Ingredients
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132g/ ½cup+1 tbsp egg yolk
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1 split lengthwise Vanilla beanits possible to use vanilla extract as well
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½cup+1 tbsp granulated sugar
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83g/ ½cup+1½ tbsp Custard powderits possible to use all-purpose flour as well
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550g / 2 cups +3 tbsp whole milk
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27g / 1 oz Buttercut into ½ inch pieces
Directions
Crème Pâtissière is one of the foundation cream of pastry baking and is a base for many other creams and fillings.
It’s also known as pastry cream or ‘crème pat’, it is basically a custard made from eggs, milk, all-purpose flour (or if you want to add richness you can use custard powder or cornstarch), sugar and vanilla.
Crème Pâtissière is a thick smooth custard cream that is used as a filling for many pastry variations, starting from tarts and cake and in more of a signature dishes like soufflés and mille-feuille.
The method of making Crème Pâtissière
There are various ways in making Crème Pâtissière, I will show in this recipe a real detailed method adapted from Thomas Keller’s Bouchon bakery cookbook. In this version we will form a very thick custard that is a great base for many other creams.
We are starting this cream by creating a nice puffed egg yolks and sugar mix in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, this stage is successful if the cream is thick and creates a ribbon shape when you lift the whisk.
This is the point to add the custard powder or flour to make this even thicker, because in a minute we will add the milk and the whole batter will be much more light.
The next stage is where we put the runny batter in a saucepan and starts thickening it like a custard. It is a process that takes about 5-7 minutes and in this process we are losing most of the liquids and forming a sauce that will be very rich.
like I said this version is the long one “by the book” and we continue by straining the cream thru a fine mesh strainer over a double bowl with ice in it in order to get a really smooth paste and to stop the cooking of the custard immediately.
I will go over the detailed process of the recipe below so just keep in mind that this custard forms very quality smooth Crème Pâtissière that is the base of many other creams.
Steps
1
Done
7 minutes
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mixing the batterSet an ice bath and place a medium bowl over the ice water and a mesh strainer on top of the bowl. |
2
Done
8 minutes
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cooking the batter |
3
Done
3 minutes
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strain the mixturePour the pastry cream thru the strainer pressing it gently to push the thickened cream through. |