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Pastry Cream

Pat-a-Choux
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Dessert
Cuisine American, French

Equipment

  • 1 whisk, heavy bottom sauce pan

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups milk
  • 6 tbsp sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 3 tbsp butter

Instructions
 

  • This is the classic way of making pastry cream. At the end of these instructions is a simple and easy of making it.
    If using vanilla bean pods, split the bean and scrape the vanilla seeds/caviar out of the beans. 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste / extract / 1 vanilla bean podAdd the bean and caviar with the milk into a saucepan. Heat the milk over medium high heat and bring it to a simmer, almost to a boil (see recipe notes).
    While heating the milk, place the sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Whisk until you have a thick, smooth mix. (If you're using vanilla bean paste or extract, add it to the egg mix too). Place the bowl with the egg mix on a towel or napkin (to prevent the bowl from slipping while whisking, in the next step), and set aside until the milk comes to a boil (almost to a boil).
    As soon as the milk starts to steam or simmer, remove it from the heat. Slowly pour about a half of the hot milk in a thin stream into the egg mix, WHILE WHISKING CONSTANTLY to temper the egg mix. When the eggs have been tempered, add the egg mix back into the hot milk in the saucepan.
    Heat the custard base, over medium heat, while whisking vigorously until it starts to thicken – this should take about 1 – 2 minutes depending on the heat of your stove and size of your saucepan. Make sure to reach the corners of the saucepan so that the custard does not catch at the bottom of the pan.
    While whisking, let the custard come to a boil (the custard will release bubbles). You may need to stop whisking from time to time for a few seconds to see if the custard is "bubbling". Look for big "bloops" breaking the surface of the custard. Lower the heat and cook for a further 1 – 2 minutes after you see the first bubbles break the surface, and make sure to whisk constantly.
    Remove from the heat and add the butter. Whisk in the butter, until it’s completely mixed in.
    Pour the custard into a bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap is touching the whole surface. This is to prevent a custard skin from forming on top. You can also choose to pass the custard through a sieve to remove any lumps.
    Let the custard cool down to room temperature and then let it chill in the fridge for a few hours, until it’s completely chilled.
    The custard will have "set" after chilling. So it is important to whisk the pastry cream to make it smooth before using. Use as needed after the pastry cream has been chilled.
    Alternate instructions:
    Combine every thing except butter in a large bowl and whisk very well.
    Pour into a sauce pan and heat on medium whisking constantly heat until it starts to thicken. turn heat down to medium low and whisk vigorously until thick like pudding.
    pour through a strainer into a bowl to remove any lumps. Cover with plastic wrap, make sure it touches the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Cool in refrigerator until completely cool (couple hours). Now it is ready to use whisk well.
Keyword Choux, cream