Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

What kind of cream?


tupac17616

Recommended Posts

Quick question for all the wise eG pastry and baking gurus here:

What kind of cream is it that typically fills the classic Italian-American "lobster tails" you can find in so many pastry shops around NYC (and I'm sure many other places as well)? I was thinking it was called Bavarian cream or something like that. I know it's not just whipped cream, since it's kinda more custard-y. I think it's the same kind of stuff that often fills fruit tarts as well. Does anyone know the stuff I am talking about? And more importantly, anybody have a good recipe so that I can make some of my own? :smile: Thanks for the help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't know they were called lobster tails. Around here they go by their Italian name sfogliatella.

The filling is basically a custard made with milk, ricotta, eggs, sugar and candied peel. Not that I have made this personally.

Baker of "impaired" cakes...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't know they were called lobster tails. Around here they go by their Italian name sfogliatella.

The filling is basically a custard made with milk, ricotta, eggs, sugar and candied peel. Not that I have made this personally.

Actually, I'm familiar with sfogliatella (which I find quite delicious in their own right, but that's neither here nor there :cool: ), but that's not what I'm talking about here. While sfogliatella are smaller and shaped like clams, lobster tails are usually larger and shaped like, well, lobster tails :biggrin: . The cream I am thinking of is also smoother than the ricotta filling of the sfogliatella, so it must be something different altogether.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see what you mean. Is this a horn-shaped pastry filled with cream on one end?

I may have to look for this one locally. :biggrin:

Edit: Some Googling revealed this page showing several variations of sfogliatella, not all of which are filled with a ricotta-based cream. Is one of these what you are looking for?

http://www.sfogliatella.it/varianti.htm

Edited by sanrensho (log)
Baker of "impaired" cakes...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure about these particular pastries, but it sounds to me as if you are describing pastry cream (a mixture of heated milk, vanilla, butter tempered into sugar and egg yolks, then thickened with cornstarch or pastry cream powder). Pastry cream and whipped cream are often mixed to form a Diplomat cream.

"Never eat more than you can lift." --Miss Piggy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't had one of these in a long time, but it's not the sfogiatelle ricotta filling or straight pastry cream. I'd guess it's the whipped cream/pastry cream mix, maybe more heavy on the whipped cream.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The link I provided refers to this as a SFOGLIATELLA A CODA D'ARAGOSTA. It's the last one of the four. The description refers to crema chantilly, so it appears to be a whipped cream (or whipped cream + pastry cream) filling.

I thought we weren't allowed to link to outside images for copyright reasons?

Edited by sanrensho (log)
Baker of "impaired" cakes...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I better clarify my statement before others get confused. AFAIK, it's OK to include links to outside images, but not to include images directly in your post that could be covered by an outside copyright.

Back to the topic at hand: I am definitely enjoying learning more about slogliatella and its variations.

Baker of "impaired" cakes...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
×
×
  • Create New...