How to make Pastry Cream
This is a basic pastry cream that you can use for various sweets such as tarts, cream puffs, eclairs, etc.
Once you’ve mastered the basic pastry cream, you can infuse it with other ingredients like vanilla bean, lavender, green tea and so on. I’ve tried several different pasty cream recipes, but I personally think this one is the best so far.
INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENTS
Ingredients for Pastry Cream – Makes about 2 cups
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar (divided use)
2 cups whole milk (divided use)
4 large egg yolks
1 pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
HOW TO MAKE
Making the Egg Mixture
1. Combine the cornstarch with the sugar in a mixing bowl.
2. Lightly beat 4 egg yolks. (Vanilla extract is in the picture, but you don’t need it yet,
my bad…=])
3. Pour 1/2 cup of the milk and stir well with a whisk.
4. Blend the lightly beaten yolks into the cornstarch and sugar mixture.
5. Stir with a wooden spoon until it is completely smooth.
Making the Milk Mixture
6. In a stainless steel sauce pan or pot, combine the remaining 1 ½ cups milk and a pinch salt. Bring to a simmer (do not boil) and remove the pan from the heat.
Tempering
7. To temper, you can gradually add about one-third of the milk mixture at the time, but I like to drizzle the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture little by litte while I’m whisking, just in case. Don’t forget to whisk constantly!
Cooking the Pastry Cream
8. Return the mixture to the saucepan and continue cooking over low-medium heat, vigorously stir with a whisk until the mixture comes to a boil and the whisk leaves a trail in the pastry cream. (It is hard to see a trail in the photo, but that’s the consistency that you want to have.) It will take a little while to come to a boil – about 5 minutes
9. Remove the pan from the heat as soon as you reach that consistency (if you leave on a stove too long, it won’t be soft and creamy pasty cream), and add the vanilla extract and the butter. Stir well until they are well blended.
10. Prepare an ice bath (water + ice), and transfer the pan to the ice bath. Cover the pastry cream surface with plastic wrap and stir occasionally, until the pastry cream is cool – about 15 minutes.
Store up to 3~4 days in a refrigerator
ALEXA’S TIPS
1. Do not cook the pastry cream on high heat. You will end up with a lot of crumbs in your pastry
cream. To get smooth pastry cream, be patient and cook it on low to medium heat. It will take its sweet time, but it is the only way to get a smooth pastry cream. =]
2. I also like the pasty cream with vanilla bean. I will make that one another day.
Normally, when I am looking for recipes on the web, I hardly ever have the luxury of time to express my gratitude to someone for putting so much of their own time into posting and sharing their own recipes. However, your site is one of the nicest baking sites I have come across in a long time, and I just wanted to stop and pay homage to a try artist in the kitchen.
Your recipes are not only inspiring in their simplicity, but also in all the magnificent photos that accompany them…I can feel the pounds being added to my hips as I read along, and I dont even mind for I feel I have stumbled upon a treasure!
Thank you seems inadequate…your site is amazing, and I am so grateful that you are so generous to share yourself this way.
Please let me know if you have or plan to write a book, I would be the forst in line to buy it and add it to my own kitchen.
With warm and sweet regards,
Joann
Dear Joann
You were my very first comment since I redesigned my website, and I really appreciate what you wrote, not only because you were the first but because it was very sincere as well. I really appreciate comments and hope that next time, if you see something else that you like or dislike, that you’ll let me know what you’re thinking.
I’m just doing this (take pictures and writing articles) because I love baking (especially for others) and I want to share things with everyone else, hoping they will enjoy the pleasures of home baking. However, it is such a great feeling to receive a heartfelt comment from someone (like you) who visits my website. So, thank you again.
Sincerely,
Alexa
hi alexa,
i have to agree with joann.
your website is amazing. the design is already so inspiring, followed by the amazing and detailed recipes coupled with the photos to guide us along. it’s been really amazing reading your recipes and i’m really thankful that you’re taking the time to share all this amazing recipes with us (:
continue with the good work, there are many who support you alongside with us(:
and yes,if you do consider coming out with a book,i will definitely one of those who will buy it too! it’s so seldom i meet one who’s so detailed with everything (:
thank you once more.
sincerely,
alicia
Dear Alicia,
Thank you so much for the heartfelt comment. I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed my photos, tips, and recipes with endless steps. I really hope they were helpful to you. It is really great to know that there are people who enjoy and thank what I’ve done, so thank you again for letting me know how you feel. This will keep me going whenever I get lazy somehow. =]
I’ve been busy with packing and unpacking – we just moved to San Francisco, so unfortunately it will be a little while until I start baking again. However, I will definitely continue doing what I like to do, so come visit Sugar Coated Kitchen time to time.
I really would like to know more about people who come to my website and how they think about anything on my website, so please feel free to leave comments or email me! Thank you again!
Regards,
Alexa
Hello Alexa,
Thank you so much for all the effort you put in doing this website and for all the tips you give all who read the recipes. I always felt intimated by the whole baking concept but you have made it very simple and I feel that me too can bake. I apreciate
all you do again keep on the good work. God bless you!
Sincerely,
Lillian M
Dear Lillian,
I am so lucky! I am really happy to have visitors who appreciate what I’ve done and leave sincere comments. Thank YOU for taking your time to leave such a truthful comment. I am really glad that my tips and photos helped you and made you feel little bit comfortable about baking. I’ve learned by many mistakes and experiments, so I love to share tips with visitors of my website. I want to post more articles about basic recipes like tart dough, pie crust, sponge cake, etc. I’m just waiting to move to our permanent place, so I can start baking again.
So, please come again, and say hi to me. =]
Thank you so much!
Regards,
Alexa
i chance upon ur website while searching for tarts recipes(i know i dun hv to look any further), cuz my teenage son shows interest in baking. No better way to bond with him
Just want to thank u for all ur great work n tips! I m a lousy baker but ur tips give me the confidence to give it a go! Thanks!
Hi Michelle,
Thank you for your comment. =]
Making tarts seems hard or complicate (at least I though that way), but actually it is not. If you follow the right steps, you can easily make tart dough and pastry cream. Then, you put whatever fruit you want on top.
I hope you enjoyed baking with your son and will enjoy more in the future.
Thanks again! =]
Alexa