Cream 101

Cream 101



These are three different cream recipes that every baker should know about. They’re all wonderful, but each serves a bit of a different purpose. These are the key differences:

Crème Chantilly (Chantilly Cream) is pretty much whipped cream but with some added sweetness. It’s beautifully light and airy and perfect to compliment desserts like chocolate fondants and soufflés.

Crème Pâtissière (Pastry Cream) is a much more decadent cream. The egg yolks make it smooth and rich, and it’s a great one to use to fill desserts, such as my Apple Crumble Brioche.

Lastly, the Crème Diplomate (Diplomat Cream) is the fanciest of them all. By mixing the two together, you get the lightness of the whipped cream, plus the beautiful creaminess from the Creme Patissiere. Just make sure you don’t sweeten the Creme Chantilly, you just need whipped double cream for this.

Mastered these techniques? Next check out my chocolate cream recipe and my caramel cream recipe!


 


 

Ingredients


For the Creme Chantilly
 300 g Double/Heavy Cream
 5 g Icing/Powdered Sugar
 ½ tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
For the Creme Patissiere
 500 g Whole Milk
 1 Fresh Vanilla Pod (or 1.5 Tsp Vanilla Bean Paste)
 30 g Cornflour
 80 g Sugar
 Pinch of Salt
 110 g Egg Yolks
 40 g Unsalted Butter, Cold
For the Creme Diplomat
 200 g Creme Patissiere
 200 g Creme Chantilly (unsweetened)

Method


Creme Chantilly
1

Whisk everything together until you have a medium peak.

Crème Pâtissière
2

In a saucepan over a medium heat, heat the milk and vanilla until steaming.

3

Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk the yolks, sugar, cornflour and salt for 1 minute until thick.

4

Slowly pour the hot cream over the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook on a medium heat. Keep whisking and then once it starts to bubble cook for a further minute.

5

Pass the mixture through a sieve and then whisk in the cold butter. Cover the surface directly with cling film and chill for 4 hours. Whisk it up until it is smooth.

Creme Diplomat
6

Prepare the Creme Patissiere as above.

7

Once the Creme Patissiere has cooled, whisk together the ingredients for the the Creme Chantilly. Whisk it to a medium peak then fold it through the Creme Patisserie in two parts. Make sure you’ve whisked the chilled Creme Patissiere so it is smooth before you fold the chantilly in.

8

You can use it straight away but it will be slightly thinner. Or you can chill it for a few hours in the fridge and the consistency will be thicker. Or whisk the cream so that it is thicker and then fold that through the Creme Patisserie!

Ingredients

For the Creme Chantilly
 300 g Double/Heavy Cream
 5 g Icing/Powdered Sugar
 ½ tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
For the Creme Patissiere
 500 g Whole Milk
 1 Fresh Vanilla Pod (or 1.5 Tsp Vanilla Bean Paste)
 30 g Cornflour
 80 g Sugar
 Pinch of Salt
 110 g Egg Yolks
 40 g Unsalted Butter, Cold
For the Creme Diplomat
 200 g Creme Patissiere
 200 g Creme Chantilly (unsweetened)

Directions

Creme Chantilly
1

Whisk everything together until you have a medium peak.

Crème Pâtissière
2

In a saucepan over a medium heat, heat the milk and vanilla until steaming.

3

Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk the yolks, sugar, cornflour and salt for 1 minute until thick.

4

Slowly pour the hot cream over the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook on a medium heat. Keep whisking and then once it starts to bubble cook for a further minute.

5

Pass the mixture through a sieve and then whisk in the cold butter. Cover the surface directly with cling film and chill for 4 hours. Whisk it up until it is smooth.

Creme Diplomat
6

Prepare the Creme Patissiere as above.

7

Once the Creme Patissiere has cooled, whisk together the ingredients for the the Creme Chantilly. Whisk it to a medium peak then fold it through the Creme Patisserie in two parts. Make sure you’ve whisked the chilled Creme Patissiere so it is smooth before you fold the chantilly in.

8

You can use it straight away but it will be slightly thinner. Or you can chill it for a few hours in the fridge and the consistency will be thicker. Or whisk the cream so that it is thicker and then fold that through the Creme Patisserie!

Notes

Cream 101