• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Simply So Good

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Recipes / Pies and Tarts / Velvety Vanilla Pastry Cream

Velvety Vanilla Pastry Cream

August 1, 2018 2 Comments

136 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
Velvety Vanilla pastry cream in a bowl with a spoon

In my early cooking years I realized just how important it was to know how to make a velvety vanilla pastry cream.   It’s so delicious and versatile.

How to make pastry cream

 

How to Make Pastry Cream

I purchased this beautiful book because I loved the cover.  I was inspired by the colors and was intrigued with the idea of making cotton candy.  Little did I know the recipes on the inside would become some of my favorites. Especially Gesine’s recipe for vanilla pastry cream.

“If you learn to make one thing, learn to make pastry cream.  And learn to make it well.  You won’t be disappointed.”  Gesine Bullock-Prado  Author of book “Sugar baby”

How to make pastry cream

How to make a velvety vanilla pastry cream

You will need 6 egg yolks.  Do not throw away the egg whites.  Egg whites can be frozen forever.  Thaw the egg whites to make Swiss meringue buttercream or macarons.  Getting back on track…you will need sugar, cornstarch, a pinch of salt, vanilla, milk, and cream.  That’s it!

Velvety Vanilla pastry cream
Velvety Vanilla pastry cream
Velvety Vanilla pastry cream
Velvety Vanilla pastry cream
  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch vanilla and pinch of salt.  Beat on high until the mixture is light and fluffy.
  2. Meanwhile, in a heavy saucier, mix milk and cream together.  Place over medium-high heat and bring to a rolling boil.
  3. Decrease mixer speed to medium and slowly pour hot milk mixture down the side of the bowl.  Lower the speed to prevent splashing, but you must add the milk mixture while the egg mixture is in motion because the hot mixture can scald the eggs. Once all of the milk has been added, slowly increase the speed and let it run for a minute.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom to ensure all of the ingredients are completely incorporated.  The mixture will be thin and foamy.
Velvety Vanilla pastry cream
Velvety Vanilla pastry cream
Velvety Vanilla pastry cream
Velvety Vanilla pastry cream

4.  Before you start to cook the egg/milk mixture, have a clean bowl and a fine sieve ready.  You will pour the thickened pastry cream through the sieve and into the bowl as soon as the mixture is done.

5.  Wash the saucier well.  Return the foamy egg/milk mixture back into the clean saucier.  Return to the stove.  Clip on a candy thermometer.  Over medium high heat, vigorously whisk the mixture until it has thickened, 4-5 minutes.  The mixture will get thick, but don’t stop whisking.  Keep the mixture moving at all times.  Make sure your whisk is getting the bottom and along the sides of the saucepan.  Pastry ream can burn easily.

6.  Once the mixture has reached 160F degrees, or looks like mayonnaise, remove from the heat and immediately pour through the sieve.  Use a rubber spatula to speed the process along by pressing the pastry cream through the sieve.

Velvety Vanilla pastry cream
Velvety Vanilla pastry cream

7.  Take a piece of plastic wrap that’s larger in diameter than your bowl and place it directly on the surface of the pastry cream.  Make sure that every last bit of the pastry cream is touching the plastic.  Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator to cool completely.  As the vanilla pastry cream cools it will be thicker.

How to make pastry cream

Uses for Velvety Vanilla Pastry Cream

I can just imagine a bowl full vanilla pastry cream covered with raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or PEACHES!  While it could be eaten by the spoonful, it’s so much more than just a pudding.  Velvety vanilla pastry cream can be used as a filling for eclairs, tarts, cupcakes, and layered cakes. It can be frozen into a luscious ice cream or mixed in with a pie filling and baked OR just eat  vanilla pastry cream with a spoon!

 

Velvety Vanilla pastry cream in a bowl with a spoon
5 from 2 votes
Print

Velvety Vanilla Pastry Cream

Rich and creamy pastry cream.  Used for filling eclairs, tarts, cakes, pies, frozen custard and more.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American, French
Keyword how to make pastry cream, pastry cream
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
chill time 2 hours 2 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 9
Calories 204 kcal

Ingredients

To make pastry cream:

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar 100g
  • 4 tbsp cornstarch 32g
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla 5 ml
  • 1 cup milk 240 ml
  • 1 cup cream 240 ml

Instructions

Pastry cream instructions:

  1. Place egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment.  Beat the mixture on high until light and fluffy.

  2. Meanwhile, in a heavy saucier, mix the milk and cream together.  Place the saucier over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a rolling boil.

