Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
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Pastry cream is a custard further thickened with starch. The challenging aspect of making pastry cream is that egg yolks contain amylase, a protein which will digest the starch molecules responsible for thickening the pastry cream. In order to denature the amylase, the egg yolks must be thoroughly cooked, so the mixture is beaten over medium heat for about three minutes to ensure the eggs are fully cooked.
When making chocolate pastry cream, darker chocolate will have more of a thickening effect. There is less need to enrich the chocolate pastry cream by using (part) cream in the dairy or butter in the bowl at the end.
It is a good idea to prepare the cream a day ahead and allow it to cool and set overnight, then stir and use the following day.
Makes about 1.5 cups of pastry cream.
Equipment:
• 2 nonreactive mixing bowls
• strainer
• medium saucepan
• plastic wrap
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk sub up to 1/2 cup cream to enrich vanilla pastry cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 pc vanilla bean or 1 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
3 ea egg yolks
3 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp unsalted butter chilled, in pieces
For chocolate pastry cream:
0-2 Tbsp unsalted butter use as much or less butter than for vanilla cream
2 oz unsweetened chocolate chop into small pieces
Procedure:
1. Combine the milk and vanilla and scald them together to extract vanilla flavor into the milk.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the yolks with the salt, sugar and starch to the ribbon.
3. Carefully temper the hot milk into the yolks, then return the entire mixture to the saucepan and whisk constantly until it thickens. Make sure to cook the mixture for long enough to fully cook the egg.
4. Once the mixture is fully cooked, strain the mixture through the strainer onto the butter and/or chocolate, and then mix it until the butter and/or chocolate are completely melted and incorporated into the cream.
5. Using a flexible scraper, organize the cream into the bottom of the bowl, or into a different dish, and then cover with plastic film pressed right down onto the surface of the cream, eliminating bubbles, so that the cream will not form a skin as it cool.
6. Allow the cream to cool, on a rack if possible, and then refrigerate before using.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
Check our our Patreon!
patreon.com/loveyourfood
Pastry cream is a custard further thickened with starch. The challenging aspect of making pastry cream is that egg yolks contain amylase, a protein which will digest the starch molecules responsible for thickening the pastry cream. In order to denature the amylase, the egg yolks must be thoroughly cooked, so the mixture is beaten over medium heat for about three minutes to ensure the eggs are fully cooked.
When making chocolate pastry cream, darker chocolate will have more of a thickening effect. There is less need to enrich the chocolate pastry cream by using (part) cream in the dairy or butter in the bowl at the end.
It is a good idea to prepare the cream a day ahead and allow it to cool and set overnight, then stir and use the following day.
Makes about 1.5 cups of pastry cream.
Equipment:
• 2 nonreactive mixing bowls
• strainer
• medium saucepan
• plastic wrap
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk sub up to 1/2 cup cream to enrich vanilla pastry cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 pc vanilla bean or 1 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
3 ea egg yolks
3 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp unsalted butter chilled, in pieces
For chocolate pastry cream:
0-2 Tbsp unsalted butter use as much or less butter than for vanilla cream
2 oz unsweetened chocolate chop into small pieces
Procedure:
1. Combine the milk and vanilla and scald them together to extract vanilla flavor into the milk.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the yolks with the salt, sugar and starch to the ribbon.
3. Carefully temper the hot milk into the yolks, then return the entire mixture to the saucepan and whisk constantly until it thickens. Make sure to cook the mixture for long enough to fully cook the egg.
4. Once the mixture is fully cooked, strain the mixture through the strainer onto the butter and/or chocolate, and then mix it until the butter and/or chocolate are completely melted and incorporated into the cream.
5. Using a flexible scraper, organize the cream into the bottom of the bowl, or into a different dish, and then cover with plastic film pressed right down onto the surface of the cream, eliminating bubbles, so that the cream will not form a skin as it cool.
6. Allow the cream to cool, on a rack if possible, and then refrigerate before using.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
