Cream of Europe – The Dream Cream for Gourmands

Ho ho ho, Christmas and year end is nearly here, and it's the season to bake all the sweets! My family have a sweet tooth, we enjoy sweet treats from tarts to cakes, and Madeleine to ice cream. A rich and voluptuous cream is the essence of a great recipe, it is even more important in pastries for a velvety and rich taste. So, choosing the good cream is essential. I would choose The European cream as recommended by many pastry chefs.

In fact, the European cream used in pastries have a unique velvety taste, as well as a rich tradition and reputation, giving the pastry a dash of sophistication and quality. It is the incredibly versatile European Cream that adds the cherry on the cake to any recipe or meal. No wonder Europeans have the best pastry in the World.

We have visited Pastry Institure of St Honore last week to attend the Cream of Europe event held by the French Dairy Inter-Branch Organization (CNIEL) and financed with aid from the European Union. We were honoured to meet the co-owner and Managing Director of Pastry Institure of St Honore, Chef Federic Oger and learn a tips or two from him.

Chef Federic Oger has demonstrated the incredibly versatile and exquisite taste of European Cream through an array of pastries using different techniques in the art of cooking cream, including the art of aeration of cream through whipping when making the Berry Madeleine Basket which consists of fresh berries, lemon Madeleine, lemon Chantilly, pesto jelly and berry coulis; the texture of cream was explored when making the Cream Catalane Passionement which is a dessert made with baked vanilla crème catalane caramelised with exotic sweet chutney and served with caramelised salted peanuts; cream by emulsification was demonstrated by making the Speculoos Chocolate Tart with poached pear, caramel sauce and almond flakes; and the different water and fat composition of cream in pastries was explained when making the Frozen Parfait with chocolate coffee magnum coated with hazelnut chocolate.

We were also served with scrumptious breakfast pasties including brioche, Tart Tropezienne, Croissant, pain au chocolat, salmon quiche, chicken cream pie and mushroom Vol Au Vent with toppings made of European Cream.

Both breakfast and desserts taste distinctively smooth and rich, thanks to the superiority of cream originating from Europe which made world-class pastries. It is cool to find out that contrary to people's belief, there is less fat content in cream compared to butter. For a product to be labelled as 'cream', a decree from April 1980 states that its fat content resulting from the skimming of whole milk would have to be at least 30%. What makes European cream stand out and the preferred cream for pastry chefs around the World, lies in its fat content as well as consistency in the milk production in Europe which is the basis for quality cream that is stable and consistent.

There are several types of cream distinguished by conservation treatments, fat content and consistency. The ones most commonly used in cooking include pasteurized fresh single or double cream, sterilized liquid cream, low-fat cream, UHT cream, whipped cream, Chantily cream and sour cream. Be it light or thick cream, creams are distinguished by the type of heat treatment applied (ultra-high temperature sterilization, pasteurization or thermization), their viscosity (fluid, semi-thick or thick), their structure (whipped or whipping cream) and their method of packaging (aseptic or not, jars, bags, bottles, cartons etc).

European cream is manufactured under stringent conditions using only the finest quality milk and following exact rations of fat to water and non-fat elements like protein, lactose and minerals depending on the type of cream. It is this industry consistent, rigorous quality control that ensures European cream is consistent in quality and delivers the desired outcome.

Now, I want to get some European Cream for its quality and versatility. It is undoubted the most preferred cream to be used in anything from an appetizing start to a deliciously sinful dessert. Fine European creams are readily available in premium grocers and supermarkets.