Paris Brest

Preheat oven to 190C
Place water, milk, salt, butter and place it on medium heat until butter is melted
Add in the flour and mix well until it forms a ball. keep it on a low fire until the moisture has evaporated or until the dough forms sort of a ball and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan
Remove from the heat. Add in the dough onto a stand mixer with the paddle attachment
Mix on high heat. Add in the eggs little by little, making sure each is combined before adding the next. The Dough should be like a thick paste. (The egg quantity will vary from person to person, therefore you need to make a calculated guess when adding the eggs. If adding the last egg is too much then whisk it and add half of the egg)
Place dough into a piping bag fitted with a 13 – 15mm round nozzle
Line a baking tray with baking paper. Draw a circle. Pipe the first circle along the line. The second circle is next to the piped circle and the third circle on top of the two circles
Brush with egg wash on top, sprinkle sliced almonds on the top, then dust the rest off
Make sure to lift the tray while holding the parchment paper as it will all collapse if just lifted and dusted
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes
Take it out of the oven and let it cool down on a cooling rack

Place hazelnuts and icing sugar in a blender and mix until smooth and until it becomes a paste. This might take 5-7 minutes

Place sugar and water in a small saucepan on a medium heat
Let it come up to 160°C on a clip-on digital thermometer, This will take about 10 minutes
Once it hits 160C pour the almonds. Mix well and place it on a silpat or baking paper to cool down. Once cool down this will resemble like candid nuts
In a blender mix until smooth and until it comes to a paste. This might take 5-7 minutes

Add milk and vanilla to a small pot and place it on a medium fire and let it boil
In a bowl add the egg yolks, sugar and whisk well until light in colour and fluffy, then add the corn starch and mix well
When the milk is boiling add 1/4 cup of the boiling milk into the egg mixture and whisk well. once incorporated add the rest of the milk and mix well. Then add the whole mixture into the same pot and keep it on a low fire and keep whisking. The mixture will thicken, then take it off the fire ( Note: you need to keep whisking to avoid the eggs from scrambling)
Finally, add the butter
Cover and refrigerate until completely cooled down

Place butter in a standing kitchen mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk until fluffy and pale (10-15 minutes)
Add Hazelnut paste and Almond praline paste and whisk further 5 minutes
Finally add the pastry cream

Once the choux is cooled, using a bread knife cut it into two halves sideways
Place the Paris Brest filling in a piping bag with a star nozzle. Pipe the filling in circular motions
Place the other half of the Paris Brest on the top, dust with icing sugar and serve

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