Pastry Cream is a silky, sweet French custard that is quite easy to make. Today I'll walk you through my tutorial on How To Make Pastry Cream that can be used in many different dessert recipes. 

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Pastry Cream is a cooked mixture of milk, egg yolks, and sugar with vanilla or other flavoring, as well as a thickener to achieve the desired taste and texture. A little bit of butter mixed in at the end also adds richness. 

Pastry Cream is fairly easy to make, although you do have to baby it for about 10-15 minutes. Overcooking can lead to a curdled end result that doesn't look very appealing. It will still taste crazy good even if it's overcooked, but the texture is kinda weird. Learned that through lots of trial and error! So if you don't get it right the first time, keep trying!! It's worth it <smile>

You have probably had pastry cream before. It is used as a filling in many different dessert recipes such as Chocolate Eclairs, Boston Cream Pie, Napoleons, Cream Puffs, Trifles, you name it. Pastry Cream is a very versatile cream, so let your imagination run wild and use it however you like. Something as simple as pastry cream topped with fresh berries makes an impressive dessert that is sure to get rave reviews! This easy, no-bake Boston Cream Pie is one of our favorite uses for pastry cream. The recipe is coming soon, so keep an eye out. You don't want to miss this one!

Measure out the milk and separate the eggs, so we can get this Pastry Cream show on the road! I like to have my ingredients on hand as this goes sort of fast, and Pastry Cream waits for no one! You'll need 1 1/2 cups whole milk, 5 egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons corn starch, a pinch of kosher salt, 1/2 tablespoon (or more to taste) vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon butter.

Start by heating 1 1/2 cups whole milk on the stove top over medium heat in a small saucepan. It will take about 5 minutes to heat it sufficiently. When it is close to being ready, you'll see a skin form on the surface of the milk, and you'll know it is ready when you see it shimmering. To me, the shimmering looks like slivers of glass on the surface of the milk. The time it takes to reach this point will vary depending on the heat setting, but don't rush it. There are other things to do...

While the milk is heating, beat the eggs with the sugar. In a mixing bowl, combine 5 eggs yolks with 3/4 cup sugar

Beat the sugar and yolks on mid-high speed for about 4-5 minutes until the eggs yolks become thick, pale, and ribbons form on the surface when you lift the beaters. The time it takes to reach this point will vary depending on the speed of your mixer.

Once the egg mixture reaches the ribbon stage, reduce the mixer to low speed and add in 3 tablespoons corn starch and a pinch of salt. Mix until combined.

Don't forget about your milk on the stove top! Check it periodically for the 'slivers of glass on the surface' look. When it reaches that point be sure to remove it from the heat.

When the milk is ready, slowly pour half of the milk into the mixing bowl with the mixer on low speed. We want to heat the eggs slowly, so take your time when adding 1/2 the milk.

When combined, pour the mixture from the mixing bowl into the other 1/2 of the milk in the saucepan...

and whisk constantly over medium heat until thickened. This will take about 5-10 minutes depending on the heat of your stove top. Whisking constantly during this time is key, so you can keep an eye on the mixture. Once bubbles start to form on the surface, whisk for about 1 minute longer. During that time the mixture will really thicken and the color will deepen. As soon as that color starts to deepen, remove it from the heat and continue to whisk until all one uniform color.

Add 1 tablespoon butter and a 1/2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract...

and whisk to combine.

Give it a taste and add more vanilla if you prefer a stronger flavor.

Transfer to a heat proof container and cover with plastic wrap. Lay the plastic wrap right on the surface of the pastry cream to keep a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled. Because we heated the milk before mixing it with the egg mixture, there shouldn't be any lumps, but if you notice them I recommend pouring it through a fine mesh strainer. Nobody wants lumpy pastry cream!

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How To Make Pastry Cream

By Life Tastes Good
Published 07/14/2015

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 5 eggs yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons corn starch
• a pinch of kosher salt
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Instructions

1. Start by heating 1 1/2 cups whole milk on the stove top over medium heat in a small saucepan. It will take about 5 minutes to heat it sufficiently. When it is close to being ready, you'll see a skin form on the surface of the milk, and you'll know it is ready when you see it shimmering. To me, the shimmering looks like slivers of glass on the surface of the milk. The time it takes to reach this point will vary depending on the heat setting.
2. While the milk is heating, beat the eggs with the sugar. In a mixing bowl, combine 5 eggs yolks with 3/4 cup sugar and beat on mid-high speed for about 4-5 minutes until the egg yolks become thick, pale, and ribbons form on the surface when you lift the beaters. The time it takes to reach this point will vary depending on the speed of your mixer.
3. Once the egg mixture reaches the ribbon stage, reduce the mixer to low speed and add in 3 tablespoons corn starch and a pinch of salt. Mix until combined.
4. When the milk is ready, slowly pour half of the milk into the mixing bowl with the mixer on low speed. We want to heat the eggs slowly, so take your time when adding 1/2 the milk.
5. When combined, pour the mixture from the mixing bowl into the other 1/2 of the milk in the saucepan, and whisk constantly over medium heat until thickened. This will take about 5-10 minutes depending on the heat of your stove top. Whisking constantly during this time is key, so you can keep an eye on the mixture. Once bubbles start to form on the surface, whisk for about 1 minute longer. During that time the mixture will really thicken and the color will deepen. As soon as that color starts to deepen, remove it from the heat and continue to whisk until all one uniform color.
6. Add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and a 1/2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Give it a taste and add more vanilla if you prefer a stronger flavor.
7. Transfer to a heat proof container and cover with plastic wrap. Lay the plastic wrap right on the surface of the pastry cream to keep a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled. Because we heated the milk before mixing it with the egg mixture, there shouldn't be any lumps, but if you notice them I recommend pouring it through a fine mesh strainer. Nobody wants lumpy pastry.

Prep Time: 5 mins.

Cook time: 15 mins.
Total time: 20 mins.

Tags: How to, Pastry Cream, Dessert, Filling, Easy, Tutorial, Recipe, Custard, Pudding, French

recipe inspired by allrecipes Pastry Cream