تل دھرنے کو جگہ نہ ہونا / Tall Dharnay Ko Jagah Nah Hona / a place so crowded that no room remains even for a single seed of sesame

— Urdu phrase

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was in Ithaca with my whole family, which totaled 9 people, including my little nieces (3 and 1), all 3 of my brothers, my maternal grandma, and my parents. We were greatly missing my SIL who was stuck at home due to the pandemic (oddly familiar feeling at this point).
Our house was most certainly full and crowded, loud, chaotic, a mess, etc. It felt like home.
While my niblings won’t remember it, we took a thousand photos and it’s certainly a Thanksgiving I’ll never forget. The best part of having a big family is honestly the feeling of there being a crowd around you.

This dessert, which is set to feed a crowd, is a Paris Brest, which is a French pastry in the shape of a bicycle tire. It was made by Louis Durand, a pâtissier, in honor of a bicycle race between Paris and Brest.
This one is comprised of a traditional choux pastry ring, covered with almonds and toasted sesame seeds, split and filled with juicy maple apple compote and salty-sweet sesame almond praline crème mousseline.

The end result is impossibly light and creamy, with pockets of fruit and a retained crispness and crunch from the seeds and nuts. It isn’t a very sweet dessert, really, as no sugar (only a tablespoon of maple syrup) is added to the apples and the choux is kept to a single pinch of sugar.

A few notes:
Everything here can be made ahead and assembled on the day of, but make sure you keep any pre-baked choux pastry very well sealed in an airtight container so it doesn’t go soggy.
Choux should be baked until crisp and light, and then dried well in a cooling oven to allow any more steam to evaporate. You can cut a few vents in the bottom if you’re worried about sogginess while it cools.
The praline paste takes a LOT out of a food processor motor, so just be aware and know you may have to take breaks to allow the motor to cool off.

Apple Sesame Paris-Brest
makes 1 6-inch ring
choux recipe from Daniel Gritzer
praline and crème mousseline recipe lightly adapted from Kristina Razon

ingredients:
for the choux:
120 grams (1/2 cup) whole milk
44 grams (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
64 grams (2 1/4 ounces, approximately 1/2 cup) AP flour
100 grams (approximately 2 large) eggs
sliced almonds and toasted sesame seeds

for the apple compote:
2 granny smith or similar tart apples
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch ground anise
pinch salt
7 grams (1/2 tablespoon) butter

for the sesame almond praline:
22 grams (1 1/4 ounces) water
35 grams (3 tablespoons) sugar
30 grams (1 1/2 tablespoons) maple syrup
30 grams (1 ounce) toasted sesame seeds
30 grams (1 ounce) toasted sliced almonds
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda

for the crème mousseline:
240 grams (1 cup) whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
60 grams (1/2 cup) sugar
15 grams (1 1/2 tablespoons) cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
15 grams (1 tablespoon) butter

113 grams (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
praline paste, from above

to assemble:
gold leaf
additional sliced almonds
powdered sugar

directions:
Make the praline: butter a baking sheet.
Combine water, sugar, maple syrup, sesame seeds, almonds, and salt.
Cook, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, until registers 320 degrees F or 160 degrees C.
Remove from heat and stir in baking soda (candy will foam), then pour onto greased baking sheet.
Allow to cool completely, then break into pieces and place into a food processor bowl.
Process until completely smooth, approximately 5-10 minutes.
Place into an airtight container and set aside.
Meanwhile, make the choux batter: place milk, butter, salt, and sugar in a pot over medium heat.
Sift the flour while the butter melts.
When the milk comes to a light simmer, dump all the flour in at once and immediately stir with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon until the flour absorbs the water.
Cook, stirring briskly, until there are no dry patches and little oil droplets are showing up on the bottom of the pan (a spoon should stand up straight when stuck in).
Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Whisk the eggs together extremely well, until they are entirely homogeneous.
Place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle and begin to mix on low-medium speed.
Slowly stream in the eggs, allowing each addition to fully incorporate.
Stop adding eggs when the dough is pipeable, shiny, and smooth.
Place in a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Onto a baking sheet fitted with parchment paper, pipe 3 6-inch rings, with two on the bottom and one nestled on top.
Cover with sesame seeds and sliced almonds.
Place in oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, until puffed and dry.
Allow to cool completely in the turned off, cooling oven with a wooden spoon propping the door open.
Make the apple compote: peel and chop apples finely, then place in a sauce pan with the remaining ingredients.
Cook over medium heat until the apples are softened but not mushy, about 7 minutes.
Make the pastry cream for the mousseline: whisk milk, vanilla, salt, sugar, cornstarch, and egg yolks together well.
Place over low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes.
Whisk in first measure of butter and place in an airtight container; allow to cool for 5 minutes, then press saran wrap over top to keep a skin from forming.
When ready to assemble, whip the second measure of softened butter (1 stick/8 tablespoons) until fluffy and light. Slowly add in the cooled pastry cream, whipping all the while, until the cream is light and doubled in volume.
Add 80% of the praline paste, reserving a tablespoon for decoration if desired.
Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure the crème is homogeneous.
To assemble, split the choux ring in half.
Layer the apple compote in the bottom of the ring.
Pipe swirls of crème mousseline over top.
Replace the top half of the ring and dust with powdered sugar.
Pipe the reserved praline paste if desired and top with gold leaves and sliced almonds.
Serve immediately or within an hour.