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Chinois

"Chinese" - what a strange name for this cake! A kind of brioche, filled with confectioner's custard (crème pâtissière) which can be decorated with fondant icing.

234,119 24.1/5 for 30 ratings

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Last modified on: September 10^th 2018

For 1 Chinois, you will need:

0 500 g Brioche dough
1 300 g Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream)
2 20 g beaten egg
3 100 g fondant icing (optional)
Total weight: 920 grams

Change these quantities to make: 1 Chinois 2 Chinois 3 Chinois

Change measures: Metric

Metric weight Metric volumes

How long does it take?

Time required for this recipe:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
49 min.	4 hours	40 min.	5 hours 29 min.

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Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 10 min.

After preparing 500 g Brioche dough, refridgerate for 1 or 2 hours or overnight, so that the dough becomes firm.

Then roll out dough (sprinkle generously with flour) into a large rectangle about 1 cm or 0.5 inch thick.

Stage 2 - 3 min.

Put this rectangle on a bigger sheet of cooking parchment. If necessary, reshape your rectangle after this transfer operation.

Stage 3 - 5 min.

Spread a layer of 300 g Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream) all over dough rectangle, 0.5 cm or 0.25 inch thick (add more if you wish).

Stage 4 - 5 min.

Now your goal is to roll up the dough to form a cylinder.

It looks difficult, but in fact it's quite easy, thanks to the paper sheet. Use it to start rolling, without touching the dough, and so form the roll.

Stage 5

Continue until completely rolled up.

Stage 6 - 2 hours

Put roll on a baking sheet, and refrigerate for about 2 hours, until the roll becomes quite firm.

Stage 7 - 3 min.

After this time, remove roll from the fridge and with a large sharp knife, trimm off the ends to neaten.

Note: you can cook these bits later.

Stage 8 - 10 min.

Then cut the roll into slices about 3 cm or 1.5 inches thick, and arrange them in a round mould or tray, touching one touching another.

That's why firm dough is absolutely essential, otherwise the slices will squash during cutting.

Stage 9 - 2 hours

Cover mould with a plastic sheet, and leave in a warm place for 2 hours.

Stage 10 - 3 min.

After this time, preheat oven to 180°C or 356°F. Glaze top of cake.

Stage 11 - 40 min.

Put in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Stage 12 - 10 min.

Turn out on a wire rack.

When cake is cool, you can decorate it with 100 g fondant icing, melted in bain-marie or microwave oven.

Remarks

You can also put on the custard before rolling up: raisins, small pieces of dried apricot, chocolates chips, etc.

Keeping:

1 or 2 days in the fridge, folded in a plastic film.

Nutritional information

Whole recipe
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
653 Kcal or 2,734 Kj	61 gr	362 gr	122 gr
33 %	23 %	34 %	18 %

Per 100 g
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
71 Kcal or 297 Kj	7 gr	39 gr	13 gr
4 %	3 %	4 %	2 %

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

How much will it cost?

For 1 Chinois : 3.63 €

Change currency:

Note : These prices are only approximate.

Source

Home made.

More recipes?

This recipe uses (among others)

	Brioche dough: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Apple and Blackcurrant Brioche Pies, Brioche feuilletée (flaky brioche), Eggs in brioche nests, Brioche galette, Agen prune cake, ... All
	Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream): You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Pear and lime meringue pie, Peach and green tea tart, Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint, Pear verbena tarts, Millefeuille, ... All
	Beaten egg: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Gâteau Basque , Wiener Schnitzel, Rustic chicken and mushroom pie, Cochelin d'Evreux, French croissants, ... All

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Your 2 comments or questions on this recipe

Quite strange, problem with the brioche dough maybe?
Posted by jh december 3^rd 2015 at 15:26 (n° 2)
I actually baked this recipe and followed directions. I also used your Brioche and Custard recipes also. My results looked exactly like yours in the picture, except for one thing, when my Chinois cooled, the bread inside the "Rolls" shrank to almost nothing! I am not sure why, but that was disappointing.
Posted by Anonymous december 2^nd 2015 at 11:43 (n° 1)

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