Pastry Cream

By norsegal8

This is the delicious custard filling you'll find in eclairs, napoleons or Boston Cream Pie.

Ingredients

• 3 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar*
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 4 large egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

Details

Servings 5

Preparation

Step 1

In a medium-sized saucepan, stir together 2 1/2 cups of the milk, the sugar and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.

Meanwhile whisk the cornstarch, flour and egg yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup milk.

Whisk some of the boiling milk mixture with the egg yolks, then pour the yolk mixture back into the hot milk mixture and return to the heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, strain through a fine sieve, and stir in the butter and vanilla. Rub a piece of butter over the surface of the cream, top with a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cream, then refrigerate until cool.

To complete, fold the cooled cream into the whipped cream.

*This amount of sugar makes a pastry cream that is barely sweet, perfect for profiteroles, and as a base for the following flavor combinations, or for pastries that include a sweet sauce. If you are planning to use the pastry cream for a pie filling, you'll want it to be a bit sweeter; increase the sugar to 1/4 cup.

FLAVOR OPTIONS
Butterscotch: Add 1/4 teaspoon butter-rum flavoring and/or 1 cup butterscotch chips to the pastry cream while it is still hot, stirring until the chips have melted.

Caramel: Add 3/4 cup (7 1/2 ounces) chopped caramel to the hot pastry cream, stirring until melted and the mixture is smooth

Chocolate: Add 1 cup (6 ounces) of chopped chocolate to the hot pastry cream, stirring until melted and the mixture is smooth.

Hazelnut: Omit the butter and increase the sugar to 3/4 cup. Add 3/4 cup praline paste to the hot pastry cream, stirring until well-combined.

Orange: Increase the sugar to 3/4 cup. Add 1 teaspoon orange extract, 1/4 teaspoon orange oil, or 3 tablespoons orange zest to the hot pastry cream.

Peanut Butter: Add 3/4 cup peanut butter to the hot pastry cream, stirring until melted and the mixture is smooth.