Pastry Cream (Creme Patissiere)

By mirelsonp

Recipe source: On Cooking
Note: Makes enough pastry cream for two fruit tarts. For a firm pastry cream add an additional .5 oz. cornstarch to this formula.

Ingredients

• 1 qt. milk
• 1 Vanilla bean, split
• 7.5 oz. Granulated sugar, divided
• 10 egg yolks
• 2.5 oz. Cornstarch
• 2 oz. Unsalted butter

Details

Servings 3

Preparation

Step 1

1. Bring the milk, vanilla bean and 3 ounces sugar to a boil in a large nonreactive saucepan.

2. Whisk the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining sugar and the cornstarch. Whisk the sugar mixture into the egg yolks.

3. Temper the yolk mixture with one-quarter of the boiling milk. Return the yolk mixture to the pan and cook, whisking vigorously, until the cream boils and is well thickened. Allow the pastry cream to boil approximately 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Remove the pastry cream from heat and immediately strain it into a clean mixing bowl.

5. Fold in the butter until melted. Do not overmix, as this will thin the custard.

6. Cover placing plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard. Chill over an ice bath. Remove the vanilla bean just before using the pastry cream.

For Chocolate Pastry Cream: Stir 4 ounces finely chopped dark chocolate into the strained custard while it is still warm. The heat of the custard will melt the chocolate.