Mousseline Cream Recipe (Crème Mousseline)

Chef Iso

Chef Iso is the head pastry chef behind chefiso.com. He is the winner of the Christmas Cookie Challenge on Food Network and was named Best Baking and Sweets Blogger by Saveur Magazine. With a background in Japanese confections and French pastry, he brings the best of both worlds into his recipes.

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Mousseline Cream (pronounced "moos-eh-leen") is like pastry cream's better-looking cousin. It takes the humble pastry cream and enriches it with softened silky butter for an ultra-indulgent cream. If you happen to have some pastry cream on hand, the ratio is simple:

• 2 parts pastry cream (crème patissiere)
• 1 part softened butter

Unlike plain pastry cream, mousseline cream is a versatile cream that can be used as buttercream for frosting cakes or frozen for long-term storage. The most common use of mousseline cream is a praline variation in Paris-brest, a classic French pastry. Because of the emulsified butter, the piped cream has very pronounced edges for a very professional and beautiful look.

Ingredients

Makes about 3 cups

Mousseline Cream

• 3 large egg yolks (55 grams, 2 ounces)
• 60 grams sugar (1/4 cup, 2 ounces)
• 30 grams cornstarch (3 tablespoons, 1 ounce)
• 300 grams milk (1 1/3 cup, 10.5 ounces)
• 9 grams gelatin (1 tablespoon powdered, 1/3 ounce)
• 140 grams softened butter (1 stick, 5 ounces)
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The gelatin is used to stabilize the cream for better piping and longer-term storage. You can omit the gelatin if the cream will be used immediately.

Equipment

Method

For the Pastry Cream

1. Whip the egg yolks and the sugar together until the yolks are light and frothy. Whisk in the cornstarch.

2. Heat the milk in a saucepan until just below boiling and take it off of the heat. Pour 1/3 of the milk into the egg yolks and cornstarch, whisking constantly. Then whisk the remaining 2/3 of the milk into the mixture. It should be very liquid at this point.

3. Return the cream-yolk mixture to the saucepan and heat on medium heat. Whisk continuously throughout this process. Continue whisking and heating until the mixture thickens and begins steaming, about 5 minutes.

4. Skip this step if not using gelatin. Bloom the gelatin in 1/4 cup of cold water by quickly whisking the gelatin into the water so no clumps remain. Leave to rest and bloom for 5 minutes. Add the gelatin to the hot pastry cream custard and whisk until fully combined.

For the Mousseline Cream

1. Allow the pastry cream to fully cool to room temperature before proceeding to the next step. Working with chunks of butter at a time, use an immersion blender to blend the softened butter into the cream.

2. You can reserve the mousseline cream in the refrigerator in an airtight container until ready to use. Before using, allow the cream to come to room temperature and whip for 3 minutes to lighten.

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