Frostings and Fillings

Pastry Cream

Pastry cream fails at two points: when hot milk scrambles the yolks, and when the pan comes off the heat too early. The first is solved with a thin stream and a busy whisk. The second takes nerve — starch thickens before boiling, but the enzyme in the yolks only dies at 92 °C, and an undercooked cream turns to soup overnight.

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Pastry Cream — the finished dish
Prep
15 min
Cook
12 min
Rest
2 h
Total
2 h 27 min
Servings
12
Level
Medium
Per serving
150 kcal

Ingredients

Makes: about 750 g — fills a 22 cm cake with 3 layers, or 20 éclairs

Method

  1. Step 1: Heat the milk

    Bring the milk and vanilla almost to the boil, until small bubbles ring the edge of the pan, then take it off the heat.

  2. Step 2: Mix the yolks

    Whisk the yolks, sugar, cornflour and salt to a pale, smooth paste with no dry pockets of starch.

  3. Step 3: Temper

    Pour a third of the hot milk into the yolks in a thin stream, whisking without pause, then tip the mixture back into the pan with the rest of the milk.

  4. Step 4: Cook it out

    Over medium heat, whisk constantly and work into the corners of the pan until it thickens. It happens suddenly, after 3–5 minutes.

  5. Step 5: Boil for a minute

    Once the first big bubbles break the surface, cook another 60–90 seconds (around 92 °C). It stiffens, then relaxes slightly — that is the sign it is done.

  6. Step 6: Add the butter

    Off the heat, whisk in the cold diced butter. It cools the cream down and gives it a glossy finish.

  7. Step 7: Sieve and chill

    Push the cream through a sieve into a shallow tray, press cling film onto the surface and chill for 2 hours. Whisk smooth again before using.

Tips & variations

  • Tip

    The film must touch the cream itself, not just the rim of the dish, or a skin forms and breaks up into lumps later.

  • Tip

    If lumps do appear, blitz the hot cream with a stick blender for 20 seconds and the texture comes back perfectly.

  • Variation

    For crème diplomate, fold 200 ml of whipped cream into the fully chilled pastry cream. Lighter, and it holds its shape in a tart.

  • Storage

    Three days in the fridge under film. Do not freeze — the starch weeps water as it thaws.

Nutrition

Approximate nutrition per serving and for the whole dish
1 serving Whole dish 12 servings
Energy150 kcal1,800 kcal
Protein4 g48 g
Fat7 g84 g
Carbohydrates18 g216 g

Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.

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