Pastry Cream AKA Creme Patissiere AKA Creme Pat
Who doesn’t love custard?! Well, how about a thickened custard that can be used to improve almost any dessert as well as being used in baked goods like in the base of fruit tarts, piped into profiteroles/doughnuts or made into German Buttercream and spread between layers of cake.
Makes 1.36kg
Ingredients
- Milk - 910g
- Sugar - 230g
- Butter - 90g
- Salt - Pinch
- Cornstarch - 90g
- Eggs - 340g
- Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean - 15ml or 1 Bean
Method
- Combine 680g of the milk, 110g of the sugar, the butter and salt in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring the sugar to dissolve.
- Meanwhile, combine the cornstarch with the remaining 110g sugar. Stirring with a whisk, add the remaining 230g milk. Add the eggs and vanilla, stirring with the whisk until the mixture is completely smooth.
- Temper the egg mixture by adding about one-third of the hot milk, stirring constantly with the whisk. Return the mixture to the remaining hot milk in the saucepan. Continue cooking, stirring vigorously with the whisk, until the pastry cream comes to a boil and the whisk leaves a trail in it.
- Pour the pastry cream into a large, shallow nonreactive pan or plastic-lined sheet pan. Cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the cream and cool over an ice water bath.
- Store the pastry cream, covered, under refrigeration for up to 3 days.
Variations
Honey Pastry Cream
Omit the 110g of sugar added with the milk in step 1. Blend 170g honey and 3g grated orange zest with 450g or pastry cream immediately after it is finished cooking.
Liqueur-Flavoured Pastry Cream
Add 110g Liqueur to 450g to the pastry cream immediately after it is finished cooking.
Coffee Pastry Cream
Add 55g coffee extract to the pastry cream immediately after it is finished cooking.