Benoit Blin

Raymond Blanc's Le Café Crème by Le Manoir

  • Recommended

    $175

    Includes personal feedback and tuition. More

  • $60

    Learn in an online classroom with no more than 20 classmates. More

Course Description

Chef Pâtissier Benoit Blin teaches you how to make the signature Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant dessert Le Café Crème, famed for being a notoriously challenging (but delicious) Raymond Blanc dessert.

What is a Le Café Crème dessert?

The Le Café Crème is a Raymond Blanc dessert made up of several different patisserie techniques - a coffee parfait and kirsch sabayon, a shaped coffee sponge, coffee caramel, chocolate sauce, a chocolate ganache, all served in a chocolate cup with a handle.

This ground-breaking dessert took Raymond Blanc six months to perfect before it was ready to grace the tables of his restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. The dish has been a complete triumph, and we’ve convinced Benoit to teach us the secrets behind this delectable dessert, as well as showing us his new twist on a delicious classic.

You will learn to make Raymond Blanc’s infamous Café Crème and the chocolate coffee cup that you will present it in, to your astonished and delighted, friends and family.

This course is part of the Tatler Dinner Party Menu collection of online cooking courses taught by legendary chefs.

You'll learn:

  • how to make the chocolate cup - including tempering chocolate and moulding the cup
  • adding flavour to your chocolate
  • how to make each layer of Le Café Crème - the sponge, ganache, sabayon, caramel and parfait
  • decorating your Café Crème
  • which dessert wines to serve with your finished dessert

The course includes:

  • On-demand video lesson - presented by Benoit Blin
  • lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes and recipe
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom - chat online to students from around the world and share your creative ideas

Time to complete Le Café Crème dessert course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 4 hours 40 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 1 hour 10 minutes in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes
  • Creating the Café Crème: at least 3 hours

You'll need:

A full list of ingredients is included in the class notes, but on top of chocolate and ingredients, if you're making the dessert you'll need a sugar thermometer, dariole moulds, a blast freezer, acetate sheets, paper piping cornet.

The course is suitable for all students, but is most suitable for experienced cooks or professional chefs who want to learn about this signature dessert and the patisserie techniques used to create it.

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above. If you know someone who'd love this course then give it as a gift - just tick "This is a gift" at the checkout.

Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.

CPD Accreditation

Course activity has been accredited by the CPD Standards Office (CPDSO). The course equates to 4 hours, 40 minutes of CPD learning.
The CPD Standards Office. CPD Provider: 50276.

Course outline

  • Le Café Crème

    Benoit teaches how to create a Le Manoir classic, Le Café Crème. Benoit will take you through every step, from tempering, moulding and flavouring right through to finishing decorations. To round it all off, the top sommelier at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons will recommend which dessert wines you can serve at home to make this incredible dessert even more of a delectable treat.

Choose how you want to learn

  • The Expert option

    Recommended

    Develop your learning further with marked assignments and personal tuition from The Tatler Team

    • Start course whenever you like
    • 1 week tutor access for personalised assignment feedback & coaching
    • 1 assignment marked by The Tatler Team
    • Certificate of completion and CPD hours
    • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
    • 1 lesson with expert video & notes
    • Group chat & direct message with tutor & classmates
    • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
    Learn more
    $175
  • The Peer option

    Discover the benefits of group learning in an online interactive classroom of no more than 20 people. Get the most from shared knowledge and community study

    • Start course whenever you like
    • Practise what you learn with your peers
    • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
    • 1 lesson with expert video & notes
    • 1 course assignment
    • Group chat & direct message classmates
    • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
    Learn more
    $60

New
Buy this course for a business or group

You can now buy this course through your business or organisation for individuals and groups up to 20

Food & Drink classroom - how it works

  • Start anytime

    Watch video tutorials led by expert tutors

    Watch video tutorials led by expert tutors
  • Test yourself

    Practice what you learn with inspiring assignments

    Practice what you learn with inspiring assignments
  • Personal tuition

    Get assignment feedback from expert tutors

    Get assignment feedback from expert tutors
  • Share ideas

    Collaborate and chat directly to classmates

    Collaborate and chat directly to classmates

Meet Benoit Blin

Benoit Blin - Food & Drink
Benoit is chef patissier at Oxfordshire’s Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, where he has worked closely with Raymond Blanc OBE for more than 20 years.

Leading a team of 13 pastry chefs, Benoit uses his expertise to create a range of fresh breads, viennoiseries, chocolates, ice creams, pastries and plated desserts. The hotel and restaurant has held two Michelin stars for more than 30 years and is part of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux collection.

After taking up an apprenticeship at a local bakery in Normandy, Benoit’s career exploded. After a year’s National Service as a naval chef, working at the Normandy Hotel in Deauville, he landed the position of Senior Sous Chef, Pastry, at the world renowned Hotel Ritz in Paris in 1991. Here he worked and trained among many of the best chefs in France, MOFs (Meilleur Ouvrier de France).

He was team president of the UK Pastry Team in the 2011 Pastry World Cup and is now the Chairman of the UK Pastry Club which has been created to promote and develop pastry in the UK but also to find and support future British pastry teams. He achieved the title of MCA (Master of Culinary Arts) in 2005, the highest accolade in the industry, awarded only every four years to the best pastry chefs in the UK.

In 1995 Raymond Blanc persuaded him to come to the UK to work at Belmond Le Manoir. Described as ‘a twist of imaginative genius’, Raymond Blanc’s vision for Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons has always been one of world-class gastronomic flair and outstanding organic produce. The restaurant earned two Michelin stars upon opening, and has retained them every year since. The restaurant has a reputation as one of Britain’s best restaurants, and has become a must-visit dining experience for gourmands across the world.

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Awards & Accreditations

  • CPD Accredited (provider 50276)
  • Good Web Guide
  • Red Herring Winner
  • Education Investor Awards 2021 - Finalist
  • Royal Horticultural Society
  • Digital Education Awards 2023 Winner for Digital Health and Wellbeing Learning Product of the Year
  • Digital Education Awards 2023 Winner for Adult Home Learning Product of the Year