Chef Juliette
Butters and Creams
Beurres et crèmes d’hors-d’œuvre prove that cold-table finesse is mostly timing: smooth good dairy, cover it closely, hold it cool, then season only as you dish so every spoonful keeps a clean edge.
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York Cones
Created by Chef Juliette
Paper-thin York ham becomes a proper cornet when its seam holds and its filling stays cool: two neat bites, one piped with savoury butter, the other with chicken cream.
Appetizers & Snacks
French
Dinner Party
Picnic
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
0 min cook•35 min total
Yield12 cones (4 to 6 appetizer servings)
Cornets de jambon d’York (York ham cones) teach the discipline of the cold hors-d'œuvre: structure comes from thinness and temperature, not cooking. The one true thing is simple. The ham must be sliced almost sheer. Too thick and it fights the roll; thin enough and it folds around the filling as neatly as paper without becoming tough under the teeth.
The original entry assumed a garde-manger with a whole ham sliced to order, a cold room, prepared bowls of butter and cream, and a piping bag already fitted with a grooved pipe. The honest home equivalent is the deli's slicing machine, a chilled platter, and two small bags with open-star tips. This version scales the buffet down to twelve cornets, six with each referenced filling. The brigade's separate preparation work remains in those linked formulas; that is scaffolding. The triangular cut, close roll, cool filling, and grooved piping stay, because they are the dish. One cook, one stove left entirely cold, one evening.
Before you begin, hold a slice toward the light. If you can see the shadow of your fingers and the ham bends without cracking, it is ready. That thin cut decides everything that follows.
Cornets de jambon d’York belong to the French garde-manger, the cold pantry responsible for hors-d'œuvres and buffet work, rather than to a regional Yorkshire snack. French cold kitchens valued York ham for its broad, firm slices, which could be cut nearly translucent and shaped around seasoned butters and creams without collapsing. The cornet passed easily from formal buffet service to the home apéritif platter because its polish comes from careful cutting and piping, not elaborate cooking.
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Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
York ham
Quantity
12 large slices (about 8 oz / 225 g)
cut paper-thin at the deli
prepared hors-d'oeuvre butter
Quantity
⅓ cup (80 ml / 75 g) Butters and Creams (No. 280)
cool but pliable
Equipment Needed
- •Two small piping bags, or one reusable bag
- •½-inch (12 mm) open-star piping tip
- •Parchment triangle template
- •Chilled oval serving platter
Instructions
- 1
Set the cold station
Chill the serving platter while you work. Keep the Chicken Cream (No. 299) in the refrigerator, and let the prepared hors-d'oeuvre butter selected from Butters and Creams (No. 280) stand only until it yields beneath a spatula without turning glossy. Both are finished preparations, so their separate methods remain in their own entries; here you are concerned only with seasoning them as directed and bringing them to a texture that will pass cleanly through the grooved pipe.
A cold tray gives the rolled ham somewhere firm to wait and keeps the fillings from softening while the platter is assembled. - 2
Trim paper-thin triangles
Lay the ham flat on a dry board and blot away any surface moisture. Using a parchment template if helpful, trim each slice into a triangle about 3½ inches (9 cm) across the base and 4½ inches (11 cm) from base to point. The ham must be almost sheer: thick ham springs open, while a fine slice bends into a smooth cornet and remains tender against the cool filling. If a slice tears, overlap the torn edges by ¼ inch (6 mm) rather than discarding it. Ça se rattrape. Keep the trimmings chilled for an omelette or croque monsieur.
- 3
Roll the cornets
Set one triangle with its point facing you and its broad base away. Bring one base corner toward the centre, wrap the opposite corner over it, and adjust the overlap until the point closes neatly and the mouth remains open. Place the cornet seam-side down and repeat, making six for each filling. If one springs apart, roll it a little more loosely and place a pea-sized dab of its assigned filling beneath the overlap; pressure from the piping will finish the work.
- 4
Tune the fillings
Taste and season the prepared butter from Butters and Creams (No. 280) and the Chicken Cream (No. 299) exactly as their entries direct, at the last possible moment. Fit two small piping bags with ½-inch (12 mm) open-star tips, or use one clean bag twice. If the butter breaks into rough ridges, it is too cold; knead the closed bag briefly between cool hands. If it gleams and slumps, chill it for 5 minutes. If the Chicken Cream softens, rest its sealed bag over ice for 5 minutes. Don't add crumbs or flour. The proper texture can be recovered without changing the filling.
- 5
Pipe from the point
Insert the tip nearly to the closed point of the first cornet. Squeeze steadily while withdrawing the bag so the filling rises from the bottom without leaving a hollow, then finish with one ridged rosette just above the rim. Fill six cornets with the prepared butter from Butters and Creams (No. 280), then six with the Chicken Cream (No. 299). Wipe any smears from the ham with the corner of a clean, barely damp cloth.
- 6
Arrange and serve
Arrange the cornets seam-side down on the chilled platter, alternating the pale butter and ivory cream fillings so guests can distinguish them. Keep them cold and covered until the table is ready, but serve promptly once the poultry cream has been piped. The ham should remain supple, the points neatly closed, and every grooved crest should hold its shape. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask for proper York-style cooked ham, unsweetened and cut on the deli's thinnest intact setting. Honey-glazed ham is too sweet, while dry country ham is too firm and salty for these supple cornets.
- •A grooved pipe is not idle decoration. Its ridges show whether the filling is at the correct temperature: distinct ridges mean it is ready, cracked ridges mean too cold, and a smooth puddle means too warm.
- •The source permits any suitable butter or cream. This platter uses both referenced choices for contrast; for a single-filling platter, use ⅔ cup (160 ml / about 150 to 160 g) of the chosen filling.
- •Serve with brut Champagne, a dry Crémant, or a brisk unoaked white wine. The acidity clears the butter and cream while leaving the mild ham in charge.
- •For a picnic, keep the cornets and filled piping bags in separate covered containers over cold packs, then pipe them shortly before serving.
Advance Preparation
- •Trim and roll the ham up to 8 hours ahead. Arrange the empty cornets seam-side down between sheets of parchment, cover airtight, and refrigerate so their edges do not dry.
- •The butter-filled cornets may be assembled up to 4 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Let them lose their deepest chill for 5 minutes before serving so the filling is pleasantly yielding.
- •Prepare and season the poultry cream as close to service as possible. For a dinner party, keep its piping bag cold and fill the second group of cornets immediately before the platter goes out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 63g)
Calories
185 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
9 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
65 mg
Sodium
520 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
10 g
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