Diplomat Cream: Pastry Cream + Whipped Cream (Crème Diplomate)

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This diplomat cream recipe is your secret weapon for creating irresistibly fluffy and stable cream that is perfect for filling and decorating your favorite desserts.

Recipe At a Glance

Diplomat cream (Crème Diplomate) isn’t a single recipe; it’s a method for combining any pastry cream with whipped cream and gelatin to create a light, airy, and stable cream.

It’s similar to crème mousselin, but instead of butter, we add whipped cream and gelatin, resulting in a much lighter cream.

Once you know this basic setup, you can turn any pastry cream, such as strawberry, chocolate, or pistachio, into a light and airy diplomat cream. I prefer the lighter version whenever a pastry requires a lot of filling, like cream puffs.

As an example, I’ll guide you through making diplomat cream from vanilla pastry cream, but you can use any flavor you prefer. I’ll also explain the ratios of pastry cream to heavy cream and the amount of gelatin to use.

If you’re making diplomat cream for the first time, go over the whole write-up before you end up in the kitchen. If it’s not your first rodeo, jump to the recipe card.

Ingredients Notes and Substitutes

Vanilla Pastry Cream (Replace With Any Other Pastry Cream)

• Milk: Whole fat works best, but skim should be okay too.
• Cornstarch: You can use potato starch (half the amount) in a pinch, but cornstarch is the better option due to the thickening temperature. Read my starch 101 article for more.
• Sugar: Regular white sugar works well, but feel free to use any sweetener you like. Again, keep in mind how different options affect the final flavor.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract gives this pastry cream its flavor. If you want to use vanilla beans instead, check out my article on vanilla pastry cream, which covers both options.
• Unsalted Butter: Plain unsalted butter is all you need.
• Egg Yolks.

To Make Creme Diplomat

• Gelatin. I use regular store-bought powdered gelatin.
• Powdered sugar.
• Vanilla extract.
• Heavy cream. Grab the one you buy to make whipped cream.

How to Make Diplomat Cream

Step 1: Make Pastry Cream

(Check out my vanilla pastry cream article for a deep dive on the topic, or replace this with any pastry cream you like.)

1. Bloom gelatin. Whisk gelatin with water in a small bowl and let the mixture sit on the counter.

2. Boil milk. Measure the milk into a pot and stir in the vanilla extract and half the sugar. Bring the mixture close to a boil.
3. Prep yolks. While the milk is heating, whisk the yolks in a large bowl, then stir in the cornstarch and the remaining sugar. Set aside.

4. Temper eggs. When the milk is close to boiling, remove it from the heat. Gradually pour a couple of tablespoons of the hot milk into the yolk mixture, constantly whisking to prevent the yolks from curdling. Repeat this process 3 to 4 times until you’ve incorporated all the milk. Keep stirring throughout.

5. Cook until thick and bubbly. Return the combined mixture to the pot you used for the milk. Cook it over low or medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and starts to bubble. Depending on the pot and heat intensity, this typically takes 2 to 4 minutes. Avoid rushing the process to prevent the yolks from curdling.

6. Take off the heat and whisk. Once the mixture is thick, remove the pot from the heat and continue whisking for about a minute, bringing the mixture past the point of maximum thickness.
7. Stir in butter. Add the butter to the pot and stir until it melts and integrates into the cream.

8. Taste test. Sample the cream (be cautious; it’s hot) and add more sugar or vanilla extract if necessary.
9. Stir in gelatin. Grab the bowl with the bloomed gelatin and scoop its contents into the pastry cream. Whisk until the gelatin melts and is incorporated.

10. Cover. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a crust from forming, and leave the cream to cool at room temperature. We need it to cool so that it doesn’t melt the whipped cream, but we don’t want it to go cold so that it doesn’t gel before we incorporate the whipped cream.

Step 2: Whip Cream and Combine

1. Whip the heavy cream. Combine cold heavy cream, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar in a bowl. Whip until stiff peaks form. Check out my whipped cream article for more detailed instructions. Refrigerate the whipped cream until you’re ready to use it.

