Pastry Cream Recipe( Creme Patisserie).

The first time I indulged in Pastry Cream was when I bought these yummy eclairs from a bakery in town. Of course, at the time I did not know what the cream was. All I remember is that it was so delicious I finished the box of eclairs faster than I had intended, all alone!

Over time, I have dived into the pastry world, and it’s just incredible that I can now make this Pastry Cream at home with so much ease, and the outcome is always so good. I have to say, there is no better cream than Vanilla Pastry Cream. This cream is luscious, not too sweet(just the right amount of sugar) with a strong Vanilla flavour that is just so satisfying.

What is Pastry Cream?

Also known as, Creme Patissiere, Pastry Cream is a french cream filling with a custard-like consistency.

It is made from five ingredients; milk, egg yolks, sugar, heavy cream, Cornstarch then flavoured with Vanilla. Use it as a filling for eclairs, tarts, cakes, doughnuts, buns or cupcakes.

I mostly like indulging it with my Vanilla Cupcakes topped with Swiss Meringue Buttercream. It is easy to incorporate flavour preferences such as Cinnamon, Chocolate, Coffee, Pistachio, and Lemon with just a few changes to this recipe.

For Cinnamon spiced pastry cream, mix powdered cinnamon with sugar before mixing with milk. Another way of doing this would be by boiling the milk with cinnamon sticks and straining it before pouring it into the egg-sugar mixture.

For a chocolate flavoured pastry cream, mix cocoa powder with the sugar, or mix in melted chocolate at the final step before straining and freezing.

Stir in a can of Dulce de leche at the final step for a Dulce de leche flavoured cream, or add orange liquor and fresh orange juice with a bit of zest for an orange flavoured pastry cream.

Tips and Tricks.

• Pour in the warm milk mixture slowly. Make sure to mix thoroughly when pouring to avoid cooking the egg yolks.
• To make it more stable and pipeable, increase the amount of cornstarch and let it chill for a few atleast 6 hours in the fridge.
• Remember to cover it with a plastic wrap, placing it directly in contact with the cream to avoid a skin-like crust from forming on top of the cream.
• Sieve it with a thin mesh to make it smooth. If it’s too lumpy, use an immersion blender on low speed until smooth.

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VANILLA PASTRY CREAM RECIPE

Ingredients

• 90 grams egg yolks
• 300 ml milk
• 1 Vanilla Bean
• 200 ml heavy cream
• 90 grams granulated sugar
• 50 grams cornstarch

Procedure.

• In a medium sized bowl, mix sugar with egg yolks until completely mixed. Add in the cornstarch and mix until everything is combined.
• In a small pot, pour in milk, heavy cream, and scrapped vanilla seeds with the pod, and heat for a few minutes on low heat to a simmer. If you are using vanilla extract, you can stir it after the last step before refrigeration..
• Afterwards, very slowly pour in the warm milk mixture into the egg mixture whisking thoroughly to avoid cooking the eggs.
• Pour the mixture back to the pot and place it over a stove on medium heat.
• Whisk thoroughly and let it boil for atleast 4 minutes until the cream starts to thicken, then remove from heat.
• Sieve the mixture to make it smooth if it is too lumpy use an immersion blender. Pour it into a container and cover with a cling film , directly placing it on the cream. This prevents a skin from forming after refrigeration.
• Remove from fridge when ready to use. If it is too stiff, use a hand blender and whip until soft.