France and cream do not go together like a horse and carriage. The country whose cuisine is famed for its excesses of butter and cream does not have much of the latter, or at least “not as we know it, Jim”. I’ve lived happily with the knowledge of this creamy dearth for quite a long time and with no ill effects, in fact the reverse may well be true, but the creation of a Mont Blanc dessert demands whipped cream. Aside from creme fraiche, all other French products purporting to be cream seem to be packaged in small tetrapacks, and have a shelf life of several decades. The contents of a selection of these cardboard time capsules, and I, have just done battle. Sturm und Drang had nothing on this confrontation: by the end of the confrontation I was so dranged out that I had to have a lie down. On the positive side, I have some whipped cream, although there were times when those words were but a dream. God knows what frightening proportions of shoulder and arm must have been possessed by French housewives before the introduction of electricity. Maybe the truth lies in the fact that there was real cream to be had before the electric age. Oh for the good old days when dentists had hand drills.
Food, Photography & France 
Whoa! That is spectacular! Nice glass too.
I wish I’d got 3 more glasses like it – I’m serving it at dinner tonight, but it’ll have to be in a more conservative fashion…..like, on a plate!
Nice work!
Many thanks
We have exactly the same issues here with cream – it´s so weird isn´t it? And when you do manage to get the damn stuff whipped, it loses its oomph very quickly! Lovely photo of my dad´s favourite dessert 🙂
It’s weird isn’t it? In the same way, there is no white wine vinegar — you can find,tarragon or cider white vinegar, but not white wine vinegar.
How lovely is that! Afraid I’ve never heard of this dessert before, but my, I’d like to get to know it!
I’ll post the recipe – I should have done it in the first place.
I would never have thought it hard to get fresh cream in France. I’m off to our local farmer this morning to pick up non pasturised milk and cream you can stand a spoon up in! Making Camembert cheese today (hopefully) and the cream is just for the putting extra calories on. :0)
I can happily pick up the non pasteurised milk, but as yet I haven’t been offered the spoon supporting cream. Are you on drugs?
Hmm…I may consider facing a dentist’s hand drill for a taste of that dessert!
Although I said it first, I don’t like talking about dentists – call me old fashioned, but certainly not hand drilling in exchange for sugar.
We were discussing the lack of cream and milk the other day, the stuff that isn’t UHT or as you say comes in a tetrapack. Certainly frustrating and rather odd!
Well, your Herculean efforts did at last clearly produce a prodigious and magnificent mountain!
Now that is one fantastic looking dessert, Roger, your creamy foibles notwithstanding. As you said, though, I’d never have guessed you would have any such problems in France, of all places. Makes me wonder of the state of cheese in Switzerland.
The problem is, so I’ve been told, that the cheese producers block the production of real cream. No, I don’t understand it either.
try fresh creme entiere from the chiller cabinet next time Rog, it whips pretty well, though you need to do it in a tall measuring jug to avoid getting scattergunned with cream.
That is what I should have should have done – I’ll get it right next time:)
Japanese “Mont Blanc”s (and they are very popular) come in yellow most of the time…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc_%28dessert%29
Do you mean that the meringues are yellow? Sounds quite funky.
No, the yellow Japanese “mont blancs” are typically chestnut paste and often come with sponge cake on bottom with whipped cream inside (I think; haven’t had one in a long time). So I guess it’s something else with the same name…!
Could be more Mt Fuji than Mont Blanc – Happy New Year:-)
Such a light and creamy dessert even though you had trouble getting real cream. If someone else told me it was hard getting cream in France, I probably wouldn’t believe them. France, with some of the best food in the world…who knew. England has such lovely cream.
It’s funny, and I think good, that I have got used to cooking without “real cream”. When I taste it now, it’s like eating a spoonful of butter. I guess our palates change to accommodate where we live.
This looks well worth the effort! I’d almost forgotten about whipping cream, I’ve just learnt to live with creme fraiche. And I saw your reply about white wine vinegar to Chica Andaluza – that’s one thing I really don’t understand. I can’t find it anywhere here and brought back some precious supplies from Catalunya last time I went there. I’m just off to the kitchen to supervise the slow roasting of a wild boar leg now…if successful it will be on my blog tomorrow!
I’m looking forward to seeing that – sounds amazing
I’ve nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award Roger. Thanks for the happy time spent following you.
That’s very kind. I’m not very good with awards as I don’t know what to do with them. My love is writing and photography and sharing them. That’s reward enough. Have a brilliant New Year.
Wow – so glad you didn’t stick to that going away thing you wrote about quite some time ago. I need a good hour to sit and read your last several posts. You are engaging to say the least! Happy New Year! (p.s. your photos are delightful too!)
Many thanks, and have a very Happy New Year.