# Crème vanille ou chocolat et gâteau sec



## slowpoke

Hi,

I need to translate a menu and under the heading Dessert is:

Crème vanille or chocolat et gâteaux sec

I believe gâteaux sec = cookies/biscuits 

but I am confused as how to describe Crème Vanille and a search through my books and the internet has not helped.

Thanks in advance for your help


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## pbx

It’s a shortcut for _ice cream_, crème glacée. Not 100% sure, could be another thing, you could also have some light custard.


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## itka

Pourquoi "crème glacée" ? Je comprends qu'il s'agit simplement de "crème" parfumée à la vanille ou au chocolat.

On emploie peu "crème glacée" en France (en fait, je crois même ne l'avoir jamais vu). On dit "glace" à la vanille, au chocolat, à la pistache, etc.


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## valo__fan

Yes crème glacée is ice cream but gâteau means cake and sec means dry so what you said must be true it can be cookies with vanilla and chocolate...


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## pbx

itka, j’en ai souvent vu des crèmes (glacées) à la vanille, en France… mais c’est presque impossible de savoir de quoi il s’agit sans voir le produit !


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## ladenteliere

Crème anglaise for example is 'custard' but Custard in English is not the same consistency and you would not eat Custard on its own with biscuits. I would suggest this is more cream pudding with biscuits


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## mathiine

I agree with pbx because you often find ice cream with biscuits to eat with. It makes senses to me (more than crème anglaise only with biscuits). And it it were a cookie with vanilla and chocolate, it would be written : gâteau à la crème vanille (ou gâteau à la vanille).

Then, ice cream is _crème glacée _(which is a type of "glace", the other sort being : _le_ _sorbet_ - besides, how would you say that in English? water ice or just sorbet?)


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## XIII56

_Crème_ alone calls me up more a famous (in France) brand of dessert, whose name begins by _Dan_ and ends by _ette_, and for which everybody stands up ...
But, for those who don't know the product, I really don't see how to describe it.


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## Esteban451

Crème vanille is different from crème glacée à la vanille.
Crème vanille is not iced, just cool, and it looks like custard, but less liquid. And it can perfectly be eaten just on it's own, or with biscuits.
Though, I'm not sure it exists in England, so is there a correct translation ?


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## mathiine

Esteban451 said:


> Crème vanille is different from crème glacée à la vanille.
> Crème vanille is not iced, just cool, and it looks like custard, but less liquid. And it can perfectly be eaten just on it's own, or with biscuits.
> Though, I'm not sure it exists in England, so is there a correct translation ?



En effet, si c 'est comme la marque célèbre...mais ne dirait-on pas crème à la vanille comme crème au chocolat ? 
Ca dépend alors des gens. Je dis toujours _crème à_ pour parler d'une telle crème.


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## Nicomon

M'en avez-vous gardé un peu?

Crème vanille ou Crème chocolat I don't know about BE, but in Canada we would say vanilla pudding or chocolate pudding although a pudding me be slightly thicker.


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## gillyfr

I would just translate it as "vanilla cream" or maybe "vanilla cream dessert". I wouldn't translate it as "pudding" since the word is not really elegant enough for a menu, and what most North Americans refer to as "pudding" (à la Jell-O) doesn't contain any cream at all.

(Nicomon, as-tu essayé les Kream de Kooll, au rayon frais de ton supermarché? Ça c'est un dessert à la crème comme en France!  )


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## Aoyama

> I would just translate it as "vanilla cream" or maybe "vanilla cream dessert".


Absolutely, likewise for crème chocolat.
It should be noted that this is a kind of restaurant "jargon", the correct writing being : crème *à* la vanille /*au *chocolat.
This being said, nothing outstanding to expect from this menu and its poor man's dessert ...


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## Avignonaddict

It sounds a bit like blancmange (is this word known in French or some terrible English invention?) to me - a really horrible childhood memory. If I saw it on a menu I'd avoid the restaurant, so don't think it's what you're looking for!

(I just checked the WR dico - it's blanc-manger in French - do people actually eat it?)


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## pbx

blancmange? This is an invention!


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## melu85

pbx said:


> blancmange? This is an invention!


 

Si si! ça existe bien. L'orthographe correcte est blanc manger. (mais ceci est une autre discussion)


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## anangelaway

Avignonaddict said:


> It sounds a bit like blancmange (is this word known in French or some terrible English invention?) to me - a really horrible childhood memory. If I saw it on a menu I'd avoid the restaurant, so don't think it's what you're looking for!
> 
> (I just checked the WR dico - it's blanc-manger in French - do people actually eat it?)


 
blancmange? It really does look like a _flan_. I've never heard that name, ever. From that picture, it could be easily mistaken with some flan (_à la vanille_ why not), or even with some _crème_ of some sort. 


> The "whitedish" (from the original Old French term _blanc mangier_) was an upper-class dish common to most of Europe during the Middle Ages and early modern period.


 

Edit: Pour moi, une crème à la vanille serait ceci avec ce genre de gâteau sec.


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## Topsie

Avignonaddict said:


> It sounds a bit like blancmange (is this word known in French or some terrible English invention?) to me - a really horrible childhood memory. If I saw it on a menu I'd avoid the restaurant, so don't think it's what you're looking for!
> 
> (I just checked the WR dico - it's blanc-manger in French - do people actually eat it?)


Blancmange! Reminds me of school dinners (along with "frog spawn" tapioca and other unmentionable delicacies!) As far as I know nobody in France eats "Blanc-manger" (a type of _crème bavaroise_), although it does apparently exist! The nearest palatable equivalent could be the Italian _Pannacotta _(?)
On a menu perhaps "creamy vanilla/chocolate pannacotta" might sound appetizing! (?)