  3. Decrease the mixer speed to medium and carefully pour the hot milk mixture down the side of the bowl.  Turn the mixer to low to prevent splashing.  The egg mixture must be in motion to prevent the hot liquid from scalding the eggs.  

  4. Clean the saucier.  It needs to be perfectly clean to be reused again to cook the pastry cream.

  5. Once all the milk mixture is incorporated, slowly increase the mixer speed and let it run for about 1 minute.  Stop the mixer scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that all the ingredients are completely incorporated.  Transfer mixture from the bowl into the clean saucier

  6. Before cooking the then pastry cream mixture, have a clean bowl and a fine sieve ready.  You will be pouring the finished mixture through the sieve and into the bowl the moment the mixture is done.

  7. Return the saucier to the stove.  Have a candy thermometer ready.  Over medium-high heat, vigorously whisk the mixture until it has thickened, 4-5 minutes.  Don't ever stop mixing and make sure your whisk is getting to the bottom and along the sides of the saucepan.  Pastry cream can burn easily.

  8. Once the temperature reaches 160 degrees and has the consistency of mayonnaise, remove from heat and pour the pastry cream through the sieve into a clean bowl.  Use a rubber spatula to press the thick pastry cream through the sieve.

  9. Take a piece of plastic wrap that is larger than in diameter than your bowl and place it directly on the surface of the pastry cream.  Make sure that every bit of pastry cream is touching the plastic to prevent a skin from forming.  Transfer bowl to the refrigerator to cool completely.

Recipe Notes

  1. Once your pastry cream is cool, you'll notice that it's considerable thicker than when you saw it last.  This is normal.
  2. Pastry cream keeps for about 2 days in the refrigerator.
  3. Many flavors can be added to pastry cream.  Almond extract, espresso powder, chocolate ganache, lemon curd, pumpkin puree, etc.
  4. Pastry cream can be lightened up by folding 1/2 cup whipped cream to 1 cup pastry cream. 
Nutrition Facts
Velvety Vanilla Pastry Cream
Amount Per Serving (1 g)
Calories 204 Calories from Fat 117
% Daily Value*
Fat 13g20%
Saturated Fat 7g35%
Cholesterol 169mg56%
Sodium 27mg1%
Potassium 68mg2%
Carbohydrates 16g5%
Fiber 0g0%
Sugar 12g13%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 605IU12%
Vitamin C 0.2mg0%
Calcium 63mg6%
Iron 0.3mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

You might also like:

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Blackberry Buttercream

Cocoa vs. Cacao

Einkorn Crepe Cake with Fall Stone Fruit

Coconut Cream Chocolate Cupcakes

 

More recipes for Pastry cream:

Check out Kitchn for How to make Pastry Cream using flour instead of cornstarch

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Dessert, Pies and Tarts Tagged With: Dessert, eclairs, pastry cream

Previous Post: « Buttered Almond Fudge Popsicles
Next Post: Easy Fresh Berry Puff Pastry Tarts »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carol says

    September 4, 2018 at 3:22 pm

    5 stars
    THis was a lot easier to make than I thought it would be. So delish.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

About Me

Janet Barton

Hi I'm Janet and this is where I share my delicious made-from-scratch seasonal recipes that I make at home for my family every day.

I believe cooking from scratch, using unprocessed and whole foods is an important part of healthy eating. My goal is to help you create amazing recipes by providing easy step-by-step photos and instructions.

Read More »

Trending Recipes

  • No-knead Crusty Bread in a Dutch oven No-knead Crusty Bread
  • pink iced heart sugar cookies Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
  • Glass of almond milk with 2 gray striped straws on wood board with container of almond milk in background Quick Homemade Almond Milk
  • Lemonade and raspberry lemonade in tall glasses Old Fashioned Lemonade
  • Semlor buns with dusting of powdered sugar Swedish Semlor Buns
  • overhead shot of no-knead Dakota Bread on a blue cloth No-Knead Dakota Bread
  • Overhead shot of chicken broth soup with herbs, vegetables and farina dumplings Chicken Soup with Farina Dumplings
  • assortment of sprinkles on heart shape sugar cookies Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
  • Kalamata olive fouggase on marble with dipping sauce Kalamata Olive and Rosemary Fougasse with Fresh Herb and Pepper Dipping Oil
  • Focaccia in Five

Latest on Instagram

simplysogood

The lunar new year is soon approaching this Sunday The lunar new year is soon approaching this Sunday, January 22. We are celebrating the year of the rabbit with these homemade Mandarin Pork Potstickers with Ginger Soy Sauce for dipping!!

