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.
276 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)
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: Millefeuille, Pistachio cream, Puits d'amour, Pains briochés aux raisins, Yvetot Douillons, ... See them all 19

Other recipes you may also like
Avengers' potatoes
Avengers' potatoes
Lurking behind this strange name (see reason below) is a kind of potato-cheese gratin, which is wrapped in thin slices of bacon. It's cooked first on the hob, then in the oven.
February 21th 2011315 K5 1 hour 55 min.
When to add salt to cooking water?
When to add salt to cooking water?
Is it better to salt cooking water, for vegetables for example, at the beginning when it is cold or when it boils? I always heard that one should salt "after", when water is boiling, because if it is salted "before" it will take longer to boil. True or false? Let's try the experiment...
July 25th 2017153 K4 15 min.
Thai-style Chicken with Cashew Nuts
Thai-style Chicken with Cashew Nuts
This Thai-inspired recipe combines diced chicken with cashew nuts, spring onions, herbs and a lime-soy sauce.
June 21th 201592 K5 25 min.
How to freeze plums
How to freeze plums
When fruit is in season, there's sometimes a glut - far more than we can use at once. Freezing is a good solution, but plums and other stone fruit should not be frozen whole; the fruit will be unappetizing when thawed. Here's a simple method for successful freezing.
September 4th 2019134 K3.7 12 hours 40 min.
Greek Pesto
Greek Pesto
You may already know the pesto, this delicious Italian sauce, well here is the Greek variation of the thing: the basil is accompanied by thyme and oregano, and the Parmesan replaced by feta cheese. Greek flavors, but in an Italian spirit, a true European recipe.
July 24th 202240 K5 20 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-10-26)

*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?
    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