Chinois


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.
281 K 3.9/5 (34 reviews)
Grade this recipe:
Keywords:
Last modified on: September 10th 2018
For this recipe: Comment Send to a friend Ask me a question Follow Printable Diaporama
For 1 Chinois, you will need:

Change these quantities to make:
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 50 min.
Resting: 4 hours
Cooking: 40 min.
All in all: 5 hours 30 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - ⌛ 10 min.
Chinois : Stage 1
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.
Chinois : Stage 2
Put this rectangle on a bigger sheet of cooking parchment. If necessary, reshape your rectangle after this transfer operation.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 5 min.
Chinois : Stage 3
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.
Chinois : Stage 4
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
Chinois : Stage 5
Continue until completely rolled up.

Stage 6 - ⌛ 2 hours
Chinois : Stage 6
Put roll on a baking sheet, and refrigerate for about 2 hours, until the roll becomes quite firm.

Stage 7 - ⌛ 3 min.
Chinois : Stage 7
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.
Chinois : Stage 8
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
Chinois : Stage 9
Cover mould with a plastic sheet, and leave in a warm place for 2 hours.

Stage 10 - ⌛ 3 min.
Chinois : Stage 10
After this time, preheat oven to 180°C or 356°F. Glaze top of cake.

Stage 11 - ⌛ 40 min.
Chinois : Stage 11
Put in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Stage 12 - ⌛ 10 min.
Chinois : Stage 12
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.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe668 RDI=1,029 %3,068 RDI=1,158 %1,386 RDI=1,899 %2,987 RDI=149 %12,506 RDI: 149 %
Per 100 g81 RDI=125 %374 RDI=141 %169 RDI=232 %364 RDI=18 %1,525 RDI: 18 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman
Possible allergens in this recipe: milk, egg, Gluten, leaven
How much will it cost?
  • For 1 Chinois : 3.20 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Brioche dough
Brioche dough

You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Nanterre brioche, Brioche galette, Pains briochés aux raisins, St Tropez tart, Brioche Tatin, ... See them all 13

Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream)
Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream)

You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Saint Honoré cake, Pains briochés aux raisins, Puits d'amour, Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint, Strawberry tart, ... See them all 19

Beaten egg
Beaten egg

You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Sicilian Epiphany Pie, Apple Strudel, Rolled chestnut and apple brioche, Nanterre brioche, Flaky chocolate brioche, ... See them all 80

Other recipes you may also like
Belle-helene in a glass
Belle-helene in a glass
It's a recipe where you make 4 layers of different creams in a small glass: vanilla cream, small dice of pear cooked in maple syrup, chocolate mousse and whipped cream. It should be served to your guests cool but not too cold .
February 21th 2011273 K3.8 1 hour 50 min.
Almond cream
Almond cream
Light and delicious, it is used in a lot of desserts like tarts, cakes and pies (epiphany galette).
August 31th 2025498 K 25 20 min.
Couscous
Couscous
In couscous, the meat and vegetable mixture is rather long to cook, but not difficult. And the couscous itself (a kind of coarse semolina) is simple and quick to prepare.
November 16th 2017544 K4.3 2 hours 40 min.
Surprise bread
Surprise bread
This recipe is for a large surprise bread so you can make six layers (48 small sandwiches if you divide each layer in 8), with three different flavours: smoked salmon/lime, smoked ham/butter, mayonnaise/chicken.
December 27th 2020726 K 84.5 6 hours 25 min.
Spaghetti Carbonara
Spaghetti Carbonara
A very famous Italian pasta recipe: egg yolks, cream, bacon, Parmesan and lemon juice.
February 21th 2011354 K 24.8 25 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2026-04-26)

*Your e-mail Your first name or nickname
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing
The 2 comments already posted on this recipe
  • Quite strange, problem with the brioche dough maybe?
    jh december 3rd 201515:26 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.
    Anonymous december 2nd 201511:43 1

Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page