Cream again

[Chancer]

Having finally found my recipe books from cookery courses 30 years ago I want to make one of my old favorite cheescake recipes and would like advice on finding 4 of the ingredients in France

Whipping cream, this needs to be whisked to the same consistnency as whipped egg whites and is folded in with them, what cream should I use?

Double cream, this needs to be whipped and piped on the top.

Philadelphia or cream cheese, is anything like this available? It really needs to have the same taste.

Powdered gelatine, the last time I tried to buy this basis foodstuff in the UK all that I could find was rediculously priced Tesco's finest leaf gelatine, it seems that home baking etc is now seen as a trendy hobby and charged for accordingly, can one find powdered gelatine in France?

I know that I should have by now seen these things in the big supermarkets but my restricted budget has resulted in me sticking to Lidl and Aldi.

Thankyou in anticipation [:)]

[Âme]

Cream cheese/Philadelphia  = St Moret

To replace whipping and double cream, I use Créme Fleurette de Normandie (the one in the chiller cabinet) and since I bought a Bosch handheld mixer I have no problems whipping it to whatever consistency is required.  Tip: Use a chilled metal bowl with space to 'draw' the cream up the sides.

See HERE for pictures of those two products.

No idea about gelatine. I don't use it. 

Is it a baked cheesecake? If so, this recipe is luxe, light and doesn't use boiled bones. ;)  DeliaOnLine  I use St Moret instead of curd cheese. You could add piped cream to decorate the top.

I know you go to the UK from time to time, so you could bring back double and whipping cream (they undoubtedly whip better). It will keep for a few months in the freezer.

[Les]

gélatine en poudre, "Vahiné" is a well known make for baking products and can be found in most supermarkets :

http://www.vahine.fr/tous-nos-produits/gelatine-en-poudre/index.html

[Tricia]

I think you can buy a vegetarian gelatine in the supermarkets - made from carrageen.

I make cheesecake sometimes and use the substitutes that Ame suggests. Plus if I go to the market there's a specialist cheese van there that sells something very close to thick cream cheese.

[Chancer]

Thank you all for your help.

If I had known that I could just pop down to the shop and buy a vahine like Paul Gaugin did I would have done so long ago [6]

[mary]

I find the best cream and you do not need to use Chantilly fix, is Lidl's. It's in the chiller cabinet in a clear plastic bottle with a red cap. It's exactly the same at UK Whipping cream and does not need any fix. Whips up great and stiff. I dont use powdered gealtine, I prefer Leaf, which you can buy easily. I find it disolves better.

Cream cheese-, Intermarche, Netto do their own and is alot cheaper than St Moret

[Chancer]

Thankyou again to you all and to Vida for pointng me in the direction of lo-cost options, I have a Lidl and Netto within 500 metres of my house.

Re the Lidl red cap cream, can it be whipped thick enough for piping?

[mary]

yes, just about. It is certinally good enough to thick fold into choc mousse. I think you just need to keep going a little longer with the whipping.

[Chancer]

I did the round today, no red top creme de fleurette or anything other tahn creme fraiche to be found in Lidl or Aldi, no St Moret or eqivalent in Netto although they have stocked it, Lidl did have it though at a lot less than the other supermarkets.

I mistakenly bought the wrong sugar, the Vahiné gelatine was only available in leaf form at €1.89 [Www] and the creme fleurette was soexpensive for a tiny carton that I bought  a litre of creme entière de Normandie for the same price, I am sure that it will thicken enough to fold into the mix but not so sure for piping on top, I am going to leave the bowl outside and then put it in the sink filled up with snow before trying to whip it, if that fails I have a packet of fixe chantilly as a last resort but dont want the sweet taste.

I was surprised to  find some McVities digestive biscuits, I was going to try with speculos.

My friiends were initially excited at the thought of eating cheesecake but are now disgusted to learn that it contains cheese [:-))] the last time that I made a dessert even though it was a traditional French Tarte D'abricot and even if I say so myself I made a damned good job of it, everyone suddenly became full up and refused it when they learned that I had made it in the UK (and hence from UK sourced ingredients)and brought it with me in a glacier.

[Âme]

[quote user="Chancer"] the sink filled up with snow [/quote] Great to use that which the season brings. Love it!

In moments of floppy cream desperation, I've folded thin cream into stiff-whipped eggwhites... this trick works well and is a low-fat alternative for chocolate cream, lemon cream etc.

It probably won't get you out of the piping dilemma but, you know, just tell 'em that piping is terribly passé. [;-)] 

Good luck with the baking. It will all turn out beautifully.

[Chancer]

Folding cream into egg whites and moments of flopy cream desperation reminded me of a hilarious passage in a Tom Sharp novel where two old spinsters had received an unsolicited parcel containing a sex toy and curiosity got the better of them but we had better not go there! 

If I bake it I suspect that it will s'effondre! [;-)]

Thanks for the encouragement!

P.S. I could always pipe it with snow, its not as if anyone will dare to eat it!

[Chancer]

Well I didnt have much luck today even with trying to replicate whipping cream, I was using Creme entier de Normandie, I left the stainless bowl outside to cool and then shovelled the sink full of snow and used a hand held electric mixer and it didnt seem to thicken at all.

