Techniques › Baking and pastry
Pastry cream
Intermediate Baking and pastry
Pastry cream is a thick, spoonable vanilla custard set with egg yolks and starch, used to fill tarts, eclairs and cream puffs.
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How do you do it?
- Heat the milk until steaming. Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornstarch or flour in a bowl until smooth and pale.
- Pour about a third of the hot milk into the yolks while whisking, then pour it all back into the pot.
- Whisk constantly over medium heat until it thickens and big bubbles pop at the surface, then keep whisking 1 to 2 minutes more.
- Take it off the heat, whisk in butter and vanilla, strain if lumpy, and press plastic wrap directly on the surface.
- Chill until cold, at least 2 hours, and keep it refrigerated.
Why does it work?
Unlike a stirred custard, pastry cream must boil. Starch granules only swell and thicken fully near boiling, and egg yolks contain an enzyme (amylase) that breaks starch down; a minute or two of bubbling destroys it. Undercook it and the cream turns thin and runny overnight. The starch also shields the yolk proteins, so it can boil without scrambling.
What are the common mistakes?
- Stopping when it first thickens — the yolk enzyme survives and the cream thins out later.
- Not whisking the bottom and corners — scorched, lumpy patches.
- Leaving it uncovered while it cools — a thick rubbery skin forms.
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