Delicious and Adorable Whipped Cream, Culinary Marvels
When chilled to a temperature between 7℃ and 10℃, fresh cream is beaten with an electric mixer at medium or high speed, transforming from a liquid into a soft solid. This process creates the various charming cream patterns and flowers we often see on desserts. Fresh cream is widely used in cuisine for making desserts, cooking rich soups, and cake decoration. Therefore, whether you love or hate cream depends on your personal constitution and tolerance for it.
Fresh Cream
Fresh cream, also known as heavy cream, is a high-fat concentrate separated from fresh milk. Whole milk contains 4% fat. When whole milk is brought to a boil and then left to rest, a layer of skin forms on the surface, which is the cream. The ancient Egyptians were already making cream as early as ancient times. Later, the Egyptian method of making cream was brought to Europe by the Greeks and Romans, while the Indian technique spread to Japan via China and Korea. However, at that time, cream was used mostly for cosmetic application on the face, with only a small amount consumed as food. In the 1880s, De Laval of Sweden invented the cream separator. By using centrifugal force and leveraging the different densities of cream and skim milk, it allowed for the rapid separation of cream, greatly improving the efficiency of the process. The fat globules in cream are very small, with a low melting point and high digestibility. Cream contains essential fatty acids for the human body, as well as abundant vitamins A and D, and lecithin, which are not found in beef tallow, lard, or mutton tallow. The fat content in cream is more than 20 times higher than in milk, making it a fat source rich in vitamins A and D.
Culinary Marvels of Fresh Cream
When chilled to a temperature between 7℃ and 10℃, fresh cream is beaten with an electric mixer at medium or high speed, transforming from a liquid into a soft solid. This process creates the various charming cream patterns and flowers we often see on desserts. Fresh cream is widely used in cuisine for making desserts, cooking rich soups, and cake decoration. Therefore, whether you love or hate cream depends on your personal constitution and tolerance for it.
Fresh Cream and Strawberry Tart
Ingredients: 150g fresh strawberries, 200g cookies, 100g fresh cream, 20g powdered sugar, 100ml milk, a few basil leaves.
Method:
1. Crush the cookies, mix with the milk, and press the mixture into a tart mold.
2. Preheat the oven to 180℃. Bake in the middle rack for 15 minutes, or until the tart shell is colored and crispy.
3. After removing from the mold and letting it cool, fill the tart shell with whipped cream, arrange the strawberries and basil leaves on top, and finally dust with powdered sugar.
Tips:
1. The best temperature for whipping fresh cream is between 7℃ and 10℃. You can place the cream container in a bowl with an ice-water bath, a method known as "chilling on ice." Start beating at medium speed, then switch to high speed, until the gloss disappears and soft peaks form.
2. For unwhipped cream, it is best to fill the container to only 10% to 25% of its volume.
3. Whipped cream can be stored in the refrigerator at 2℃ to 7℃ for up to 3 days.
4. Using crushed cookies for the tart shell is a shortcut. The cookies only need to be crushed into rice-sized granules, not into a powder. Crush the cookies while gradually adding milk and mixing.
5. To make the tart shell easier to remove from the mold, you can grease the mold with some butter, then lightly dust it with flour. This will allow the baked tart to be easily taken out of the mold.