So what the heck is pâte à bombe, anyway? Pâte à bombe is aptly named, for it is, not to put too fine a point on it, the bomb. It’s a rich concoction of cooked sugar syrup and egg yolks, whipped up into a light, creamy consistency. Oh come on, Joe! Don’t make me learn how to make some esoteric French pastry ingredient that I’ll only use once in my life!
Ah, but hang on a minute. For pâte à bombe is one of those base components which, once you learn how to make it, you can find all sorts of interesting uses for. It’s the basis of French buttercream, for example. Also of a very silky style of non-custard pastry cream, and of course mousses, parfaits…there’s almost no limit. Plus it freezes extremely well, which makes it a handy secret weapon for those instances when you want to (literally) whip up something special on short notice. The formula goes like so:
12 ounces sugar
3 ounces water
12 egg yolks (9 ounces)
Combine the sugar and water in a small, preferably heavy, saucepan and bring the mixture to 248 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, whip the egg yolks in a stand mixer until light and frothy. Pour the hot syrup into a glass measure and with the machine off, pour a thin stream into the egg yolks. Turn the mixer on high for about 10 seconds to incorporate. Continue in this way until all the sugar syrup has been used. Continue to whip on medium-high until the pâté à bombe has almost doubled in volume and the bowl cools down to being somewhat warm to the touch.
how many oz will this recipe yield?
About 24 ounces. Cheers,
- Joe
Do you need to reduce the final temp for altitude?? I live in Denver.
Thanks…love, love, love your site..and voted for you in the contest!!!!
Thanks, Carla! And yes, the same rules of syrup-making apply here. For every 1,000 feet you are above sea level, lower the temperature by two degrees. Have fun!
- Joe
Hi Joe,
I just made this today for the chocolate mousse and I have two quick questions.
First, It tasted kind of ‘eggy’ to me (Note: I do not eat soft yolks when i eat eggs. I find the taste unpleasant). Once I incorporated it into the mousse I could no longer taste it but from reading the other comments that you eat it straight from the bowl, Im not sure if its just a palate thing or if I did something wrong?
Secondly, there were a few egg strings left on my bowl. Any idea on what I did there?
Thank you!
Hey Mariana!
When you say “egg strings” you mean the chalazae…those little white things? Or streaks of unincorporated egg?
As for the “eggy” taste, that’s on purpose. This stuff does taste distinctly eggy, so if yolks tend to bother you, I can see why you didn’t like it by itself.
- Joe
Hey Joe,
I meant unincorporated egg, maybe 5 or 6 thin 1in or so!
Hm. That’s interesting. It’s not a problem per se. However with all that beating you still had unincorporated egg, eh? The only thing I can advise is to produce the rubber spatula and scrape, scrape, scrape.
- Joe
Thank you!
Hi Joe ,
I’m from Europe,so I’m little bit confused by measurement
I want to make cake with your chocolate mousse in baking pan/mold 26cm so I’m not sure how much pate a bomb do I need for my mousse? please help ,thank you
p.s love you work
Hi Selma! How tall is the mold?
- Joe
Hi Joe ,6 or 7 cm
Hello Selma!
Half of one recipe of pâte a bombe is enough for a double recipe of chocolate mousse…and that’s quite a bit! I think that will be sufficient! Best of luck with your project!
Cheers,
- Joe
Hi Joe.
Thank you very much for your quick answer,I will try like you said with half pate a bombe and let you know how it went
)
Cheers.
Selma
Please do, Selma! Thanks for the note!
- Joe
Hi Joe,
I made it and it was delicious.Perfect rich mousse.I made mousse with milk chocolate and maybe 100 grams dark chocolate just to break that sweetness…I had cookie crust,layer of caramel with crushed almonds in it,your perfect mousse and at the end chocolate ganache.Thank you for great recipe and useful advices.
Cheers
-Selma
Fabulous, Selma! Terrific improvisation…crushed almonds…wow. Thanks so much for sharing the ideas with me.
Cheers and Merry Christmas,
- Joe
Hi Joe!
Am a big fan of yours! Good recipes.
Have one wonder thou.
I’m doing a big batch of the pâté á bombe and put in in the freezer but ater a couple of days it starts to almost seperate.. (Not fluffy, rather “creamy” like yolks being whisked just a little).
Thanks!
Swedish chef
Hello Carl!
And thank you very much. That’s interesting. Does it lose volume as well? Did you try re-whipping it once it came back to room temperature?
- Joe
Yes it did lose volume. No I didn’t but I think a found the reason why.
To much water might have been a effect but also that I forgot it a… Little while in room temp because a lot to do in the restaurant.
Thank you
Cheers