1,528 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...

Valay-Brest

Name: Valay-Brest
Prep time: 58 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 28 min
Yield: 24 pieces
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 300 g choux pastry (pâte à choux); 200 g apple confectioner's custard; 50 g walnut kernels; 150 g caster sugar; 3 tablespoons water

A Valay-Brest is a mini eclair, filled with apple-flavoured confectioner's custard and topped with a rectangle of walnut nougatine.

85 K 4.2/5 (20 reviews)

1 hour 30 min. difficulté

Average

3.15 €

24 pieces

5 Ingredients

Last modified on: May 14^th 2014

For 24 pieces, you will need:

1 300 g choux pastry (pâte à choux)
2 200 g apple confectioner's custard
3 50 g walnut kernels
4 150 g caster sugar
5 3 tablespoons water (optional)
Total weight: 700 grams

Times for this recipe

Preparation: 60 min.

Cooking: 30 min.

All in all: 1 hour 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 - ⌛ 20 min.

Preheat the oven to 360°F (180°C).

Prepare 300 g choux pastry (pâte à choux) and pipe the eclairs about 5-6 cm (2 inches) long using a forcing bag with a ridged nozzle, if possible.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 15 min.

Bake the mini eclairs.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 5 min.

When cold, cut in half lengthways.

Stage 4 - ⌛ 5 min.

Fill each "bottom" with apple-flavoured confectioner's custard.

Stage 5 - ⌛ 5 min.

Replace the "lid".

Fill all the eclairs like this and put to wait in the fridge.

Stage 6 - ⌛ 5 min.

Prepare the walnut nougatine: preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Spread 50 g walnut kernels on a baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes in the oven.

Stage 7 - ⌛ 5 min.

When cooled, use a blender to grind the toasted walnuts to a powder.

Stage 8 - ⌛ 10 min.

Use 150 g caster sugar and 3 tablespoons water to make a light caramel.

Stage 9 - ⌛ 1 min.

Tip the ground walnuts into the caramel...

Stage 10 - ⌛ 1 min.

...and mix thoroughly.

Now you need to work as quickly as possible, because the nougatine will set rapidly as it cools.

Stage 11 - ⌛ 1 min.

Pour the nougatine out onto a sheet of cooking parchment.

Stage 12 - ⌛ 3 min.

Lay a second sheet on top and roll the nougatine out as thinly as possible with a rolling pin.

Stage 13 - ⌛ 2 min.

Use a large knife to cut the nougatine, or at least score it, into strips about 1 cm (0.3 inch) wide.

Stage 14 - ⌛ 5 min.

When cooled, cut the strips apart.

Stage 15 - ⌛ 5 min.

Stick these onto the tops of the eclairs with a little confectioner's custard.

Refrigerate until needed, but do not serve too cold.

Remarks

It is not essential for the nougatine to be a rectangle exactly the size and shape of the eclair. On the contrary, the "deconstructed" look with pieces laid side by side can be attractive.

Some recipes insist that the caramel for the nougatine should be made "dry", i.e. without added water, but I don't think this is essential.

Keeping: An hour or two, not much longer.

Source: Home made.

Nutritional information

	Proteins (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	110 RDI=40 %	650 RDI=60 %	360 RDI=50 %	2,730 RDI=140 %	11,430 RDI: 140 %
Per 100 g	20 RDI=6 %	90 RDI=9 %	50 RDI=8 %	390 RDI=20 %	1,630 RDI: 20 %
Per piece	4 RDI=2 %	30 RDI=3 %	10 RDI=2 %	110 RDI=6 %	480 RDI: 6 %

Possible allergens in this recipe: milk, Gluten, egg, Nuts

How much will it cost?

For 24 pieces : 3.15 €
Per piece : 0.15 €

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)

Choux pastry (pâte à choux)

You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Mini Mont-Blanc choux puffs, Pets de nonne, Chouquettes, Gougères, Paris-Brest, ... See them all 8

Apple confectioner's custard

You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example:

Caster sugar

Like these other recipes: Flambéd bananas , Chocolate rolls (petits pains), Tarte Normande, Breton sablé biscuit dough, Foie gras ballotine, ... See them all 364

Walnut kernels

Like these other recipes: Caramelized apple and walnut cake, Moist cereal bars, Raw beetroot salad, Chocolate thins with toasted nuts, Apple and whisky crumble, ... See them all 20

Other recipes you may also like

Rice pudding (riz au lait)

My personal version of this classic family recipe.

December 18^th 2018413 K5 40 min.

Marzipan (almond paste)

Very easy to do if you have a food processor which can slice or grate a lot of things.

December 19^th 2021647 K 34.5 15 min.

Sorrel soup

Smooth with a slight sharpness, this soup has a very particular taste.

May 8^th 2011412 K3.8 1 hour 4 min.

French croissants

In this famous and highly technical recipe from a piece of yeast-based flaky dough we are going to cut and shape ("roll") croissants.

June 26^th 2019649 K 24.4 2 hours 35 min.

Natural leaven

Leaven is a natural raising agent, a fermented mixture of water, flour and the microscopic yeasts which are present in the air. It's a delicate living substance, sensitive to the external environment. The recipe is around 4000 years old and dates back to the Egypt of the Pharaohs, via a beautiful history...(note: the ancient Egyptians seem not to have had exclusive knowledge of the process: in Germany evidence of cooking a fermented dough has been found from 8000 BC (the Neolithic era). The...

April 3^rd 20201.73 M 304.0 7 days 15 min.

News list of cooking-ez.com

Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.