Pastry cream, also known as crème pâtissière, is a delicious and versatile filling that pairs perfectly with recipes featuring soft fruits. This creamy and smooth cream not only adds a delightful texture but also a subtle vanilla flavour that accentuates the sweetness of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Find the recipe and more recipe inspiration below!

Ingredients & supplies

15 minutes preparation time

Preparation

1. Whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until smooth. This will allow you to easily combine these ingredients with hot milk later without the egg yolks curdling.
2. Cut the half vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the vanilla bean to a saucepan with milk. Heating the vanilla with the milk will help to fully infuse the flavor.
3. Heat the milk in the saucepan. Once the milk is almost boiling (recognized by small bubbles forming at the edges), remove the pan from the heat. Be careful, as milk can quickly boil over.
4. Gradually pour about half of the milk into the egg mixture, while continuously stirring to prevent curdling.
5. Add the mixture back into the remaining milk in the saucepan. Heat over low heat, continuing to stir, ensuring you scrape the bottom and sides of the pan so the mixture thickens gradually to a custard-like consistency.
6. Once the pastry cream has thickened to custard consistency, strain it through a fine sieve into a bowl. Let the cream cool slightly before adding the butter.
7. Cover the cream with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming and cool it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Proceed with your recipe. Don’t have a recipe in mind yet? Check out our social media for inspiration!

Recipes with pastry cream

More recipes