An easy and delicious recipe for Chocolate Creme Patissiere (Chocolate Pastry Cream)! A rich, creamy custard with deep chocolate flavor. This recipe is gluten free and dairy free friendly.
Just like my classic creme patissiere (pastry cream) recipe, this too is a type of custard dessert that can be used as a base for many other dessert recipes!
Check out my recipe here for a basic vanilla creme patissiere.
Learning how to make pastry cream is a basic skill that any type of baking requires, because Pastry Cream is the basis for many desserts.
I’ve talked about all of that and covered the basic tips and the recipe for vanilla creme patissiere (vanilla pastry cream). and my detailed guide on custard desserts.
Here, I’m sharing the recipe for Chocolate Creme Patissiere (Chocolate Pastry Cream), perfect for chocolate pudding, chocolate eclair, profiteroles, and other pastry recipes. This pastry cream features quite often in many classic French pastries and desserts.
I have used both cocoa powder as well as bittersweet chocolate to make to make this chocolate pastry cream. The cocoa powder adds a deep chocolate flavor, while bittersweet chocolate enhances that flavor.
The cocoa butter in bittersweet chocolate makes the chocolate creme patissiere richer. So the combination of the two types of chocolate ensures that your chocolate pastry cream has great depth of chocolate flavor as well as creamy richness.
Because of the bittersweet chocolate in the pastry cream, this recipe yields a slightly thicker chocolate pastry cream than its vanilla counterpart which I previously shared.
That’s due to the cocoa butter in it, which is a solid at room temperature. I also add extra milk (compared to the classic, vanilla pastry cream) to keep the custard creamy and smooth.
I also made something quite similar to chocolate creme patissiere in this no bake chocolate pudding pie. The filling for that pie is a chocolate pudding which is basically a chocolate creme pat, BUT richer (with more egg yolks and butter), and made with more chocolate and no cocoa powder.
You can use either of these two recipes for chocolate pudding. The chocolate creme patissiere that I’m sharing here is thicker and therefore can be piped on or used to fill any type of pastry.
It’s perfect for trifles (like this chocolate brownie trifle), chocolate cream puffs (profiteroles filled with chocolate pastry cream), eclairs, and even no bake pies.
And with a few additional ingredients, you can transform your chocolate creme pat into other delicious flavors as well.
This chocolate pastry cream recipe is the base of mocha pastry cream, bourbon/rum chocolate pastry cream, cinnamon chocolate pastry cream, and jaffa pastry cream (chocolate orange pastry ream). All of these variations are included in the recipe below.
Looking for more recipes?Sign up for my free recipe newsletter to get new recipes in your inbox each week! Find me sharing more inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram.
Chocolate creme patissiere (Chocolate pastry cream)
Ingredients:
- 2 ¼ cups milk (Or a plant based milk like coconut or almond)
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 ½ tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp salt
- 6 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 2 tbsp butter, softened (Or vegan butter)
Instructions:
- Add the milk and vanilla into a saucepan. Heat the milk over medium high heat and bring it to a boil.
- While the milk is being heated, place the sugar, egg and yolks, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk until you have a thick, smooth mix. Place this egg mix on a towel or napkin (to prevent it from slipping), and then set it aside until the milk comes to a boil.
- As soon as the milk starts to boil, remove it from the heat. Slowly pour about one half of the hot milk in a thin stream, into the egg mix, WHILE WHISKING CONSTANTLY to temper the egg mix. When the eggs have been tempered, add the egg mix back into the hot milk in the saucepan.
- Heat the custard base, over medium heat, while whisking vigorously until it starts to thicken – this should take about 2 – 5 minutes (depending on the heat level).
- While whisking, let the custard release some bubbles (come to a boil gently). When the first bubbles break the surface, lower the heat to low and immediately add the bittersweet chocolate chips. Whisk until the chocolate is completely melted.
- Remove from the heat and add the butter. Whisk in the butter, until that too is completely mixed into the custard.
- Pour the custard into a bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap is touching the whole surface. This is to prevent a custard skin from forming on top.
