Video
Easy Vanilla Pastry Cream (Crème Pâtissière)
This is the BEST and easiest vanilla bean pastry cream! You make it in one pot and there's no need to temper the egg yolks. It's thick, rich and luscious. Use this fill cakes, cupcakes and pastries or serve it alongside pie with some fresh berries. It makes a fabulous dessert on its own with some crushed biscuits or meringue with fresh fruit.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup 65g granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon 16g corn starch
- 1 tablespoon 9g all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup 180ml 35% heavy whipping cream
- ¾ cup 180ml whole milk or 2% milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract)
- 2 tablespoon 28g unsalted butter
Instructions
- In a small 1-quart stainless steel saucepan, combine sugar, corn starch and flour and whisk to blend evenly so there are no lumps of starch or flour. Very slowly begin to whisk in the cream so that it blends smoothly with the starch/sugar mixture. Once all the cream is added, you can pour in the milk and whisk well. Add egg yolks one a time and whisk them in evenly before each addition.
- Massage the vanilla bean to soften it and loosing the little seeds inside. Split it in half lengthwise using a sharp paring knife and scrape out those little seeds from both sides. Add the seeds to the pot and then add the scraped bean/pod as well.
- Place the sauce pot over medium-low heat and whisk constantly until it starts to thicken. Be patient as this can take up to 10 minutes. Increase the heat slightly to medium if necessary, but do not walk away from the pan and do not stop stirring as it can easily catch and scorch at the bottom of the pan.
- Once the mixture starts to thicken, lower the heat and watch carefully. Once it starts to bubble, let it bubble for just 5 seconds while stirring then immediately transfer it to a clean bowl. NOTE: you can pass it through a fine mesh sieve to remove any curdled egg pieces if you are so inclined. Remove the scraped vanilla bean.
- Add butter and stir it in until melted and evenly incorporated. If you’re using vanilla extract instead of the pod, then you can stir it in at this point. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly over the surface of the custard to cover it and refrigerate for at least 4 hours until thoroughly chilled and use within 3 days.
