Custards and creams - definitions

[gap]

Hi,

I had a question for the pastry chefs out there. Apologies if this has been covered before but I couldn't find anything.

What is the difference between a custard, creme anglaise and a creme patisserie (apologies if my spelling is out)? Are they all used for the same thing in pastry/dessert work?

Also, I was making a chocolate gelati last night and the recipe used

- Milk

- Cornflour (aka cornstarch)

- Sugar

- Chocolate

It was cooked over a low heat until thickened and looked very much like a custard when it was done/set but didn't use any egg yolks. How does this fall into the definitions above? Would it be called a custard?

Any help would be greatly appreciated and no doubt help solve my confusion on these terms.

[JeanneCake]

A creme anglaise doesn't have starch in it to thicken it; it has the same components albeit in a different ratios (creme anglaise will have yolks while creme pat calls for some whole eggs and yolks) but the main difference between the two is the lack of a flour or cornstarch thickener.

I think of custard as a broad category - they can be cooked on the stovetop, or in the oven; purists might say that custards are only thickened with eggs (no starch) but creme pat is very definitely a custard and it has flour and/or cornstarch. So your mileage on this definition might vary.

[gap]

Would it be fair to think of custards as the broad category heading. And then Creme Anglaise and Creme Patisserie are subsets of custard - creme anglaise being a thin version without cornstarch and creme patisserie being a thicker version with?

And is it still a custard if it doesn't have eggs or does this become a pudding?

Edited January 10, 2008 by gap (log)

[andiesenji]

Don't forget Zabaione or Zabaglione as it is usually spelled in the US.

I first came across a mention of it while reading a story, probably in the late '40s or early '50s, when one of the characters asked for "that creamy, Marsala pudding stuff, that tastes so much better than the bland stuff we get in England."