Wishing you a fabulous year filled with love, peace, bunny ears, and potstickers. ✌️❤️🐰 🥟

#lunarnewyear #potstickers #yearoftherabbit
Why I love slow cooker lentil soup: * I can throw Why I love slow cooker lentil soup:

* I can throw the ingredients into a slow cooker before I go to bed and it will be hot and steamy when I finish a long, cold run in the morning.
* I can toss the ingredients into a slow cooker in the morning and let it do its magic all day for a quick supper. 
* It’s brothy!  I love brothy soups. 
* It’s noted with healthy and nutritious ingredients.
* This recipe can be made in an instant pot in about 20 minutes!
Recipe link in bio

#lentilsoup #crockpotsoup #slowcookersoup
This is a very quick version of Christmas Stollen This is a very quick version of Christmas Stollen flavored bread. The sweet dough is filled with dried fruit, candied orange and lemon peel, and almonds. 

The dough is wrapped around a ribbon of marzipan filling. Bake until golden then dust heavily with powder sugar. 

I like to toast a thick slice then scoop out the warm marzipan and spread it all over my toasted Stollen 🤤

#christmasbaking #stollenbread
#christmasrecipe
Biscotti literally means “twice baked”, and do Biscotti literally means “twice baked”, and double baking is the secret to these crunchy Italian cookies. Their hard texture makes them perfect for dipping into your hot drink. 

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti are my favorite and I add them to my Christmas cookie list because they make such a cute gift, but most of all I love dipping them in my cocoa. 

#biscotti #christmascookies #christmasbaking
During my September runs I start looking for the p During my September runs I start looking for the perfect juniper bush for my natural gingerbread houses. 
The bushes must be filled with perfect purple berries. 

In December in start snipping those twigs and berries to adorn my natural little houses. I add nuts, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, herbs, and a dusting of powdered sugar. ☺️

#gingerbreadhouse #gingerbread
#nature
I added a Christmas vibe to my Aunt Erma’s famou I added a Christmas vibe to my Aunt Erma’s famous chocolate drop cookies. 

Chocolate drop peppermint cookies are cake like cookies with a swirl of peppermint cream cheese, icing topped with a little pillow peppermint candy. 

I just posted the recipe on my blog and put the link in my bio. 

#christmascookies #candycane #peppermintchocolate #holidaycookies
It was sad and times past that a proper Norwegian It was sad and times past that a proper Norwegian wife should have seven types of cookies to serve her Christmas guests.

According to my DNA testing I’m only 5% Norwegian. Im going with that as an excuse to bake at least 7 types of cookies. 

Top on my list is this adorable 
Norwegian Berlinerkranser. 

This cute little cookie from my childhood is buttery with a hint of orange. 🤤 I can’t have a Christmas without these cute little cookies. 

How many types of cookies are you baking this year?

#christmascookies #cookiesforsanta #holidaycookies
Quick and Easy Marzipan is just that…Quick and E Quick and Easy Marzipan is just that…Quick and Easy!!

It’s made with just 5 ingredient - blanched almond flour, powdered sugar, egg whites, almond extract, and rose water. 

The subtle addition of rose water makes this my absolute favorite❣️

Recipe link in bio

#easymarzipan #homemademarzipan
#marzipan
If you’re a marzipan lover, then I have a cookie If you’re a marzipan lover, then I have a cookie for you!!
 
These cookies are so easy to make!
They are soft and chewy with a luscious dose of marzipan. 🤤

#christmascookies 
#christmasbaking
#marzipan #almondcookies
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Footer

Featured on

The Daily Meal Logo The foodgawker-logo reddit Logo BuzzFeed Logo halfbaked Harvest Logo Browneyed Baker Logo FOOD52 Logo University of Washington Logo sheknows Logo

Copyright © 2023 Janet Barton
Privacy Policy

 

Loading Comments...