Lately, I've seen teenage girls wearing the exact same things that were popular when I was in high school 30 years ago, proving the old axiom: Everything old is new again. It's not just true in fashion. Chefs and bakers are always digging into the archives, finding inspiration in old recipes and techniques. And we predict that one of these recipes, ermine creamis ready for a comeback.
What is ermine cream?
Also called milk cream, boiled milk cream, cooked flour cream or baked cream, ermine cream is made by cooking together a mixture of flour, milk (or water) and sugar until it thickens, then chilling it. mixture and then beating it with butter. until light, fluffy and silky – silky like ermine fur, as the name implies. Haven't petted any wild animals lately? Think buttercream, but even silkier. It first became popular in the late 1800s as the frosting of choice for mahogany cake, an early version of red velvet.
Photography by Kristen Teig; food styling by Liz Neily
How does ermine frost differ from other frosts?
Different from Italian and French buttercreams, which are made with eggs (whites only in the case of the Italian, whole eggs in the case of the French) and sugar syrup, the ermine cream is eggless and eliminates the tedious step of pouring the hot syrup. mixer.
It also differs from Swiss butterin which egg whites and sugar are heated together, then beaten with butter and German butter, which starts with a base of vanilla pastry cream. And it's completely different from American buttercream (aka Quick Butter Frosting), that super sweet, super simple combination of confectioners' sugar and butter. (For a full rundown of the different creams, check out this blog post: A division of (almost) every freeze.)
Not only is the technique for making ermine cream different, but it also uses much less sugar (and butter) than other types of cream, so it's less rich and sweet. In other words, if you're a person who usually brushes off the icing in favor of the cake underneath, ermine cream it could be the one for you.
What makes ermine cream special?
Beyond the fact that it's less sweet than traditional buttercreams, what sets ermine cream apart is its texture. Says Senior Recipe Developer Molly Marzalek-Kelly, who developed the recipe, “I love its light, fluffy, whipped cream texture. Plus, it's much easier to make than its buttery meringue-based cousins. The cooked flour base also makes the cream more stable and less likely to melt in warm weather.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
For which desserts is ermine cream best?
With its puffy texture and restrained sweetness, herringbone custard is a particularly good choice for richer desserts such as Simple and rich chocolate cake or ours Golden vanilla cake. It was also the original cream of choice for her Red Velvet Cake forward Cream Cheese Frosting it became de facto, and it's an easy way to dress up cupcakes. If you are one amateur in cream cakesermine is a good choice because it spreads easily with one offset shoulder, giving off what Molly calls “trembling vibrations.” Due to its fluffy texture, it is not the best choice for intricate piping designs.
Although ermine cream may be a vintage recipe, what never gets old is a cake (or cupcakes) filled with fluffy cream and no fuss.
And for a truly next-level presentation, frost your cake with ermine cream and finish with this spectacular Berry Mirror Glaze. Watch Kye Ameden show you how:
Cover photo (Ermine cream) by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.