P.S. perhaps "petits fours" instead of "gâteaux secs"...


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## BexTrad

Blancmange is neither flan nor "crème". More like a cross between jelly and crème. And yes, horrible memories of school lunches. It was always pink, too! 
I suppose the nearest thing we have to crème in England is Angel Delight.. which i think is only known by it's brand name, and which is probably somewhere between "crème" and mousse if my memory serves me well.

In response to the first question, though; if it's for an English restaurant i would be tempted to keep "crème". We brits love French words to make any old dish sound classy! At least that's what most restaurant owners seem to think!!

Be careful if you choose to use "pudding", as there are huge differences between how this would be understood by BE and AE speakers.


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## Esteban451

Italian _Pannacotta_ is a baked cream, and comes nearer to French _Crème brûlée_.
(cotta = baked, panna = cream)

Blancmange is not a good translation at all... Maybe you could just leave it in French and add an English note with something along the lines of _" Sort of thick cream flavoured with vanilla / chocolate "_ ?


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## XIII56

Topsie said:


> P.S. perhaps "petits fours" instead of "gâteaux secs"...


 
I don't know if the meaning has changed in English, but here "petits fours" is salted food and generally dedicated to the aperitif.
I'm aware I am by nature too reluctant to sweet&sour food, but even being open minded I don't think it will fit, with vanilla or chocolate cream.


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## BexTrad

petits fours are generally sweet in English, but i would expect them to be more cake-like than gâteaux  secs... although according to this, they can be apparently.


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## XIII56

Sorry, after some verifications it seems to mean little cakes too for some people.
But, as said Bex, I think even there it doesn't match what you're looking for.

Do you have a name for crackers, but with sugar taste ? (like the cigarettes, or those you generally have in icecreams)


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## Aoyama

Blanc-manger (which really is another discussion) has nothing to do with crème [à la]vanille and the like. Among other things it is made with almond powder and is ... very good.
For other discussions like _pannacotta _and c_rème brûlée _, I'll leave it here, though there would be a lot to be said.


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## BexTrad

Sweet crackers in ice-cream are "wafers" but i'm not even sure the cigarettes fit comfortably into that category. 
I think in this case "biscuits" covers it.


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## itka

Je crois que nous n'avons pas les mêmes valeurs !  ...ou alors vous n'avez jamais goûté de _blanc-manger_... C'est un dessert très fin, pas facile à réussir et absolument délicieux ! Je ne crois pas qu'on ait pu vous donner ça dans une cantine scolaire...

Et les _petits-fours_ sont généralement sucrés... Le mot _biscuit_ s'applique aussi bien à ces petits-fours qu'aux biscuits salés.


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## Aoyama

> Je crois que nous n'avons pas les mêmes valeurs !  ...ou alors vous n'avez jamais goûté de _blanc-manger_... C'est un dessert très fin, pas facile à réussir et absolument délicieux ! Je ne crois pas qu'on ait pu vous donner ça dans une cantine scolaire...


Yes ! Et surtout dans ce menu ...


> Et les _petits-fours_ sont généralement sucrés... Le mot _biscuit_ s'applique aussi bien à ces petits-fours qu'aux biscuits salés.


Re yes.  Je ne vois d'ailleurs pas très bien des petits-fours (accompagnant une crème à la vanille !) figurer dans ce menu ... On parle de *gâteau sec *(un seul ?), retenez bien l'adjectif sec ...
Pour les petits-fours salés (un autre monde), pas complètement impossible mais on doit appeler ça "canapé" (qui s'apparente à des petits sandwiches).


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## Nicomon

ladenteliere said:


> Crème anglaise for example is 'custard' but Custard in English is not the same consistency and you would not eat Custard on its own with biscuits. I would suggest this is more *cream pudding with biscuits*


ladenteliere suggested pudding before I did. So I assumed, as he/she is from Scotland that it might be understood. By the way... Welcome to the forum. 

As seen on bilingual or multilingual (European) websites...





> De délicieuses boules de Berlin fourrées à la *crème vanille* ou à la confiture
> Delectable Boules de Berlin, filled with *vanilla pudding* or jam
> 
> Pot de *crème chocolat* à l’ancienne
> Old-fashioned *chocolate pudding*
> 
> After a dessert of some divine *crème chocolat* (tasted like fresh made *chocolate* *pudding*)


 I agree, however, that the word _pudding_ doesn't sound as nice as _"vanilla creme (dessert)"_ As for _gâteau sec_ I also believe that_ biscuits (BE) or cookies (AE)_ covers it. 
I'm pretty sure the ones Angel linked to in post #17 are _biscuits boudoirs_. I personally call those _langues de chats_. 


> (Aoyama) This being said, nothing outstanding to expect from this menu and its poor man's dessert ...


À moins que ce soit un menu de restaurant/cantine scolaire? Comme ici :
Mercredi 18 :
Salade composée
Nuggets de poulet et légumes verts
Crème vanille et gâteaux secs Source

PS : Gillyfr, non, je n'ai pas essayé les Kream de Kooll. Mais je faisais référence au pudding au chocolat maison... pas aux trucs à la Jell-O. 
Et que je sache, la crème vanille contient du lait et des jaunes d'oeufs, mais pas de crème.


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## Aoyama

> À moins que ce soit un menu de restaurant scolaire? Comme ici :
> Mercredi 18 :
> Salade composée
> Nuggets de poulet et légumes verts
> Crème vanille et gâteaux secs


Sûrement. 
J'étais pour une cantine scolaire ou ... pénitentiaire ...
Ce qui exclut, on l'imagine, les petits-fours et le reste ...


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