What's with the smoothness of whipped cream, the rich flavor of pastry cream, and the firmness of buttercream? Meet diplomatic frosting, your new favorite cake topping.
A delicious, creamy cake filling that easily fits between the layers AND striking a balance between rich and light is a baker's dream, but can be difficult to achieve. Pastry cream it delivers flavor – sweet and cream-like – but lacks lightness. Sweet slush it's as light as it comes, but it doesn't have much flavor or consistency. Butter creammeanwhile, it's strong and durable, but rich enough to mask the flavors of your dessert as the butter and sugar steal the show. But diplomat cream combines some of the best qualities of all three for a strong, stackable and flavorful filling. No wonder it's beloved by pastry chefs far and wide.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
So what is diplomatic cream?
Diplomat cream is simply pastry cream thickened with whipped cream – often with gelatin added for stability – to make it more airy. It starts with pastry cream, or pastry cream, a thickened egg and starch cream that is the classic filling for. the lightning and the imprecise star of many fruit tarts. Whipped cream is folded in to create a delicious filling that retains the flavor of pastry cream with a lighter, smoother texture that doesn't crumble when used as a filling or topping.
Diplomat cream, by definition, should not include gelatin, but is usually added to pastry cream for firmness, especially when used as a cake filling. (The gelatin will allow the bleached whipped cream filling to hold its shape and texture better.)
How to use diplomatic cream
One of the most popular uses of diplomatic cream is in Princess Cake. This traditional Swedish dome cake combines layers of vanilla cake with jam and a diplomatic cream filling, all topped with a whipped cream lid and a smooth marzipan mantle, often painted pistachio green. You can search the country for the best princess cake, and you're sure to be directed (again and again and again) to an unusual place: a Los Angeles pizzeria called Sheet pizza. Here, between a gas station and a bar off Sunset Boulevard, pastry chef Hannah Ziskin is whipping up some of the city's best desserts, including her princess cake.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
Her version at Quarter Sheets is similar to the classic profile in flavor, but Hannah has subtly tweaked the recipe to suit her palette. She does it with chiffon cake with olive oilsalted milk infused with vanilla and homemade cake raspberry jam. Instead of the classic raspberry cream filling, she mixes heavy cream and mascarpone for a smooth thickness.
However, the secret star of the cake is the diplomatic icing spread between the layers. “I prefer buttercream over buttercream because you can get richer flavor profiles from it,” she explains. “And it's lighter and less sweet.” She adds, “We stabilize the mixture with a little gelatin because we use diplomatic cream in many of our layered cakes, and the added texture helps when assembling and slicing.” The filling isn't just for cupcakes. Hannah uses it in many pastry applications, from layer cakes to cream puffs, banana cream pie to petit fours and even on its own as a pudding.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
When making your own diplomat cream, start with one well written, well tested recipe for the best success. Once you've mastered the technique, you can start playing with ratios. “I use different amounts of whipped cream depending on the result I'm looking for,” says Hannah. “For cakes, I use about 20% whipped cream and 80% pastry cream by weight, but if I'm filling a custard and want a more airy texture, I use about 40% whipped cream .Consider the texture you're looking for when determining your ideal ratio of pastry cream to whipped cream: The more whipped cream, the lighter and smoother the whipped cream will be.
An added benefit of buttercream is that the pastry cream base can be flavored in many ways, such as peanut butter, hazelnut, orange, caramel and more. (Find more flavor ideas here.)
Diplomat cream is delicious enough that you may find yourself standing in the kitchen eating it straight from the bowl with a spoon, but if you can resist saving some for baking, use it for topping. profiteroles, eclairs, donutsand of course, Hannah's Princess Cake.
Cover photo by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.
