Pastry Cream Recipe (Crème Pâtissière)

5 from 23 votes

Pastry Cream Recipe (Crème Pâtissière)

This pastry cream recipe (crème pâtissière) is a silky, thick, delicious vanilla custard filling that pipes beautifully, slices cleanly, and shows why every French pastry shop keeps a fresh batch on hand daily.

Cook Time10

Total Time10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Servings:

Calories: 259kcal

Author: Katalin Nagy

Equipment

Ingredients

480 g Whole milk 3% fat
100 g Granulated sugar
80 g Egg yolk approx. yolk of 4-5 eggs
25 g Corn starch
25 g All purpose flour
2 teaspoon Vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
55 g Unsalted butter 82% fat, room temperature soft butter

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolk with a hand whisk until slightly fluffy, in about 1-2 minutes.
Whisk in the cornstarch, flour, and vanilla until thoroughly combined to form a smooth paste.
Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat, then remove it as soon as it begins to simmer. Make sure it is just simmering and not boiling.
Slowly pour the warm milk over the egg yolk mixture while whisking vigorously with a hand whisk. This step tempers the egg yolks, and the mixture should start to thicken slightly.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook on medium heat for a few minutes until it thickens. Specifically, about 1 min after the first boil. It might get lumpy first; don't worry, just keep whisking, and the cream will get smooth and glossy.
If in doubt, strain the pastry cream for a lump-free, creamy end result.
Add room-temperature, softened butter chunk by chunk, and mix with a rubber spatula until completely incorporated. It is worth adding the butter in 3 stages, mixing well after each addition.
The pastry cream must be completely cool before using it in desserts. Place the cream in a shallow bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.
Once cooled, you may need to whisk the pastry cream again to smooth the texture. Don't overmix it, or it can get runny. Whisk a few times until smooth. Use it to fill tarts, eclairs, and cakes.
Any leftovers can be used refrigerated in an air-tight container for 2-3 days.

Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES:

Measure your ingredients with a digital scale for accuracy.
Good quality butter and pure vanilla extract are the heart of making pastry cream. Use high-quality European butter with 82% fat content and the best-quality vanilla you can find.
Make sure the butter is at room temperature before you begin. This normally takes around an hour out of the fridge.
Fresh, farm eggs will provide bright yellow colored pastry cream, while cheaper supermarket eggs will result in a pale cream.

TECHNIQUE NOTES:

Use a small/medium sized saucepan with good heat distribution to avoid burning the milk when making pastry cream.
Let the cream set in the fridge before using. It will further set as it cools into a silky, pipeable consistency.

Nutrition