There is a beautifully simple pastry, rich in taste (and calories ;) with an interesting and historical name: Le Paris-Brest. The pastry was created in the beginning of the 20th century in honnour to a bicycle race which was held from Paris to Brest and back. The race is still held every four years (but not for professionals anymore) and the pastry is now one of the most popular traditional french pastries. It is made of choux pastry in a form of a wheel, split and filled with praline flavoured creme (crème mousseline that is actually crème pâtissière mixed with butter). The wheel is topped with sliced almonds.
My first taste of Paris-Brest happened in a legendary bakery (or should I say legendary chef's bakery)
Blé sucré which deserves a post of its own. There, the Paris-Brest is right as it supposed to be for a morning coffee snack or
le quatre heure - not too sweet and of an ideal size.
Some pastry shops and bakeries like to interpret the pastry in their own way, sometimes changing its shape or even the flavour of the creme. I'm more a traditional person so I like my Paris-Brest round and almondy, as it was supposed to be from the beginning.
My first taste of Paris-Brest happened in a legendary bakery (or should I say legendary chef's bakery) Blé sucré which deserves a post of its own. There, the Paris-Brest is right as it supposed to be for a morning coffee snack or le quatre heure - not too sweet and of an ideal size. 