- Let the custard cool down to room temperature and then let it chill in the fridge for a few hours, until it’s completely chilled.
- Use as needed after the chocolate pastry cream has been chilled. You may need to whisk the pastry cream to make it smooth again before use.
Tips & Tricks
- For a richer creme patissiere, you can substitute the whole egg with 3 egg yolks (6 egg yolks in total).
- For a thicker consistency add only 2 US cups (480 mL) milk. This consitency is even thicker and is good for piping shapes that are stiffer than this recipe.
- Mocha Pastry Cream – Instead of the vanilla (or in addition to the vanilla) – add ½ tsp of instant coffee granules. Allow the instant coffee to dissolve in the milk and then proceed with the recipe.
- Bourbon Chocolate Pastry Cream – Use ¼ cup less of the milk/half and half for the custard. Add 3 tbsp of bourbon along with the butter and whisk it in until well mixed with the custard.
- Jaffa Pastry Cream – Add 1 tsp orange extract along with the vanilla extract and then proceed with the recipe.
- Cinnamon Chocolate Pastry Cream – Add ½ tsp cinnamon along with the vanilla into the milk and then proceed with the recipe.
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
If you liked this chocolate creme patissiere (chocolate pastry cream) recipe, don’t forget to subscribe for new (and free) recipes by entering your email address on the side bar (and get all these recipes delivered straight to your inbox), so you don’t miss out on a thing. You can find me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, YOU TUBE and GOOGLE-PLUS too.
Hana says
Hi, I have a few questions in regards to the recipe:
1. You say you used more milk in the chocolate creme pat as opposed to the vanilla one but both are listed as 2 cups, is that correct?
2. A follow up to that, later on you say if we wish to have a thicker consistency we should reduced the milk and only and 2 1/4 cups but that’s more than the 2 cups that is originally listed so that’s a bit confusing.
3. It says to use 6 ounces of chocolate in the recipe, but looking at some existing comments there are people mentioning 5 ounces of chocolate, so, again, there are a few discrepancies with the quanties and I want to make sure I have the correct recipe.
Maybe you’ve just updated the recipe and forgot to change other parts to match? Not entirely sure, but some clarification would be much appreciated, thank you.
Dini says
Hi Hana,
Thank you so much for the questions. Yes, in fact I did update the recipe just last month. It looks like during the updating process, the recipe defaulted to a previous update.
I increased the bittersweet chocolate from 5 to 6 oz, and in the previous version I used 2.5 cups of milk. But based on feedback from my readers and re-testing the recipe, I’ve now updated it to use 2 1/4 cups of milk (and 2 cups for a thicker consistency). I hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Barb says
I was so so about the taste of this pastry cream, the coco taste was predominant making it less like rich chocolate and more like weak hot coco. It had a slightly chalky taste that might have been not cooking it long enough but it was quite thick so I didn’t want to cook it any longer. I loved your recipe for regular pastry cream, and probably need to play around with this version a little more to see how it comes out.
Kashipan says
This looks amazing! I wonder if I might be able to ask a question, as I want to use this recipe as a foundation for a few tweaks I need to make to an existing pastry cream powder I need to use up the last of. It’s basically just a basic powder with corn starch in it. I’ll still be adding all the egg yolks and milk to it like doing it from scratch (not honestly sure how the powder saves any trouble! XD ), but I got a request for Valentine’s Day to make a chocolate mille-feuille and I’m sort of freaking out. I need to start the process tomorrow to have it ready, so I’ll want to make the pastry cream then, and let it chill overnight. Do you think I might be able to make my powdered pastry cream as per its instructions, just adding some cocoa powder, as per your recipe, to the actual powder before mixing it, then adding in the chopped up chocolate during the cooking stage, as you have recommended here? I worry about it becoming a bit too thick. At what stage does it become the point of no return for adding a bit of extra milk? It has to be able to be thick enough to stand up for the mille-feuille. How fluffy does your recipe come out? Do you think it’ll stand up well once piped on to the pastry and layered?
