycle wheel, with a circular ring of choux pastry representing the wheel and a praline-flavoured cream filling symbolizing the tire.
The choux pastry dough used for the Paris-Brest is made from flour, water, butter, and eggs. It is piped into a ring shape and baked until golden and crisp. The dough expands during baking, creating a hollow center that is filled with a rich praline-flavoured cream made from butter, sugar, ground almonds, and praline paste.
Traditionally, the top of the pastry is dusted with powdered sugar and garnished with slivered almonds. The finished Paris-Brest is meant to resemble a bicycle wheel, with the ring of pastry representing the tire and the almonds mimicking the spokes.
The Paris-Brest is known for its combination of textures and flavours—the crispness of the choux pastry, the smoothness of the praline cream, and the crunch of the almonds. Its unique shape and connection to the Paris-Brest-Paris race have made it an iconic pastry in French culinary culture.