Pastries are a space for pastry chefs to express and experiment, incorporating and developing their favorite combinations in their creations all along. Cream is their guilty pleasure. La crème de la crème challenged 10 chefs to create pastry creations that are a charming blend of tradition and modernity based on a theme of the color white and published in a book titled : La Creme de la Creme.
We’re featuring two recipes which are in the book.
White Forest
Sometimes, it is the simplest things that leave the most profound impact. White Forest is an ode to cream: it is an immaculate white and perfectly balanced round pastry with a refined elegance. – Chef Waddah Bou Saad
WHITE FOREST – Chef Waddah Bou Saad
Chef WADDAH BOU SAAD Originally from Syria he is extremely passionate about pastries. He especially loves working with chocolate, and his speciality is eclairs. He worked as a pastry chef at La Serre Bistro & Boulangerie, one of the most renowned pâtisseries in Dubai, before joining Lighthouse, a new concept store.
How important is cream in your pastry-making?
Cream has always been an essential element in my cooking. It is an extremely special ingredient that I use in all my pastries. It adds lightness to my desserts, gives them a rich texture and a unique taste, and gives my creations the perfect balance. I think pastry chefs are also artists, and cream allows us to express our creativity!
How do you process and use cream?
I whip my cream by hand, and I like doing this because I have found that I can control it better than a mixer. Though this does take longer, I am so thrilled with the end result that it’s certainly worth the effort! You can feel that the cream is indeed lighter! I usually use cold cream for all my preparations, but sometimes I infuse it (at 45-50 degrees) with herbs like basil and mint or Tonka beans. I also find that cream goes perfectly with certain local ingredients like cardamom. Generally, you won’t be able to see the cream in my desserts unlike the Chantilly cream, but there is no missing it when you taste it.
WHITE FOREST – Chef Waddah Bou Saad
Ingredients
Vanilla cream
- 975 g 35% cream
- 4 vanilla pods scraped out beforehand
- 30 g inverted sugar
- 30 g glucose
- 400 g melted white chocolate
Chocolate cream
- 250 g cream
- 250 g milk
- 5 egg yolks
- 50 g caster sugar
- 275 g melted dark chocolate
Breton shortbread biscuit
- 225 g T45 flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 15 g baking powder
- 160 g caster sugar
- 5 g salt
- 160 g melted butter
Chocolate genoise
- 80 g T45 flour
- 6 eggs
- 320 g caster sugar
- 80 g cocoa powder
- 5 egg yolks
- 6 egg whites
Red berry preserve
- 300 g red berry purée
- 15 g glucose syrup
- 70 g caster sugar
- 10 g pectin
- 4 g lemon juice
White chocolate spraying
- 230 g white chocolate
- 100 g cocoa butter Paint gun
Assembly
- 100 g amaretto cherries
- White chocolate and gold leaf for decoration
Method
Vanilla cream
- In a saucepan, mix 275 g cream with the glucose, vanilla and inverted sugar on medium heat.
- Slowly add the chocolate.
- Add the remaining cream.
- Mix it gently until completely incorporated.
- Let it rest in the refrigerator for 10 hours.
Chocolate cream
- Mix the cream and milk in a saucepan on medium heat.
- Add the sugar, egg yolks and mix until the temperature reaches 83°C.
- Slowly add the melted dark chocolate and mix with a mixer.
- Remove from heat and place it in the refrigerator for 10 hours.
Breton shortbread biscuit
- Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until light.
- Add the melted butter, then the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Place a sheet of baking paper on a tray, spread the mixture on it and then cover with baking paper.
- Roll it out with a rolling pin (3 cm thick).
- Chill for four hours and then bake at 160°C for 15 minutes.
- Cut out a circle with a diameter of 24 cm.
Chocolate genoise
- Mix the egg yolks, eggs and 160g caster sugar. Keep it aside.
- In another bowl, mix the egg whites and the remaining sugar.
- Add the egg white mixture to the egg yolk mixture.
- Add the flour, cocoa, and mix until completely incorporated.
- Spread the batter on a tray and bake at 215°C for 7 minutes.
- Let it cool down and then cut out a circle with a diameter of 18 cm.
Red berry preserve
- In a saucepan, heat the berry purée with the glucose syrup until it reaches 40°C.
- Add the caster sugar and pectin.
- Bring to a boil.
- Add the lemon juice.
- Pour the mixture into an 18 cm mould and freeze for 1 hour.
White chocolate spraying
Heat the white chocolate and cocoa butter until the mixture reaches 45°C.
Assembly
- For the first layer, put 500 g vanilla cream in a piping bag and fill the base of the mould. Place the berry preserve on the vanilla cream layer and add the amaretto cherries.
- Put 300 g chocolate cream in a piping bag and create a layer on top of the cherries, and then place the chocolate genoise on top.
- Put the cake in the freezer for 1 hour.
- Remove the cake from the mould and spray it with the white chocolate preparation. Finally, place the cake on the breton shortbread biscuit.
- Finish by using the remaining vanilla cream to decorate the dessert with a piping bag, along with the white chocolate and gold leaf.
Chef Waddah Bou Saad “White Forest” can be found in the 2017 Edition of LA CRÈME DE LA CRÈME – European Cream & European Pastries A publication by Cniel and the European Commission within the framework of the CREAM of EUROPE programme.
[Recipe and Image provided].
