Pastry Cream

Pastry cream is a preparation based on milk, egg yolks, sugar and wheat flour. Some people, to give it a touch of modernity, substitute wheat flour for cornstarch achieving the same result.

Also, its preparation will always be the same, where you simply need the combination of all the ingredients and a low heat. In this way you will obtain a rich filling for various typical desserts at various times of the year.

Its origin is not very clear, but it is thought that it was born in France or Italy around the seventeenth century. Despite having such an ancient origin, the first time the recipe for pastry cream was published in a book was in 1961 in France. It is used in a large number of fillings for desserts and sweets, some of them as puff pastry, profiteroles or eclairs.

Ingredients for the pastry cream

Second part

You must stir the mixture and keep the movement constant so that nothing sticks to the bottom. In addition, in this way the heat will be distributed evenly.

Starch needs heat to finish thickening. Also the proteins, both from the milk and from the eggs, will help thicken the cream.

Over time, the heat will cause the mixture to acquire the proper consistency and the bubbles in the foam will begin to disappear. You should continue stirring a little more, until the pastry cream boils.

Once it comes to a boil, turn off the heat. However, you must continue stirring until the cream cools down, until it is warm. Then add the butter.

You should beat until the butter is completely melted.  At this stage you may need to strain the pastry cream if it has any lumps from the eggs. Ideally, you already have a smooth and delicious cream.

The next step is to chill the cream for at least 2 hours, even overnight. It depends on when you are going to need it. The longer the cold time, the greater the consistency of the pastry cream. Once cold, it will be ready for its many uses, such as puff pastry filling, fritters, cakes and eclairs.

Variants of pastry cream

On this pastry cream, variants can be made, some of them widely used are:

• Chocolate pastry cream : the recipe is the same as the previous one, but adding chocolate to the milk when you bring it to a boil.
• With praline : for this variant you need to add 30g of peanut crunch or praline to the pastry cream.
• Lemon pastry cream : for this recipe you use the zest of the lemon skin. It is added when beating the egg yolks.
• Orange : in this case, the fresh juice of two oranges must be added to the flour.