Crème Chiboust
Pastry cream folded with Italian meringue
Pastry cream folded with hot Italian meringue — the lightest of the family, and the filling in a gâteau Saint-Honoré. Invented by the pâtissier Chiboust in the 1840s, which is roughly when it stopped being possible to improve on it.
The meringue is cooked by the sugar syrup, so this is safe to eat and stable enough to hold overnight.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Crème Pâtissière (see Crème Pâtissière), warm
- 2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
- 2 tablespoons cold water
Italian Meringue
- 4 egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- A pinch of cream of tartar
Instructions
- Bloom the gelatin in the cold water for 5 minutes, then stir it into the warm pastry cream until dissolved. Keep it warm and loose.
Italian Meringue
- Combine the sugar and water in a small pan and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, to 244°F on a thermometer — the firm-ball stage.
- Meanwhile, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar to soft peaks.
- With the mixer running, pour the hot syrup down the side of the bowl in a thin steady stream. Avoid the whisk itself or it will fling syrup up the sides.
- Whip until the meringue is stiff, glossy and cooled to body temperature, about 6 minutes.
- Fold a third of the meringue into the warm pastry cream to slacken it, then fold in the rest gently in two additions.
- Use at once — it sets as it cools.
Notes
- Everything must be moving quickly once the gelatin is in: warm cream, warm meringue, immediate fold.
- Traditionally torched to a caramel top in a Saint-Honoré.