When to use Chantilly cream It is used in the pastry arts to decorate cakes, sponge cakes, mille-feuille, Chantilly cake or to fill beignets and profiteroles. It is also useful in preparing some cream desserts made with fruit or chocolate, or to decorate gelato or hot chocolate. It is also used to make Diplomat cream, which is nothing other than pastry cream mixed with Chantilly cream. Dani on Unsplash The true story Whipped cream, known as “neve di latte” or “snow cream”, was known in Italy already during the Middle Ages. During this time period, dairy products, with the exception of cheeses, were considered food for the poor and were eaten only by farmers. Only in the 1500s, when cream was sweetened with sugar and flavoured with aromas did dairy products begin to be valued. Nobles and aristocrats, tasting the dishes served at Caterina De’ Medici’s court, started to appreciate its use. The trend of using of cream started in Italy and then spread throughout Europe. Even though its origins are Italian, the first recipe where the cream is used was published in a book in England in 1545, whereas the first recipe similar to Chantilly cream, thicker and without egg whites, was published roughly two hundred years later in a French cookbook, “La Science du Maître d’Hôtel Cuisinier” by François Menon. In this book, a recipe for whipped cream called “fromage Chantilly”, is the reworking of a recipe by a Sicilian gelato chef, Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli. Procopio dei Coltelli Procopio opened a luxurious café, Le Procope, in Paris in 1686. The establishment was immediately successful, so much so that it supplied gelato to Louis Joseph de Bourbon. The Prince of Condé enjoyed his gelato in the Chantilly castle. In 1722, during future King Louis XV’s visit, Procopio prepared a gelato topped with a cream that was called Chantilly cream. The dessert was liked so much that the Chantilly cream became one of the most requested desserts in all of Europe. Its praises can be found in various testimonies from the same time period. One example is from 1784, where the Baroness of Oberkirch praised it in her memoir as a ”good, delicious and well-prepared cream”. The brotherhood was born Chantilly cream was not a fleeting trend. This is proven by the foundation of the Chantilly Cream Brotherhood. Founded in 2007 by the maestro Hervé Grébert, it gathers twenty-four professionals. Its objective is to defend the traditional recipe. The cream is made with three ingredients: whipping cream with a minimum of 30 percent fat content, powdered sugar and vanilla. It requires specific tools, including a large whisk and a round, stainless-steel bowl or cul-de-poule. The secret to perfectly making it lies in the correct whipping in three phases: adding air to the cream, adding sugar and vanilla, and thickening. To be called Chantilly cream, it can only contain these three ingredients, but at times the Knights add other ingredients such as caramel or coffee. Careful attention to whipping is recommended, since whipped cream is the state of cream before it turns into butter. It is said that the whipped cream is ready when the bowl can be turned upside down without the whipped cream collapsing. 44 INTERESTING FACTS
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