Today we are still going to talk about technique, but more particularly about a central element in making pastry : a cream. Very important to add smoothness and freshness to a cake, creams are in a way the major asset of a dessert. Each cake does not necessarily need to be topped or stuffed with a cream, but it can often make the difference. When we talk about a dessert, we often imagine a texture that flows, creamy to lick the spoon. That's pure greed ! By the way, we often use a specific term (and now trendy) to talk about love of good food and yummy cakes : PORNFOOD ! Creams are always in the spotlight. You can’t miss the texture if you want it to look good when you taste it. In France, we identify several types of creams, and I will detail all of them in this article : which elements distinguish them from each other.
The first category of creams, is the egg yolk-based cream. They are both very creamy and require cooking. These creams are often used to make pies or to fill choux (for cream puffs), or to coat a dry cake.
Pastry cream : This is the basic cream. It’s very useful for many other recipes. It is easy to make if you follow a few simple tips. To explain it simply, this cream is a mixture of egg, milk and a thickener (flour and/or starch) which is cooked over a medium heat to obtain a smooth and creamy cream.
Custard (or crème anglaise) : often used to serve cakes rather dry, custard is liquid (like a sauce). It will also be used as a base for a Bavarian cream. We can say that custard is a pastry cream without thickener.
Almond cream : almond cream, whose name is confusing, does not contain cream but sugar, butter, egg yolks and almond powder. An almond cream does not need to be cooked. However, it is often baked in the oven because pies are often stuffed with this cream. It can be used to add a melting texture to a cake.
Frangipane cream : is used to make the famous "Galette des rois" in France (a kind of almond pie), this cream is simply a mixture of pastry cream with almond cream.
Lemon cream : lemon cream is used to make lemon pies. It uses the same ingredients as pastry cream, with the difference that it replaces milk with lemon juice.
The other basic creams are equally important to master if you really want to have a solid base in pastry making :
Whipped cream : simple to make, this cream is obtained by whipping fresh cream (with a minimum of 30% fat content). It is the temperature of the cream and the utensils that will, among other things, help the cream to get whipped. The technical details will be explained in another article dedicated to this recipe.
Butter cream : this rich, creamy and sometimes fragrant filling is used to mask, garnish and decorate desserts or pastries (Paris-Brest, Moka, Religious, ...). Made with butter ointment, eggs (yellow, white or whole depending on the recipe), sugar and sometimes milk, there are several techniques to make it: with cooked sugar, ”à l’anglaise”, with Italian meringue, with Swiss meringue, with syrup, and even with icing sugar. As you can well imagine, this cream is rather complex to make. It requires technicality so that the cream does not turn into a grainy texture. But don't worry, an entire article will be dedicated to these recipes.
Chocolate ganache : A ganache is a mixture of chocolate that is melted off the heat with boiling liquid cream. By mixing the two ingredients, we are creating an emulsion. This mixture once cooled allows us to garnish logs, genoises, cakes .... Once cooled, we can also decide to whip it with an electric mixer. We will then obtain what is called a whipped ganache ( or “ganache montée” ).
Hybrid creams are simply mixtures between two (or more) previously prepared creams. They are either the result of a coincidence or a perfect balance between two or more textures:
Bavarian cream : you will often hear about a Bavarian cake. It is simply a cake that contains a Bavarian cream. It's a "sticky" custard, i.e. with gelatine added, into which whipped cream is incorporated. It can be flavoured with fruit, chocolate, alcohol ... Sometimes the custard is replaced by a fruit purée. Poured into moulds and put in the fridge, this cream can become a light dessert. You can use it in more elaborate recipes, for example charlottes, pastry cakes ...
Crème diplomate (or light cream) : it is simply a pastry cream mixed with gelatine and whipped cream. It will thus have a much more airy texture and bring lightness to a cake.
Crème mousseline : this rather caloric cream is a mixture of pastry cream mixed with softened butter. This cream is mainly used to make Fraisiers or Yule log.
Crème chiboust : this soft and airy cream is a pastry cream stuck with gelatine in which icing sugar (to make French or Italian meringue) is incorporated. It is less caloric than the “crème diplomate”, but is less creamy in the mouth. It is mainly used to make a Saint-Honoré.
And finally, mousses are generally made from eggs:
Chocolate mousse : there are tons of recipes for chocolate mousse. But the basis for chocolate mousse is a firm egg whisk added to melted chocolate tempered at room temperature. Some people mix the chocolate with the egg yolks beforehand, others don't use it. The aim is to have a mousse that will hold once it has been stored in the fridge. You can then use it to garnish your cake. You will sometimes find recipes for chocolate mousse with liquid cream (whipped cream), however this is not necessarily essential.
Fruits mousse : once again, not everyone agrees with the traditional recipe for fruit mousse. Some people simply use a fruit purée mixed with egg whites, others add whipped cream. The recipes will vary depending on the person. It's up to you to test it and make your own opinion.
I hope that you have learn a bit more about the basics of French pastry ! See you soon for more articles and detailed recipes.
And don’t hesitate to recommend me subjects that your are curious about (just leave a comment or send me a DM on social medias)
Lea from The Paris-Best
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