The vanilla guide
Vanilla pastry cream (crème pâtissière)
The thick vanilla custard inside éclairs, fruit tarts and cream puffs. Twenty minutes at the stove.
Pastry cream, or crème pâtissière, is a thick custard of milk, egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch, flavoured with vanilla and finished with butter. Infuse the milk with a vanilla bean, whisk it into the yolks, sugar and starch, then cook it, whisking, until it thickens and bubbles for a full minute. Chill it with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface. It keeps for 2 to 3 days in the fridge.
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Pastry cream, custard and crème anglaise
All three are milk or cream thickened with egg yolks. Crème anglaise is a pouring custard, cooked gently to about 80 °C and never boiled. Pastry cream adds cornstarch or flour, so it can boil, and it sets thick enough to pipe and to slice through in a tart.
A real vanilla bean makes the difference here: the custard is mostly milk and eggs, so the vanilla is the flavour.
How to make vanilla pastry cream
Vanilla pastry cream
You need
- 500 ml (2 cups) whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean (or 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste)
- 5 egg yolks
- 100 g (½ cup) sugar
- 40 g (⅓ cup) cornstarch
- 25 g (2 tablespoons) cold butter
- A pinch of salt
Nutrition (estimate): 160 calories, 7 g fat (4 g saturated), 16 g sugar and 4 g protein per ¼ cup (about 75 g). The recipe makes about 8 servings.
Method
Infuse the milk
Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Warm the milk with the seeds, the pod and the salt until it steams, then take it off the heat.
Whisk the yolks
In a bowl, whisk the yolks with the sugar until pale, then whisk in the cornstarch until smooth.
Temper
Remove the pod. Pour the hot milk slowly onto the yolks while whisking, then pour everything back into the pan.
Boil for one minute
Cook over medium heat, whisking all the time and scraping the corners. It thickens suddenly; keep whisking until it bubbles, then let it bubble for a full minute so the starch cooks and the cream stays thick.
Whisk in the butter
Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the cold butter until glossy.
Chill it covered
Scrape it into a shallow dish, press plastic wrap onto the surface so no skin forms, and chill for at least 2 hours. Whisk until smooth before using.
Why pastry cream has to boil
Egg yolks contain an enzyme, amylase, that breaks down starch. If the cream never boils, the enzyme survives, and a pastry cream that looked thick in the pan turns runny in the fridge overnight. A full minute of bubbling stops it, and cooks away the raw taste of the cornstarch.
How to use it
- Fill éclairs, cream puffs and choux buns.
- Spread it in a baked tart shell under fresh fruit.
- Layer it in a trifle or between layers of sponge cake.
- Fold in whipped cream for a lighter, mousse-like filling (crème légère).
Questions
How long does pastry cream keep?
Two to three days in the fridge, with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface. It does not freeze well: it turns watery when it thaws.
Can I use flour instead of cornstarch?
Yes. Use about twice as much flour (80 g) and let it bubble for 2 minutes. Cornstarch gives a cleaner taste and a glossier cream.
Why is my pastry cream lumpy?
Some of the yolk cooked before the starch thickened evenly. Whisk all the time and scrape the corners of the pan. If it is lumpy, push it through a sieve while it is still hot.
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