One of the basics in any baker’s repertoire is crème pâtissière, or pastry cream. Though the word “cream” appears in its name, there is, in fact, no cream in pastry cream. Cooking egg yolks and milk with a bit of flour creates a smooth, rich custard that looks and tastes as if it were made with cream. Pastry cream is used as the base for many soufflés. It can also be spread in a prebaked tart shell (page 229) and topped with fresh fruit to make a seasonal fruit tart, or piped as a filling into pâte à choux puffs (page 232) that are then smothered in warm Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce (page 243).
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 2 1/2 cups (625 ml)
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
Step 2
In a medium saucepan, warm the milk until it begins to steam. Whisk in the flour mixture and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly to prevent lumps from forming, until the mixture is thick and beginning to bubble, 1 to 2 minutes.
Step 3
In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks. Whisk in some of the hot milk mixture to warm them, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the thickened milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until the pastry cream just begins to boil.
Step 4
Remove from the heat, whisk in the vanilla and the butter until melted, and pour the pastry cream through a mesh strainer into a shallow container. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
Storage
Step 5
Pastry cream will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Variations
Step 6
Add 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, to the milk before warming it. After straining, the pod can be rinsed, dried, and used for another purpose (see page 14).
Step 7
To make CITRUS PASTRY CREAM, grate the zest of 2 lemons or limes into the warm milk and let steep for 15 minutes. Make the pastry cream as indicated (with our without the vanilla extract) and let cool. Stir 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice into the cooled pastry cream.
