What does the underside of a large paris-brest look like?

[wannabechocolatier]

I've tried it five times now, and every time the underside of the pastry shows two separate rings. I feel like they're supposed to coalesce and rise together, but there are absolutely no images to be found of the underside of a paris-brest. Am I doing something terribly wrong or is this the way it's supposed to be?

[Kerry Beal]

4 hours ago, wannabechocolatier said:

I've tried it five times now, and every time the underside of the pastry shows two separate rings. I feel like they're supposed to coalesce and rise together, but there are absolutely no images to be found of the underside of a paris-brest. Am I doing something terribly wrong or is this the way it's supposed to be?

Let me see if I can get one taken for you. Won't be til next week - but he does say that the rings should coalesce and you shouldn't see two separate rings. He says your choux is too dry - two rings side by side and one ring on top with a 12 mm tip

 

Meanwhile - here's another underside -  

 

[wannabechocolatier]

19 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Let me see if I can get one taken for you. Won't be til next week - but he does say that the rings should coalesce and you shouldn't see two separate rings. He says your choux is too dry - two rings side by side and one ring on top with a 12 mm tip

 

Meanwhile - here's another underside -  

 

 

Can't wait to see it! This has been driving me absolutely nuts. I've wasted 15 eggs in 3 days. 

 

I also thought it was hydration, so I made sure to add some extra liquid to make the choux noticeably flowy. Same issue.

 

Could it possibly be a combination of my crappy aluminum sheet pan and being too close to the bottom heating element? All I have is a countertop oven and if I go too high, the top of the choux overcooks quickly. To try and combat this, my next plan is to bake it on an elevated grate placed in the pan to get some air between the pastry and the metal. Will also bake it under convection. Hopefully that does something?

 

Anyway, excited for your pic! Insane to me how I can find zero mention of the issue online.