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.
278 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 recipe670 RDI=260 %3,070 RDI=290 %1,390 RDI=210 %2,990 RDI=150 %12,510 RDI: 150 %
Per 100 g80 RDI=30 %370 RDI=40 %170 RDI=30 %360 RDI=20 %1,530 RDI: 20 %
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: Brioche Tatin, Flaky chocolate brioche, Pains briochés aux raisins, Brioche galette, St Tropez tart, ... 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: Yvetot Douillons, Peach and green tea tart, Diplomat cream, Pains briochés aux raisins, Strawberry Verveine Tart , ... See them all 19

Beaten egg
Beaten egg

You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Galette de Fougerolles, Cochelin d'Evreux, Gisèle's Pasties, Agen prune cake, Avocado mousse with sorrel, ... See them all 80

Other recipes you may also like
Peach and mint salad
Peach and mint salad
Here is a very simple, fresh and delicious recipe; the flavour of mint goes very well with peaches.
September 7th 2012326 K 24 20 min.
Roast Brussels sprouts with sage and lemon
Roast Brussels sprouts with sage and lemon
This makes a change from the usual ways of cooking sprouts: oven-roasted with sage and lemon, topped with grated Parmesan. They can be served as the main feature, or to accompany meat, for example.
February 3rd 202142 K 1 hour 4 min.
Chestnut cake
Chestnut cake
This delightful cake is doubly chestnutty: it contains chestnut flour, and sweet chestnut purée.
August 28th 2025353 K5 1 hour 15 min.
Tiramisu
Tiramisu
Classic italian recipe (the name means "pull me up" or more poetically, "take me up to the sky"). It's similar to a charlotte in its structure: layers of flavoured biscuits between layers of smooth cream.
July 27th 2013517 K5 50 min.
Home-made terrine of foie gras
Home-made terrine of foie gras
Preparing your own home-made foie gras from raw is immensively satisfying: good quality liver and a simply amazing flavour – much better than anything you can buy. This recipe is a bit tricky, but quite within everyone's grasp, as long as you follow the 3 most delicate stages carefully. These are, in order: de-veining the liver, seasoning and cooking. As usual, I have explained every stage of the recipe in full, with photos to help you.
December 16th 20245.29 M 74.2 4 days 15 hours 50 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-12-21)

*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?
    Posted by jh december 3rd 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 2nd 2015 at 11:43 n° 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