2. Prep the pastry cream. Before starting, ensure the pastry cream is slightly warm to the touch, around 104°F (40°C), but not hot. If it’s too warm, you can cool it down in a cold water bath, stirring occasionally. Whisk the pastry cream well before adding the whipped cream.
3. Fold in the whipped cream. Add about one-third of the whipped cream to the pastry cream and gently stir it together using a spatula (not a whisk). This helps to loosen the pastry cream. Repeat with the second and third portions of the whipped cream, folding gently each time to avoid deflating the whipped cream or overbeating the mixture.

4. Use or refrigerate.

How to Use Diplomat Cream?

Right after combining pastry cream and whipped cream, diplomat cream has a mousse-like consistency. This makes it perfect for filling pastries or desserts, ensuring every nook and cranny is filled. If you chill it in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours, it firms up nicely and holds its shape, making it ideal for decorating.

In many desserts, you can use diplomat cream in both forms. For instance, in my strawberry cream puffs, right after folding in the whipped cream, I piped the crème diplomate inside the cream puffs to ensure they were fully filled. After about an hour in the fridge, I used the diplomat cream to pipe decorations onto the puffs.

TIP: Got leftover diplomat cream? Let it set in the fridge, and use the leftovers for decoration.

With usage out of the way, let’s talk about the pastry cream to heavy cream ratio.

Pastry Cream to Heavy Cream Ratio

There’s no set ratio for how much heavy cream you should use based on the amount of pastry cream you have. It’s all up to you.

I like to use the same amount of heavy cream as the milk in the pastry cream. So, if I make the pastry cream with 2 cups of milk, I also use 2 cups of heavy cream. This creates a light and airy diplomat cream that retains lots of the pastry cream’s flavor.

When choosing how much heavy cream to use, consider the outcome you want. Using 1 cup of heavy cream per 2 cups of milk in the pastry cream results in a denser, heavier diplomat cream with lots of flavor. Using 3 cups of heavy cream per 2 cups of milk results in an even lighter diplomat cream with a milder flavor.

Depending on the dessert you’re making, one option may be more appealing than the other.

If you opt for more heavy cream, you can enhance the flavor of the pastry cream in advance by adding more flavoring. For example, instead of 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, you might add 6. This would be too much for the pastry cream alone, but it tastes great when combined with lots of whipped cream.

When in doubt, start with the 1:1 ratio, see how it goes, and adjust next time.

How Much Gelatin Do I Need?

As a rule of thumb, I suggest using 1 teaspoon of gelatin per 1 cup of liquid in the diplomat cream. So if your pastry cream is made from 2 cups of milk and you use 2 cups of heavy cream, you’ll need 4 teaspoons of gelatin.

This one teaspoon per cup ratio works well for stabilizing whipped cream, and I find it effective for diplomat cream, too. When in doubt, add a bit more, but don’t double the amount, or you’ll end up with overly stiff diplomat cream.

To bloom the gelatin, use a 3:1 water-to-gelatin ratio (by volume), which translates to one tablespoon of water per teaspoon of gelatin. If you’re measuring by weight, the ratio is 5:1.

Tips

• Make the pastry cream in advance. For time-consuming pastry creams like raspberry pastry cream, prepare it beforehand. You can make the pastry cream without the gelatin, refrigerate it, then reheat it in a double boiler to about 100°F (40°C), stir in the bloomed gelatin, and continue with the recipe. Alternatively, make the pastry cream with the gelatin, refrigerate it, and reheat it in a double boiler to the same temperature before folding in the whipped cream. Both methods work because gelatin is thermoreversible, meaning it can be melted and set again multiple times without losing its gelling ability. Just be careful not to cook it.
• Replace pastry cream with fruit curd. Instead of using pastry cream as the flavor base, you can use a fruit curd. This works great in my raspberry cream puffs recipe.

Uses

Here are the recipes where I used diplomat cream:

• Karpatka (Polish Cream Cake)
• Strawberry cream puffs
• Black Forest cream puffs

Storage

You can store diplomat cream or anything filled or decorated with it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Make sure the container is sealed tightly so it doesn’t absorb any smells.

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