Pastry Crème
- Rahul Mandal
- Sep 11
- 1 min read
Updated: Sep 22
This is a great alternative to buttercream to use as a filling. It is rich, creamy and velvety. It’s traditionally used for filling pastries such as tarts, eclairs and millefeuilles, but I like to use it to fill cakes too.
Ingredients
300g whole milk
1.5tsp vanilla bean paste
4 free range large egg yolk
30g cornflour
50g caster sugar
50g salted butter
Preparation time: 5-10mins
Cooking time: 10-15mins
Method
Warm the milk and vanilla in a saucepan until it just about to boil - but don’t bring it to the boil.
In a mixing bowl ,whisk egg yolk, sugar and cornflour together until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Slowly pour warm milk to the egg mix and whisk thoroughly.
Return the milk and egg mix to the saucepan. Place the saucepan in medium heat and keep whisking using a balloon whisk. It will start to thicken as it comes to a boil. At this point whisk it vigorously, to make a smooth and shiny pastry crème. Take it off the heat and whisk the cold cubed butter.
Pour it in a heat proof bowl and cover with a clingfilm that touches the surface of pastry crème (to avoid a skin forming). Let it cool a little, then transfer into fridge to cool completely.
Before using the pastry crème, take it out of the fridge and whisk to get to the smooth spreadable consistency.