Thanks so much, sorry if my question seems unrelated – it’s really not! I’ve been searching for the last 3 days for a recipe that incorporates chocolate into a pastry cream, and yours is the best I’ve found, it sounds and looks absolutely delicious! Thanks in advance, and I don’t mean to rush you, though I’d be delighted if I might hear back from you soon! 🙂
Dini says
Hi Kashipan
Unfortunately I can’t guarantee how the custard will come out when you use a custard powder because I haven’t done that before. But hopefully I can give you some information to help you out.
You could theoretically add melted chocolate to the custard while you’re cooking it, or after cooking it, while it’s still hot. The point of no return for custard is when the eggs curdle, or the custard burns (the eggs will probably curdle before burning the custard) so if the eggs don’t curdle, you can still adjust the recipe. If the custard is too thick after adding the chocolate (remember that custard thickens as it cools), you can either re-cook it with a little milk, OR you can add a little whipped cream to the chilled chocolate pastry cream to lighten it (like a chocolate creme chantilly).
Pastry cream isn’t generally “fluffy”, because it’s a thick custard, but can be made fluffy by adding a little whipped cream and transforming it to creme chantilly if that’s what you prefer.
I hope that helps!
Cheers,
Dini
Kashipan says
Oh, I was so happy to wake up this morning and see your reply – thank you so much! Hahah, by fluffy, I think I just meant that I hoped it would set up ok and be able to withstand the pressure of a few layers of puff pastry crust and more custard! 🙂 Thanks so much for your advice, and I’m going to go ahead and try a small test run to see how it comes out with my powder. The more I look at the instructions on the package, it’s literally little more than some corn starch. I have to add milk, egg yolks and sugar, which seems to be the bare foundation of pastry cream anyway! I can’t imagine it would hurt to incorporate chocolate the way you have it here (and maybe a wee bit more sugar!).
Thanks again so much for such a quick reply, I appreciate it so much!!!
Kashipan says
Hiya! A day later and I just wanted to tell you that it worked out great! The only adjustment I made was to add about 100ml more milk! Otherwise, adding 2 tbsp. of cocoa powder and the 6oz of bittersweet chocolate made it perfectly rich, and still quite sweet! It didn’t take long to thicken right up, so as long as I’m careful when adding the chocolate, this will always be great! Thanks again so much for your help, and happy Valentine’s Day! 🙂
vipra says
Will this recipe pipe well to decorate the top of a sponge?
Dini says
Hi Vipra
I haven’t tried to decorate the top of a sponge cake or any cake with pastry cream before. I have used it as a cake filling, but I can’t be certain if it will hold its shape when piped onto a cake. If you’re looking for a chocolate buttercream frosting that holds better as cake decorations, you can follow this recipe instead.
I hope that helps!
Cheers,
Dini
Sarah says
I am planning on making sweet buns and am looking for a sweet chocolate filling i can put into the dough and bake. How do you think this will turn out after being baked for about 30minutes? Thank you.
Dini says
Hi Sarah
I haven’t tried baking pastry cream inside bread before. I think it might melt too fast. However, it could work if the custard is thickened a little more, and then frozen into cubes. Then the cubes may survive the heat while they are being baked inside the bread. I can’t be sure because I haven’t done it myself though.
Sarah says
I’ll try that out. Thank you
Rivera says
This was a great recipe. I opted for the thicker consistency method as inwas making chocolate custard horns. And it was excellent. Thanks chick!
Dini says
Thank you so much for letting me know Rivera! 🙂 I want chocolate custard horns too now!
Mrs.Malik says
The recipe looks delish. Do you think it can be spread over tres leche cake?
Thank you =)
Dini says
Hi Mrs Malik!
Usually a tres leche cake is topped with whipped cream, to keep it light. However, if you want chocolate pastry cream instead, you can use this recipe too. The cake will be on the richer side though.
Lauren Vavala | DeliciousLittleBites says
This looks so amazing! I literally want to reach through my computer and try this!!
