The crémeux represents a genuine revolution in the world of pastry: it is a modern reinterpretation of the classic pastry cream. Born from the ingenuity of French master chocolatiers, the crémeux stands out from other creams for its incredibly soft, velvety texture.
How is the crémeux made?
The crémeux is the result of a harmonious fusion of crème anglaise and dark chocolate, in a ratio of 70% and 30% respectively. This seemingly simple combination in fact conceals a meticulous, carefully balanced preparation process.
But is the chocolate… really that important?
Besides lending that intense, enveloping flavour that sets it apart, chocolate plays a fundamental role in the structure and texture of the crémeux: depending on the type of chocolate used — dark, milk, white or cocoa butter — the final result will vary in terms of taste and density.
For crémeux made with milk, white or cocoa butter chocolate, adding gelatine sheets becomes essential: these types of chocolate contain less dry matter than dark chocolate and therefore call for an extra thickener to reach the desired creamy consistency. Dark chocolate, on the other hand, thanks to its wealth of dry matter, has greater thickening power during the cooling phase, making it possible to achieve a dense, velvety texture with no need for other ingredients.
Although chocolate is the prime ingredient in making a crémeux, this delicious cream lends itself to countless variations, each able to deliver a unique taste experience:
- Crémeux with nut pastes. Its base is crème anglaise with the addition of nut paste, which allows the cream to thicken somewhat, plus gelatine sheets;
- Fruit crémeux: its base is crème anglaise with the addition of fruit purée, animal gelatine and butter at room temperature.
If you want to enrich the crémeux with acidic fruit purées, such as berries or citrus fruits, we recommend not exceeding 20% of the total ingredients: too much purée could upset the balance of flavours and make them too pronounced in the final taste.
Another crucial aspect concerns adding the butter to the crème anglaise: to avoid the fat phase and the liquid phase separating during crystallisation in the refrigerator, it is essential to incorporate the butter once the cream has reached a temperature of between 35 °C and 40 °C during the cooling phase.
Now all that's left is to get down to work and experiment with your favourite recipes, to discover every nuance of taste and texture that this delicious pastry cream can offer.
White chocolate and vanilla crémeux
INGREDIENTS
- 125 g fresh whole milk
- 125 g fresh cream
- 26 g caster sugar
- 50 g egg yolk
- seeds of ¼ vanilla pod
- 5 g gelatine sheets
- 245 g chopped white chocolate
- 24 g butter at room temperature
Method
- Prepare a crème anglaise: mix the fresh milk, fresh cream, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla pod and the gelatine.
- Off the heat, add the rehydrated and squeezed gelatine, stirring until it has completely dissolved.
- Pour in the chopped chocolate and blend the mixture with an immersion blender, but avoid incorporating air.
- Once the mixture reaches 35–40 °C, add the softened butter.
- Pour the cream into a sufficiently large container, cover it with cling film pressed onto the surface and leave it in the fridge for 12–24 hours.
Following the same steps, you can create a fruit crémeux: in addition to the ingredients listed above, add 250 g of fruit purée and 73 g of egg yolk.
Blog by Enrico Gumirato, pastry chef and trainer.
