Vanilla Pastry Cream

5 from 3 votes

Pastry cream is one of the most versatile recipes in a professional pastry kitchen (and your home). It is used for the filling of eclairs, napoleons, fruit tarts, banana cream pie, trifle, and just scooped out of the bowl with a spoon. It is essentially “kick-ass” vanilla pudding, to quote one of my former bosses. It can be scented with vanilla, in fact I always start with vanilla pastry cream and then add flavors to it. I’ve made everything from Thai chili-chocolate to passion fruit pastry cream. Here is the basic vanilla pastry cream recipe to start with!

This is an old post with old photos (I’ve come a long way with my camera since then)…

How to Make Pastry Cream

See me make the pastry cream step by step here, then head to the bottom of this post for the full recipe.

Bring the milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar, butter, salt and vanilla bean to a gentle boil in a medium saucepan.

Remove from heat.

Whisk together the cornstarch and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Add the egg and yolks to the cornstarch and mix into a smooth paste.

Slowly, and in small amounts, whisk a little of the hot milk into a the egg mixture. This is called tempering the eggs, which you need to do to get them to the same temperature of the hot milk in the pan, so they won’t curdle.

Once the egg mixture is warm to the touch, pour it back into the milk in the pan.

Return the custard to the stove and bring to a boil, whisking continuously for 2 to 3 minutes. The pastry cream will thicken almost immediately but it is important to cook out the starch so that it isn’t grainy and so your pastry cream won’t separate. (separating pastry cream is when the liquid releases from the cream, easily prevented by cooking for 2-3 minutes!) When the pastry cream is done it will be smooth and glossy.

Strain the pastry cream into a shallow container.

Because the pastry cream is so think you will need to press it through the strainer with a rubber spatula.

Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Set the container in the freezer for 15 minutes (this cools down the eggs quickly) and then refrigerate for up to a few days.

Vanilla Pastry Cream

Pastry cream is rich, luscious pudding that’s used in all kinds of cakes, a true staplein the pastry kitchen. To flavor this silky custard, you can use pure vanilla extract ora scraped vanilla bean, which will give the most intense and satisfying flavor. If youhave never tried baking with a real vanilla bean, try it now and you’ll be hooked.The seeds will add a fragrant aroma and flecks of real vanilla. You can replace the vanilla bean with other flavors, like cinnamon sticks, star anise, ginger, instant espresso, or anything else you think up.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Servings: 3 cups (780g)

Author: Zoë François

Ingredients

• 2 cups (480ml) whole milk
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (55g) unsalted butter
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• Seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean or 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 egg at room temperature
• 4 egg yolks at room temperature

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, 1/4 cup / 50g of the sugar, butter, salt, and vanilla; bring to a gentle boil; and then remove from the heat.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup / 50g sugar. Add the egg and egg yolks and whisk into a smooth paste.
• Whisk enough of the hot milk, a little at a time, into the egg mixture until it is warm to the touch. Once the eggs are tempered, pour the mixture back into the remaining milk in the pan.
• Return the saucepan to medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil; continuously whisk for 3 minutes more or the pastry cream will separate once it cools.
• If there are any lumps in the pastry cream, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve into a shallow container and cover with plastic wrap, pressed directly onto the surface, to prevent a skin from forming.
• In a large bowl, add enough ice cubes and cold water to create a bath for the container to sit in without the water breaching the sides.
• Set the container in the ice bath or place in the freezer until chilled, about 15 minutes before using. Or transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!