Crème Pâtissière (Pastry Cream) Recipe
Silky French custard filling used in eclairs, profiteroles and many desserts
Servings: 1 batch
Ingredients
- 5 (5) Large Egg Yolks
- 100 g (½ cup) Granulated Sugar, (caster sugar)
- 40 g (⅓ cup) Cornstarch
- 480 ml (2 cups) Whole Milk
- 2 teaspoon (2 teaspoon) Vanilla Bean Paste, or vanilla extract
- 30 g (2 tablespoon) Unsalted Butter
- ⅛ teaspoon (⅛ teaspoon) Salt
Instructions
- Whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until pale and thick. It may look like it won't come together at first but just keep mixing for a minute and it will smooth out.
- Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it is scalding hot.This means that there is steam rising from it and you can see tiny bubbles starting to appear on the surface. Do not let it boil.
- Drizzle a small amount of hot milk into the egg yolk mixture and whisk, then add a little more, repeat until everything is together in the bowl. It's important to do this slowly and gradually so you don't scramble the eggs.
- Pour the custard mixture back into the pan over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until it is boiling with thick, bursting bubbles. Let it bubble for 1-2 minutes to fully activate the starch.*
- Remove from the heat. If your pastry cream has any lumps in it, pass it thorugh a fine-mesh sieve to remove them.
- Add the salt and whisk in the butter one small piece at a time, making sure it melts into the mixture completely before adding the next piece.
- Cover with plastic wrap (make sure the plastic wrap is touching the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming) and refrigerate for at least two hours. I like to make this the day before and let it sit overnight, but it can be used after 2 hours.
Notes
Make sure you whisk constantly while your custard is on the heat - if you let it sit, you will end up with lumps of egg or burnt pastry cream!
* While cooking and thickening the pastry cream, you may need to stop whisking for a few seconds at a time in order to let it bubble. It's important that it boils for at least 1 minute to activate the starches so it can set properly. Just be careful not to leave it too long at a time to avoid burning or scrambling.
If left to develop overnight, the custard has a much richer flavor - if you have time I highly recommend this!