Recipes

Pâte à Bombe whipped cream

Light, glossy and moussey, Pâte à Bombe is a great technique to have up your sleeve. Whilst it’s traditionally used as a base for soufflés, it has a multitude of applications. Here, we’ve incorporated it into whipped cream, giving you the best of both worlds: the richness of cream with the lightness and structure of a mousse.

It’s especially useful when you want something softer and lighter than buttercream, but more stable than whipped cream. Folding Pâte à Bombe into whipped cream creates a marshmallowy, mousse-like texture with added stability, making it perfect for layered desserts such as trifles and tartlets.

The key is texture. Whipped cream can easily split, collapse or become grainy if it’s overworked. This method gives you a cream that stays smooth, light and stable, with a soft, gelato-like finish.

Serves

Enough to top one large trifle or fill 8–10 small desserts

Preparation time

25 minutes

Cooking time

5 minutes

Chilling time

As required, depending on how you are using it

Ingredients

100g caster sugar
A small splash of water
5 egg yolks
2 gelatine leaves
600g double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Method

Soak the gelatine.

Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water and leave to soften for around 5 minutes.
Make the sugar syrup.

Put the caster sugar into a small saucepan with a small splash of water. You only need enough water to wet the sugar.

Place over a medium heat and bring to 121°C, using a sugar thermometer.
Whisk the egg yolks.

While the sugar syrup is heating, put the egg yolks into the bowl of a stand mixer and begin whisking by hand to beat the eggs.
Add the hot syrup.

Once the syrup reaches 121°C, slowly pour it into the egg yolks whilst whisking.

Pour carefully down the side of the bowl so the hot syrup doesn’t splash. Once it starts to incorporate, transfer to the stand mixer. Using the balloon attachment, keep whisking whilst gradually increasing the speed.
Add the gelatine.

While the mixture is still slightly warm, squeeze the excess water from the softened gelatine leaves and add them to the bowl.

Whisk until the gelatine has fully dissolved into the mixture. This helps give the finished cream its stability.
Whisk until cool.

Keep whisking until the mixture becomes pale, glossy and cool to the touch. This is your Pâte à Bombe base.
Whip the cream.

In a separate bowl, whip the double cream with the vanilla until it reaches soft peaks.

Be careful not to over-whip it.
Fold together.

Gently fold the whipped cream through the Pâte à Bombe mixture until fully combined.

The finished texture should be marshmallowy and mousse-like.

Chef’s tips

Don’t over-whip the cream

The double cream should be softly whipped before folding. If it is too firm, it can make the finished mixture grainy rather than smooth.

Add the gelatine while the base is still warm

The warmth of the Pâte à Bombe helps the softened gelatine dissolve evenly, giving the cream a stable, even texture.

Whisk the base until cool

The Pâte à Bombe should be thick, pale and completely cool before the cream is folded through.

Use a sugar thermometer

Heating the syrup to 121°C is important for the structure of the base. A thermometer gives the most consistent result.

Why this recipe works

Pâte à Bombe cream gives you the best of both worlds: the richness of cream with the lightness and structure of a mousse.

It holds its shape better than whipped cream, making it ideal for layered desserts where texture really matters. In a trifle, it sits beautifully over custard and jelly without collapsing or bleeding into the layers.

The result is a smooth, stable and truly indulgent finish.

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