Saturday, May 9, 2009

pastry cream: can you get any unhealthier?

unhealthier: yes.
more delicious: yes.

how?

i remember back in culinary school always being amazed by making mayonnaise. the ingredients are simple, the technique is simple, the end result is amazing! but what amazed me most was the texture. it was very similar to pastry cream.

so i thought, can we make pastry cream like we would make mayonnaise?

the ingredients are similar too, so in theory it should work.

mayonnaise: egg yolks, vinegar, fat, seasoning.
pastry cream: egg yolks, milk, fat, sugar.

my only concern was the sugar, how would it contribute to the emulsion? will it break it or will it stabilize it? sugar helps the structure of meringue and sabayon, so i assumed it would do likewise here.

initial test recipe.
7 eggs
12 oz brown butter
1 cup milk
2 cups sugar
pinch salt

results:
it was nowhere near like mayonnaise. instead it was more like a thick anglaise. since it had such a fat content, i decided to refrigerate it and hope for the best the next day. the next day the custard set into a beautiful thick custard, pudding.

so it kind of worked, but i'll keep working on the recipe.

future applications?
mayo style custards: bacon, olive oil, foie, nut oils, etc.

8 comments:

katie said...

So what did you do? Just whip it like crazy, mayo style?

Jenn said...

Plinio, sometimes I don't WANT to know what goes into delicious foods. 7 eggs!?!?

craig thornton said...

what about milk powder instead of the glass of milk, or reducing the milk down or a little amount of cream

plinio said...

katie: yup, while the blender running, i slowly drizzled in the brown butter.

jenn: nothing wrong with knowing what goes in your food.

craig: i used milk powder in the brown butter, it enhances the brown butter flavor. didnt want to do milk, because i would have to heat it to prevent it from curdling while in the blender.

craig said...

so is the 1 cup milk, milk powder?

plinio said...

hey craig,
1 cup of milk is milk, not milk powder.

i forgot to list one step in making brown butter. i learned this trick from the pastry chef at lola by michael symon.

when you make brown butter, you separate the fat from the milk solids. then you caramelize the milk solids. what if you could add more milk solids to enrich and enhance the brown butter flavor? you could do it with milk powder. milk powder is milk solids with no moisture. its perfect.

when making brown butter, i use 2 Tbsp milk powder to 1 lb of butter. cook it on medium low heat until it is a very dark brown. then run it in the blender for 3 minutes.

i dont strain because i like the brown flecks. but you can easily strain.

craig thornton said...

what i meant was take out the milk in the recipe since 1 cup of milk would water down your "mayo", obviously the sugar would change the texture as well.

jrdestes said...

Hey Plinio-
Could you use an invert sugar like agave nectar or honey when you start the emulsification with the eggs in the blender. Similiar to using a bit of mustard when you start a mayo to aid in the process. Or, possibly try to dissolve the sugar when you warm milk before it goes in the blender. Another thought, maybe the blender generates too much heat through the friction it creates? Could you use a hand held immersion blender or even the Robot Coupe?
Just a couple of thoughts, I am definetly no pastry chef!
Take care man.