Pastry cream (creme patissiere)

Pastry cream is a thick custard used as a filling for cakes, eclairs, and cream puffs or as a filling for fruit tarts. This pastry cream recipe is super easy to make and one of the most important recipes to know!

Making your pastry cream is super easy and fun to do. Because this yellow cream is the basis for many desserts, it is also, in my opinion, one of the most important recipes to master.

I think every home chef should learn how to make this delicious thick cream or creme patisserie since you can use it as a filling for so many desserts. Once you know how to make pastry cream is super easy, and you never want to store-bought again.

This thick vanilla custard is often used as a filling for fruit tarts, vanilla cream pies, cream horns, and in the Netherlands, oliebollen. It is also used as a filling for Boston cream pie and eclairs.

I always use flour to thicken the cream, but you can substitute cornstarch for the flour.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to make pastry cream
• Variations
• Tools you'll need
• Storage
• Pastry cream

Ingredients

• Milk - whole milk is the basis for the cream. You can substitute (part of) the milk with whipped cream.
• Vanilla - this is the main flavoring of the creme patisserie. You can use the inside of a vanilla pod, but vanilla extract or vanilla sugar also work very well.
• Eggs - egg yolks provide a nice soft yellow color and allow the cream to become thick and creamy.
• Flour - the flour, like the egg yolks, thickens the cream, but by adding flour or cornstarch, you also reduce the chance of the eggs cooking while heating.

You can find the complete ingredient list and instructions on the recipe card below!

How to make pastry cream

Make sure the eggs are at room temperature before you start.

• In a bowl, whisk your eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, flour, and sugar together.
• Heat up your milk until it almost reaches a boil, and slowly pour the milk into the milk while whisking.
• Pour the egg mixture back into the pan and, over low heat, stir until it thickens. Keep stirring! This can take a few minutes.
• When your pastry cream has the right thickness, add the butter and whisk that in.
• Pour the cream through a sieve into a heatproof bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it cool completely in the fridge.

Tip: Make sure you don't scramble the eggs while making the cream! Don't turn the heat up too high, and keep stirring vigorously to prevent the egg from curdling!

Variations

Once you have figured out how easy it is to make pastry cream, I think you should experiment with these flavors!

• Speculaas spices - add one tablespoon of speculaas spices to the egg mixture.
• Deluxe - replace half of the milk with whipped cream for an extra creamy cream
• Coffee - add a tablespoon of instant coffee to the hot milk.
• Chocolate - add dark chocolate to the hot milk for a delicious chocolate pastry cream.

Lactose intolerant, or do you want to make a vegan pastry cream? Check out this recipe for vegan pastry cream from berry bakery!

Tools you'll need

Making pastry cream isn't that hard, but there are some tools that can make it even easier!

• A heavy-bottomed saucepan.Heavy bottomed saucepan
• A strainer to ensure that if small pieces of egg have curdled, they don't end up in your cream.
• A bowl with a piece of plastic wrap to cool the cream.

Storage

Fridge: pastry cream can be kept covered in the fridge for about five days.

Freezer: pastry cream will keep for about three months in the freezer. Put it in freezer bags or containers. Place the cream in the fridge the night before you need it to thaw.