Crème Pâtissière
An elementary ingredient of French pastry. The pastry cream will be predictably richer if you use heavy cream (preferably not ultrapasteurized) but is equally delicious with half-and-half or whole milk.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 3 cups
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar with the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Mix together the yolks and cream. If you’re using a vanilla bean, split it and scrape out the seeds; stir them into the cream mixture.
Step 2
Stir the cream-egg mixture into the sugar-cornstarch mixture over medium heat; at first, whisk occasionally to eliminate lumps. Then stir almost constantly until the mixture boils and thickens, about 10 minutes. Continue to cook until the mixture coats the back of a spoon; when you draw your finger through this coating, the resulting line will hold its shape.
Step 3
Stir in the butter (and vanilla extract if you’re using it) and set aside. Cool the pastry cream for a few minutes, then proceed with your recipe or refrigerate, with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