In the end I had to use 2 packets of fixe chantilly to get to the same consistency as the beaten egg whites that the recipe calls for but it tasted horrible, its not such a problem once folded in the mix which is now done and reposing in the fridge but what can I do for decorating the top?

I usually whip up double cream and pipe on the top and then squirt melted chocolate on it from a cone of greaseproof paper, I really dont want to use chantilly as it is too sweet, the dish only really works with the contrast of the piped double cream and the sweet body of the cheesecake.Squirting the chocolate on top I think will melt the chantilly which looks like WD40 anyway if left overnight.

I cant serve it as it is as being a chocolate and walnut one it resembles something found in a nappy and it will be hard enough convincing the other guests (I have been invited to eat and hence not the host) to eat something made by an Englishman let alone with its particular visual appeal.

I can try buying some creme fleurette but on talking to some friends I doubt that it will ever reach the consistency I need to pipe on the top.

So any ideas on how to achieve my aim or to disguise the top of the cheesecake please will be very wellcome.

[Tricia]

You could sprinkle some toasted nuts on the top - almonds or hazelnuts .

Make sure they aren't salted though[:D]

[Chancer]

That would look like the contents of a squirrels nappy [:D][6]

Plus it would be a bit trop de nuts, I spent ages shelling the walnuts that are inside.

[Âme]

Decoration ideas for a chocolate & walnut cheesecake...

dust top with icing sugar (to give a lighter background) then quickly pipe chocolate (using the greaseproof paper icing bag trick) in zig-zag lines across the whole top surface. This pic sort of shows what I mean.

[img]http://www.deliaonline.com/Images/originals/red-nose-roulade-2-24648.jpg[/img]

Or, dust with cocoa powder & stripe with a white icing (use icing sugar & egg white to get a really white icing)

Pipe a sprial then drag a cocktail stick through from the outer edge to a centre point to make this sort of pattern.
[img]http://tcho.com/images/uploads/Marble_Pumpkin_Cheesecake_thumb.jpg[/img]

Dragging a cocktail stick through straight lines, in alternate directions a la bakewell tart.
[img]http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/11/9/1257771392555/Bakewell-tart-003.jpg[/img]

glace cherries would look good on this cheesecake, if you have or can find them. ...or a couple of walnuts as a centre to the decoration.

[img]http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:Qrv8HoOHJYsZqM:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2243/2046316280_3ab104c7b2.jpg[/img]

Hope that gives you a bit of inspiration. Otherwise, how about a snowman for the top ? [:D]

[Chancer]

Brilliant ideas Ame and I really liked the photos, much better than words!

I am going to try some creme fleurette but if it doesnt work then I am going to dust it with cocoa and streak it with white chocolate like the last one although random as I know that I would c0ck up a design like that.

Thanks again

I still have los of walnuts left but to get one out if its shell intact, thats yet another defi!

[Bugsy]

Chancer, How to open walnuts whole.

About 2.50 minutes into the video

.

[Wicce]

I've had this problem with French cream for years - don't bother with it any more.  If you want a cream that will whip to whatever consistency you want, then do this....

Melt 1/4 lb. of unsalted butter in 1/4 pint entire milk (NOT Bridel - it smells of goat).  Bring almost to the boil.  Cool a bit and then whisk it in a liquidizer for 1 minute.  Set in a fridge to chill.  When you want to use it, whip until you get the right consistency.  It has never failed me - tastes great and you can add flavouring without any problem.

[Will]

Being in Normandy has certain advantages. Like being able to buy real cream.

[Chancer]

Great lateral thinking Wicci, I dont have a liquidiser though, would a cheap hand held one do the job?

I finally managed to get some creme fleurette entier to rise to the occasion, well about half as thick as I would like but after 15 minutes of whipping [:-))]

thank you everybody for your help and comments.

[pouyade]

Please could one of our home grown French colleagues let on WHY there isn't fresh cream available, generally speaking? How a nation which prides itself on good quality food (whatever experiences to the contrary any of us may have had from time to time) can happily accept sterilised/UHT 'white liquid' is beyond me.

Pouyade

[Chancer]

We eat half of the cheesecake tonight, the cream had the consistency of spray chantilly and whilst not having the sweet taste that I wanted to avoid it tasted of, well, nothing at all really, I might just as well have used some of the UK spray cream.

At least I have learned something, cream in France is only good for decoration or sweetening things.

I had to restrain myself when some of the guests smothered my creation in cold creme anglaise.

Creme Anglaise, two lies in one food [:D]

[Wicce]

Yes, Chancer, a hand held beater would be fine.  It's only to emulsify the milk and butter together - doesn't matter how you do it.

[water rat]

I was about to try your method Wicce when a miracle happened and our new neighbours arrived with 2 jersey cows. I hope this will happen to all of you searching for cream, if you wish for something hard enough.............! it's not helping much with the waist-line tho!

[valB]

Try Creme Proffesional from SuperU.    It is on the shelf with other creams and it is a fairly large container so quite good value for money.. It is as good as any other I have tried and whisks to a fairly thick consitancy so ideal for Trifles and cake fillings. Unfortunately it is not always in stock so when I see it I normally buy more than one as the sale by date is good.