Zurina says
This custard did NOT thicken at all. The proportion of milk to cornflour must be wrong. I followed the recipe to a T. Please tell how much is 2 and a half cups milk in metrics please. As per conversion it would be 625 ml. Unless you are using a much smaller cup.
Dini says
Hi Zurina
This recipe uses US cups, and therefore 2 1/2 cups is approximately 600 mL (you can check the measurement conversions here). I’m not sure why the custard didn’t thicken up for you. I actually made this pastry cream again today, and the custard thickened up beautifully! However, if you do like an even thicker consistency, you can use about 540 mL milk (2 1/4 US cups).
It is important to use bittersweet chocolate (80% cocoa content) and 2 oz regular eggs, because chocolate with a lesser cocoa content, or smaller eggs can also affect the thickening of the custard.
I hope that helps!
shelley says
IF you used cornflour that could be your problem. It should be cornstarch. Completely different ingredients. And 2 1/4 cups in metric is 532.3235 ml.
Dini says
Hi Shelley,
Thank you for your comment. Cornflour is the same as cornstarch however, since cornflour is what cornstarch is known as in the UK and many other commonwealth countries. They both refer to the starch extracted from the endosperm of corn. Corn flour (two words) is what you’re referring to, and that’s certainly different (ground cornmeal). These two terms do often result in some confusion, due to the different words used in the US and some other parts of the world.
Nellie Tracy says
This looks divine! I have been looking for a good chocolate pastry cream and I think I just found it!
Linda Nortje says
I am so glad to have found your Chocolate Creme pastry cream recipe as I have lost mine ! So many uses for this delicacy !
Shelly says
Hi, how long can you store this for and what is the best way to do so? Thank you!
Dini says
Hi Shelly!
I wouldn’t recommend storing pastry cream for longer than 3 – 4 days in the fridge. I let the pastry cream cool in a container, with plastic wrap on the surface of the custard (using a shallow dish will make this process a lot shorter). Then I cover the container with an airtight lid and I put it in the fridge (as soon as it’s cooled down), and use it within 3 days. Custards always taste best when they are fresh 🙂
I hope that helps!
Sarah says
I followed this recipe exactly and it didn’t get thick like creme pattissiere should. The texture is all wrong. I used 70% cocoa chocolate, and I think 5 ounces was too much maybe. I’m pretty bummed. I’ll wait to see what it’s like once it’s cooled, but it looks like I’ve just wasted some very good ingredients.
Dini says
Hi Sarah!
I’m sorry to hear that! I’ve had several people make this with no problems before, so I would love to be able to figure out what may have gone wrong! The pastry cream does have a thicker and pipeable consistency when it cools down, and the chocolate actually helps thicken the pastry cream too! This is because the cocoa solids make the custard thicker. Could you let me know if the custard was too runny or too thick?
Cheers
Dini
Laura Provancal says
Hi Dini,
Quick question for you- how long do these eclairs stay fresh/tasty in the fridge for or are these able to freeze? I’m thinking of making these tonight for a party on Saturday and wanted to make sure it wasn’t too soon to make them. Thanks!
Dini says
Hi Laura!
Unfortunately filled eclairs aren’t that great at storing for later because the filling can seep into the pastry and make it soggy. But, you can make the choux pastry cases and freeze them, unfilled, in an air-tight container, if you wanted to have it made ahead of time. Then on the day, you can fill the thawed out choux pastry cases with the filling before serving. This is my personal preference.
I have seen some that have filled the choux pastry case with filling (with a thicker pastry cream), and then freeze the filled pastry cases, then thaw them out before serving. But I feel this way the filling seeps into the pastry as it freezes and thaws out and inevitably makes the eclairs (or profiteroles) soggy in the end.
I hope that helps!
Dini
cakespy says
OMG, this is so clearly necessary for continued joy, and must be put on top of every single food from now on.
Neha chopra says
Hi.Your recipie is great.But when are we supposed to add the 5 oz of bittersweet chocolate ?
Dini says
Hi Neha!
The bittersweet chocolate is added after the custard is thickened. It’s mentioned in step 5 🙂
Hope that helps!
Cheers
Dini