How to Make Pastry Cream

Want to know how to make pastry cream ? Look no further ! This is my favorite recipe (and way) to make pastry cream.

I'm French. I thought I'd remind you of this little detail about me, so that you can trust me when I say that I've eaten my fair share of pastry cream in my quarter century on this Earth, and that this pastry cream recipe I'm sharing with you is the best I've ever used.
This recipe is one I got from my mom's old recipe notebook, and it has never failed me. I've tried other pastry cream recipes but I always end up disappointed. Now, obviously, just like there is no one right way of making chocolate chip cookies or vanilla cupcakes, there are probably a lot of different ways of making pastry cream.
This one is my favorite.

OK, so first, what is pastry cream ?
Pastry cream (crème pâtissière) is what you'd use to fill éclairs (chocolate pastry cream !) or choux pastry. It's also used in tarts (for example, strawberry tart : puff pastry crust, pastry cream and fresh strawberries), mille-feuilles, and you can also use it to fill cakes (usually, a génoise cut in half, and filled with pastry cream and fruit). Tarte Tropézienne is also a dessert that uses pastry cream. Tarte à la crème is literally a pastry cream tart.
Basically, pastry cream is made from very basic ingredients but it has many uses and tastes amazing (even eaten straight from the bowl).

How do you make pastry cream ?
Well, it's very simple. Whisk some milk and sugar with a little splash of vanilla extract. Set the milk on low heat to let the sugar dissolve.
While that's happening, you need to mix some flour with eggs and melted butter, and then set it aside while you bring the milk to a boil.
Once the milk is boiling, take it off the heat, add a couple of tablespoons if it to the flour and mix it, then, while stirring, very slowly pour half (or all) the milk into the flour.
Then you need to transfert everything back to the saucepan (while stirring. There's a lot of stirring involved to avoid lumpy pastry cream because lumpy pastry cream is gross.)
Back on low heat the saucepan goes. And guess what ? Yep, you need to stir until the cream has thickened. Pastry cream is not something that can be made while you're busy doing something else, you need to keep an eye on it.
Once the pastry cream has thickened, covered the surface with cling wrap (like you would with royal icing, for example) and let it cool completely so you can use it. The cling wrap will make sure that the cream doesn't form a crust (because like lumpy pastry cream, crusty pastry cream is gross.)

Tips & tricks :
– You can use a vanilla bean pod (cut in half and scraped) instead of vanilla extract, just make sure to remove it before adding the milk to the flour ;) Personally, I either use 2 tbsps of vanilla extract, OR 1 packet of vanilla sugar OR 1/4 tsp of vanilla bean powder and a little splash of vanilla extract. It depends on my mood and what I've got in my cupboard.
– You can obviously mix the flour, eggs and melted butter before you start heating up the milk and set it aside.
– Make sure there are no lumps of flour and that everything is smooth before you start adding in the milk !
– Don't dump the flour/eggs straight into the hot milk ! It would just result in a big lump of flour floating in milk, as the eggs would cook straight away. Instead, start by adding a couple of tablespoons to the flour and eggs, and mix until well combined. Then slowly pour the hot milk into it while stirring constantly. If you're worried about going too fast, just add a couple tablespoons of milk at a time. You want the milk/flour/eggs to be as liquid as the boiling milk before mixing them together (it takes about half the milk).
– Keep the pastry cream on low heat to make sure it doesn't burn, and stir constantly, making sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan. You'll know the cream is ready when it has thickened. Remove from the heat when it starts to bubble up.
– Cover tightly with cling wrap and let cool before using for whatever recipe you're making. Keep in the fridge !


Here's how to make pastry cream (crème pâtissière) :

PASTRY CREAM (Crème Pâtissière)
by A Cup Of Sprinkles

Want to know how to make pastry cream ? Look no further ! This is my favorite recipe (and way) to make pastry cream. Pastry cream is perfect to fill cakes, tarts, or éclairs.

1 Bowl

Ingredients :
160g of sugar
1L of milk
2 tsp of vanilla extract (OR see notes)
100g of flour
2 eggs
20g of butter, melted

Instructions :

In a saucepan, whisk together the milk, sugar and vanilla extract.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, eggs, and melted butter.

Set the saucepan on low heat until the sugar is dissolved, then bring the milk to a boil.

Once the milk is boiling, remove from the heat. Add 2 tablespoons of milk to flour/egg and stir until combined. Then, while stirring, slowly pour about half the milk to the flour/eggs.

Transfer the milk/flour/egg back to the milk remaining in the saucepan (while stirring), and set it on low heat, stirring constantly, until the pastry cream has thickened.

Once it has thickened, remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl, and cover the surface of the cream with cling wrap (so it won't crust over). Set aside to cool completely.

Notes :

You can use a vanilla bean pod (cut in half and scraped) instead of vanilla extract, just make sure to remove the pod before adding the milk to the flour. I either use 2 tbsps of vanilla extract, OR 1 packet of vanilla sugar OR 1/4 tsp of vanilla bean powder and a little splash of vanilla extract.

Let me know in the comments if you make pastry cream ! You can also share a picture on Instagram by tagging @acupofsprinkles and using the hashtag #acupofsprinkles !

See my other favorite recipes.
See other French recipes.