Description
Striving for velvety smooth, just-the-right-amount-of-sweet pastry cream? This easy, foolproof recipe will get you there every time.
Ingredients
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup (155g) sugar
- 4 tbsp (32g) cornstarch
- 2 cups (480ml) whole milk
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Put the egg yolks in a medium sized bowl and gently beat them together. Set aside.
- Add the sugar and cornstarch to a large saucepan and whisk together until no more lumps of cornstarch remain, then add the milk.
- Cook, stirring continuously, over medium heat until mixture just begins to thicken and simmer. Be careful not to boil it.
- Stream a little bit of the milk mixture to the egg yolks, while whisking together continuously so that the eggs don’t scramble. Add the egg mixture to milk mixture, putting it all back in the pan. This process ensures that you don’t cook the egg yolks too quickly and get scrambled eggs.
- Place the pan back on the heat and bring to a light boil. You should see large bubbles slowly popping on top. Allow to boil for 1 minute, stirring continuously. Don’t boil for too long, or you can overcook it and it’ll actually break down, rather than get thicker.
- Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth, then pour into a bowl. If it seems lumpy, you can strain it to remove any lumps. Cover with clear wrap pressed against the top so that it doesn’t get a film on top and set in the fridge to cool completely, 1-2 hours.
- When ready to use, whisk or stir the pastry cream until smooth.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 cup
- Calories: 110
- Sugar: 14.7 g
- Sodium: 20.6 mg
- Fat: 3.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 17.3 g
- Protein: 2.3 g
- Cholesterol: 67.4 mg
