Diplomat Cream Recipe: 4 Tips for Making Diplomat Cream

Diplomat cream (crème diplomat in French) is a mixture of equal parts crème pâtissiere (pastry cream) and unsweetened whipped cream. Its history is unclear, but conventional wisdom says the name originated when French leaders served the cream—which they reserved for special occasions—to distinguished Bavarian visitors.

Diplomat cream is a popular cake filling for cupcakes and sponge cake. It can fill doughnuts and choux desserts like éclairs and cream puffs. You can also use the cream between the layers of a mille-feuille or as a base for fruit tarts topped with fresh fruit. Depending on your intended use for the diplomat cream, you can add an amount of gelatin for stability.

There are other creams similar to diplomat cream that pastry chefs use regularly; however, there are some differences among them. Here are five creams you might confuse for diplomat cream:

1. 1. Crème Bavarois: Crème Bavarois, or Bavarian cream, is a base of crème Anglaise—the same base for ice cream—mixed with whipped cream and gelatin. Sometimes diplomat cream contains gelatin, but it’s not a requirement.
2. 2. Crème Chantilly: Also called Chantilly cream, Crème Chantilly is a specific kind of whipped cream, although many people use the terms interchangeably.
3. 3. Crème Chiboust: This cream is also known as St. Honoré after a dessert of the same name. Crème Chiboust is a mixture of pastry cream and meringue, with gelatin sometimes for stability.
4. 4. Crème mousseline: Also called buttercream, crème mousseline is a mixture of pastry cream and soft, whipped, unsalted butter. At room temperature, the mixture is soft and delicate, but it begins to firm up in the refrigerator as the butter hardens.
5. 5. Meringue: The base for Italian and Swiss buttercream, meringue consists of egg whites whipped to stiff peaks, combined with powdered sugar.

Making diplomat cream is an involved step-by-step process, with some technique needed for success. Listed below are some tips for making diplomat cream correctly:

1. 1. Use pure heavy cream. If you can, use straight heavy cream for diplomat cream. You can often find heavy whipping cream in grocery stores, but that contains stabilizers to help it whip up well. Heavy cream will whip up well on its own as long as you use the best quality cream.
2. 2. Determine a use for the cream. If the diplomat cream is for filling a cupcake or cream puff, there really is no need for gelatin. However, if you plan to use it for tarts or any other dish that requires a set cream for a clean cut, you can use gelatin to help the cream set into a firm mixture.
3. 3. Make sure the heavy cream is cold. Cold cream whips up much better than room temperature cream. Ensure the cream stays cold by first placing the bowl of your stand mixer in the refrigerator for a few hours before you plan to whip the cream. Additionally, keep the heavy cream in the refrigerator until the last minute before you plan to begin whipping.
4. 4. Temper the egg mixture. One of the many steps in making pastry cream is heating whole milk and adding it to an egg yolk mixture. Adding the hot milk directly to the egg mixture in one go will cause it to scramble, which will lead to a lumpy pastry cream. To prevent this, temper the egg mixture by slowly adding the hot milk and whisking continuously, so the egg mixture can gradually come to temperature. The more even the temperature of the milk and egg mixture, the smoother the pastry cream will turn out.
5. 5. Strain the pastry cream. Even if you temper the eggs perfectly, lumping can still occur. Before the pastry cream cools, run it through a mesh strainer to remove lumps and any burnt bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in the unsalted butter after you’ve strained the pastry cream.