Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 17 December 2020: CNIEL - The French Dairy Board and the European Union have partnered with one of the world’s foremost pastry chefs, Claire Heitzler, to showcase to Middle East consumers why European cream is the perfect ingredient this festive season.
Chef Claire trained under her compatriot, renowned French chef Alain Ducasse in Tokyo before putting her dessert expertise to acclaimed success at the Park Hyatt Dubai. The award-winning chef returned to Paris, where she led the pastry team at the Ritz and latterly worked at the famous French luxury bakery and sweets maker, LaDurée, before starting her own consultancy.
Long lauded for its many uses when creating everything from the simplest of desserts to a show-stopping cake, French dairy cream is 100% dairy so 100% natural. Chef Claire Heitzler said, “French cream is my go-to when making desserts. I never could do pastry without French cream. This ingredient is at the base of everything I do, and we’re fortunate to have excellent quality dairy products in France thanks to our unique terroir and farming methods.”
French cream is used to enhance aromas and balance all kinds of flavours.
“One of the main qualities of French cream is it can help reduce the bitterness of cocoa, the acidity of lemon, temper certain fruits and the astringency of others, which makes it the perfect ingredient this festive season,” said Chef Claire.
A range of French creams are available throughout the Middle East,
including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and can be found in local convenience
stores and hypermarkets. Brands include Président, Elle & Vire, as well as Waitrose’s own brand which
incorporates French crème fraîche and French crème, Candia or even Paysan
Breton.
How to prepare the perfect festive treat, the Pavlova – Chef Claire Heitlzer recipe.
Ingredients:
Meringue
100g
egg white
100g
sugar
100g
icing sugar
Beat
the egg whites until stiff while progressively adding the powdered sugar. Once
the eggs are in stiff, softly add the icing sugar with a spatula.
Poach
the meringue in a flower shape and cook for 10 min at 100 degrees, then 1 hour
at 80 degrees.
Vanilla
Chantilly
250g
French cream
25g
sugar
1/2
vanilla pod
Cut
the vanilla in two and peel it in the cream.
Add
the sugar and beat with the whisk.
Assembly
One
lime
500g
raspberries
20g
sugar
Squeeze
half of the raspberries with the sugar to obtain a marmalade.
Fill
the bottom of the meringue flower with marmalade.
Add
the fresh raspberries and lay a beautiful rose window with chantilly. Peel
green citrus zest on the top of the Pavlova.
