How to Make Pastry Cream
Pastry cream is a fundamental baking technique and used for many desserts and treats. Master the art of baking foundations and learn how to make pastry cream like a baking master!
What is Pastry Cream?
Pastry cream is a type of vanilla custard thickened with cornstarch and cooked on a stove top as opposed to baked. It is not a liquid like creme anglaise is but has more of a creamy pudding like texture, and it’s often used as a filling for various desserts. Also, it’s a fundamental baking technique to make pastry cream. Check out bakerpedia for more facts about pastry cream!
Equipment & Ingredients to Make Pastry Cream
- Whole milk and heavy cream: You can use whipping cream if heavy cream is unavailable.
- Egg yolks: You will have to separate eggs for the yolks. If you’re looking for what to do with the extra whites, check out these egg white heavy desserts!
- Cornstarch: The main thickener in pastry cream. Make sure to whisk with sugar before incorporating. You can reduce or increase the amount of cornstarch to change how thick it is.
- Vanilla beans: I buy my vanilla beans in bulk online since they are OVERLY EXPENSIVE in stores. I will keep a few of them at a time in a little bit of water to plump them up and make them easier to split and remove the beans.
What Desserts Use Pastry Cream?
- Fillings for donuts, pate a choux pastries, or crepes
- A layer in cakes or filled in cupcakes
- Used in galettes, frangipane tarts, and especially fruit tarts
- A layer in trifles, Napoleons, or layered desserts
- As a vanilla pudding or accompaniment with berries
- A topping to brioche buns or danishes
- Used to make diplomat cream and chibust
How to Make Pastry Cream:
Step by Step to Make Pastry Cream?
Combine the dairy with the salt and half the sugar in a pot. Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean and add to the dairy along with the pod. Separately, whisk the sugar with the cornstarch to break up the cornstarch clumps then whisk in the egg yolks and second measurement of milk. Bring the dairy to a boil, temper into the the yolks, and return everything to the pot. Cook while whisking continuously until it thickens and comes to a boil. Cook for 1-2 minutes extra to cook out the cornstarch taste and texture before adding the butter to cool. Remove from heat and cool in a heat resistance container with plastic wrap covering the top.
What is Tempering?
Tempering is a technique to combine two liquids of different temperatures to prevent a shock to one or more ingredients, and one liquid is usually boiling while the other is usually cold. In the case of how to make pastry cream, slowly pour some of the boiling dairy into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Then, add the egg yolk mixture back into the pot of hot dairy. This technique prevents the cooking and coagulation of the egg yolks right away.
How Does Pastry Cream Thicken?
The cornstarch primary and the egg yolks secondary are the thickening agents in pastry cream. After tempering and while cooking everything together in the pot, the mixture warms and the egg yolks start to coagulate and thicken. The cornstarch activates during the heating process and further thickens the pastry cream turning it from a creme anglaise liquid to a thick and creamy pastry cream. However, cornstarch has a weird taste and texture which needs to be cooked out, so once the pastry cream thickens and boil, cook for an additional one to two minutes.
Do’s and Don’ts For Making Pastry Cream
Do whisk your cornstarch with the sugar before adding the yolks and milk and do include your vanilla bean pod in with the dairy. Don’t whisk all the sugar with the cornstarch, only half. The other half gets included with the diary. Don’t stop cooking your pastry cream as soon it thickens, but do cook for an additional one to two minutes after it starts boiling. Don’t leave the pastry cream uncovered; place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming upon cooling.
How to Split Vanilla Beans:
- I always have a container with my vanilla beans with some water. This will allow the beans to soak up some water and plump them up which make it much easier to split and scrape.
- Use a small cutting board and a small, sharp paring knife. Dig into the top of one side but only split one side and do not split all the way through. Place your finger above the incision and drag your knife down the length of the bean splitting it open. Peel the two sides apart and scrape the seeds out of both sides dragging the knife down.
- You can throw the pod in with the milk or you can use it to flavor something else like homemade extract, vanilla sugar, or vanilla oil.
Why Are There White Lumps in My Pastry Cream?
The biggest mistake when making pastry cream is not paying enough attention to the cornstarch. Cornstarch clumps quickly and easily and leave you with little white lumps in your pastry cream after cooking. To prevent the lumps, always whisk the sugar with the cornstarch as this will help prevent any clumping right away. Mixing in the milk followed by the eggs will further homogenize the cornstarch with other ingredients. Make sure you whisk thoroughly at each step. If you still end up with white lumps, it’s not the end of the world, but you can still push through a fine mesh strainer.
Frequently Asked Questions to Make Pastry Cream:
- What is pastry cream made of? Pastry cream is made with dairy, sugar, vanilla bean, egg yolks, cornstarch and butter. Also, it’s a custard cooked over a stovetop.
- What’s the difference between pastry cream and pudding? Both pastry cream and pudding are custards, however, there are subtle differences between the two. Pastry cream is richer and creamier and uses real vanilla beans while pudding uses artificial vanilla and is not as rich.
- What can I do with pastry cream? Pastry cream is a fundamental baking technique and used in many desserts but especially as a filling. In addition to using as is as pudding, it’s a filling in tarts, pate a choux, napoleons, trifles, donuts, cake, and cupcakes.
Have another question? Reach out and I’ll try to answer it for you!
Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- 320 g Whole milk
- 1 ea Vanilla bean
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- 120 g Granulated sugar
- 2 Tbs Cornstarch
- 80 g Whole milk
- 6 ea Egg yolk
- 1 Tbs Unsalted butter
Instructions
- Combine the first measurement of milk with the salt and half the sugar in a pot. Scrape out the vanilla bean seeds and add to the pot with the pod.
- Separately, whisk the cornstarch with the other half of the sugar. Whisk in the second measurement of milk followed by the egg yolks.
- Boil the vanilla milk then temper into the egg yolks. Return everything to the pot and bring to a boil while whisking constantly.
- After it comes to a boil, continue to cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter until melted.
- Transfer to a heat safe vessel and lay plastic wrap directly on top of the pastry. Allow to cool in the fridge until cold.
