The World of Crèmes

During this week -with the St Honoré frenzy- we’ve come to a somehow complex world of a classical dessert that takes Crème Chiboust and even puff Pastry… If you are wondering what the heck is Chiboust and for that matter. . . what’s the difference between Chiboust Crème and Crème Pâtissière for example? Oh Lord!

Crèmes and fillings are something that. . . the more we enter into the world of Bakery on our own, the more we’ll find everywhere else in the recipes. Specially the fancy French recipes that everyone loves! 😉

There’s good news. . .

We’ve put together a simple guide about CRÈMES

There are many many kinds of creams or crèmes that have become “classics”. The one and only filling for a certain dessert like Chiboust goes for St. Honoré for example. Some of the basics become the common ground to create a new or more complexed crème. Like it happens in the world of sauces, essential ones are at the basis of more complex sauces. We could even think of crèmes as the sweet sauces

Most BASIC Crèmes:

Crème Chantilly 

Crème Chantilly is simply a sweetened cream made by adding sugar or stock syrup to thickened cream. It sometimes includes vanilla for extra flavour

Crème Anglaise

Translated as English cream, crème Anglaise could be considered more of a sauce because of its fluid consistency, and is the basis of many ice creams and mousses. It is also what is used to create a crème brûlée and the custard base of île flottante (floating islands). Its ingredients include milk (and sometimes cream), sugar and egg yolk

Crème pâtissière

Also known as pastry cream, crème pâtissière is a cooked custard that is often used to fill éclairs, choux buns and other classic pastries. It is made using milk, sugar, egg, flour and butter and follows a classic custard method of adding heated milk to raw eggs to create a thick consistency. Butter is added at the end for flavour

More Complex Crèams

These crèmes usually start with a crème Anglaise or crème pâtissière as the base, and they build up from there. . .

Crème mousseline 

Crème mousseline combines crème pâtissière and whipped, soft butter for a lighter, more delicate texture. It is often used when the cream needs to hold up when a pastry is cut, for example a mille fuille

Crème diplomat 

Crème diplomat is made by adding whipped cream and gelatin to crème pâtissière.  This creates a light, stable cream that can be used in moulds or as a pastry filling

Crème Chiboust 

Also known as crème St-Honore after the dessert it was invented for, crème Chiboust combines crème pâtissière and whipped egg whites (meringue). Gelatin is also sometimes added to provide extra stability

Bavarois

Bavarois, Bavarian cream or Crème Bavaroise, has a crème Anglaise base with added whipped cream and gelatin. It can be served as a moulded dessert or as a filling to tarts, cakes and charlottes

Crémeux

Cremeux is crème Anglaise thickened with butter and sometimes gelatin. It is often flavoured with fruit puree, chocolate or caramel and used as a tart filling

Hope this helped to enter the smooth world of Creams/Crèmes. More on this fascinating subject, very soon.