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.
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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.”
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Zubaidah Omar says
I will try this recipe soon. Looks tentalising
Misha Hashmi says
hey this looks amazing , would it be possible for you to tell me how much of the chocolate creme patissiere would i be needing to make 20 eclairs?
Dini says
Hi Misha
It would depend entirely on the size of the eclair, so it would be hard for me to guess.
For my eclair recipe, I use 1 1/2 batches of the pastry cream.
Hope that helps!
Riya says
This looks delicious! Would it work as a filling for mini tarts? Also, can this be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator/freezer?
Dini says
Hi Riya!
Yes this will work well as a filing for mini tarts!
I have stored this in the fridge for upto 3 days, but I prefer not to freeze it. The cornstarch can break up as it thaws out and make the pastry cream runny. You could use arrowroot instead, as it freezes better. But I haven’t used it myself. If you do use arrowroot, the substitution would be 3 tsp cornstarch (1 tbsp) = 2 tsp arrowroot powder.
I hope that helps!
Riya says
Thank you! I am definitely trying this for Valentines Day dessert!
Vickie Johnson says
I have about 2 Cups of Vanilla Pastry Cream. How can I turn it into Chocolate?
Dini says
Hi Vickie
You could turn vanilla pastry cream into chocolate by mixing in some melted dark chocolate, or adding a cocoa powder paste (cocoa powder + hot water to make a smooth paste).
Adding either of these will understandably make the pastry cream thicker though. You can add a little extra milk and cook it briefly to thin it out.
Hope that helps
Nadiah says
Will this be stiff enough to layer a mille feuilles? Do you think it pairs well with raspberry?
Dini says
Hi Nadiah
Yes, this will be stiff enough for mille feuilles 🙂 And chocolate and raspberry are a classic pair that will work really well.
Sarah P says
Does it matter if the cocoa is Dutch processed?
Dini says
Hi Sarah
In this recipe, using Dutch processed or natural cocoa won’t affect the consistency as long as you weigh the ingredients. However, I actually do prefer Dutch processed cocoa powder for the flavor, because I like the flavor of the cocoa powder that I personally use (Callebaut).
So yes, you can go ahead and use either Dutch processed or natural cocoa. 🙂 Good luck!
Ashleigh says
Hi what does this mean? ” Place this egg mix on top of a towel or napkin (to prevent it from slipping), and then set it aside until the milk comes to a boil.”
Dini says
Hi Ashleigh,
Sorry about the confusion. It means to place the bowl with the egg mix on a towel or napkin. This is to prevent the bowl from slipping while you’re whisking the egg mix in the following step. Hope that helps? Let me know if you have any other questions.
Ashleigh Burns says
Can this be used in a fraisier cake?
Dini says
Hi Ashleigh
I would make the pastry cream with the changes mentioned in the recipe tips & tricks so that it will be thick enough to be piped into a frasier cake.
Gabe P says
I am making home made croissants for the first time and want to fill some after baking as a dessert. I want to try a chocolate pomegranate filling as I have some pomegranates I need to use up. Could I replace s bit of the milk in the thicker version of this recipe with pom juice? Not sure if it will change the consistency milk and pomegranate juice being so different in terms of fat and protein makeup… thanks!
Dini says
Hi Gabe
I haven’t tried substituting milk with fruit juice before. I imagine the fat content will have an effect on the final texture of the pastry cream, but I don’t know if it will be noticeable. But also consider that you may need to add quite a bit of pomegranate juice to get the flavor to contrast against the flavor of chocolate.
I would recommend maybe using a freeze dried fruit powder to bring out the flavor of the fruit while still maintaining the amount of milk being used.
Gabe Pattison says
Thanks for the speedy reply! I didn’t even think about the fact that the chocolate probably will overpower the pomegranate. Maybe I will just do a pomegranate glaze with the chocolate filling thanks again!!
Nupur says
Hi dini.
Can I use this pastry cream as cake icing? Tia
Dini says
Hi Nupur
If you are looking to top your cake with custard, then it can be used as a topping for cake. It has been used as a custard filling in pastries. It’s not really an icing because it’s not as pipe-able as icing can be.
Veronica says
Hi there! Can this be used as a cake filling? Thanks!
Dini says
Hi Veronica
So sorry for the late reply. This should work as a filling for cake. But I recommend making sure the consistency is what you’re looking for. For a single layered cake it should be fine. However if you’re making a tiered cake you may need a stiffer pastry cream as the filling.
Hope that helps!
Shondra says
Hi again! If I were to use this recipe for Choux au craquelin, do I need to mix with whipped cream as well?
Thanks!!
Dini says
Hi Shondra!
You can use any cream patissiere recipe with choux au craquelin, or you can mix it with some whipped cream (diplomat cream) and then fill it too. I have used both types of filling for my choux pastries (eclairs, cream puffs and craquelin). It’s about what you prefer. The cream patissiere is richer and more dense, while the diplomat cream will be lighter.
Hope that helps!
Rachel Bibi says
Hi I made this recipe it is unreal!!! I licked the pot clean thank you!! I made a double recipe can it be frozen?
Parisha Singh says
Hi! Can it be eggless?
Dini says
Hi Parisha,
In theory you can make an eggless pastry cream by using cornstarch (or flour) as a thickener, but this will have an effect on the taste. Unfortunately I don’t know how much starch to add, as I haven’t made this pastry cream without eggs.
I would very highly recommend following an eggless pastry cream recipe (or vegan recipe) that has been tested, so you know you will get good results! Sorry I couldn’t be of more help. Good luck!
Mrs.Malik says
It turned out great. The sweetness was just perfect. I used it to top Tres Leches cake and ate the remaining on its own.
I give the recipe 5 stars.
Thank you =)
Dini says
Thank you so much for letting me know! So glad it came out well for you! 🙂
Little Cooking Tips says
Congratulations for the amazing recipe and the fantastic instructions and tips! We used it with half the chocolate and added a touch of Grand Marnier at the end, to make chocolate pudding. They were beyond amazing!
Thank you so much for this!!!