A simple yet delicious recipe for Creme Patissiere (Vanilla Pastry Cream) – a rich, creamy custard used in many types of dessert! This recipe is gluten free, and also dairy free friendly. If you’re looking for chocolate pastry cream, you can find that recipe right here.
Pastry Cream (or Creme Patissiere) is a quintessential part of pastry making, so it’s an essential skill to learn if you love baking, pastries, and dessert. Creme patissiere is basically a delicious, rich, creamy custard thickened with starch and eggs. It’s an important component for many desserts – like custard or chocolate pudding, eclairs, profiteroles, mille feuille, creme bavarois and a great filling for fruit tarts, pastries, and cakes too.
The egg mix – Whisk the eggs, with the corn starch, vanilla and sugar before adding the hot milk.
If you’ve never made creme parissiere (pastry cream) before, you should definitely try it. It’s such an easy and delicious recipe with a lot of great uses.
There is some confusion about custard-based desserts and their terminology, so I’m going to clear that up before I get into the pastry cream recipe.
Creme Anglaise is a pouring custard. A runny version of Pastry cream. It isn’t typically thickened with a starch (although some use a little cornstarch to avoid scrambling), and usually only uses eggs / egg yolks. It’s like a thick sauce, that can be poured over desserts.
Creme Chantilly is lightly whipped cream sweetened with sugar and (usually) flavored with vanilla.
Creme Patissiere is a thicker custard. It’s thickened using starch and eggs/egg yolks and can be piped. It’s mostly used to fill pastries and other desserts.
Creme Legere is pastry cream (creme patissiere) with sweetened and flavored whipped cream (chantilly) added. Most people call this creme diplomat as well.
Creme Diplomat is creme patissiere mixed with chantilly, gelatine and any extra flavorings (optional). It’s basically creme legere made with stabilized whipped cream.
Creme Bavarois is a dessert on its own. It’s like panna cotta, but made with creme patissiere. It’s creme patissiere mixed with chantilly, but with extra gelatine (so that it sets like a pudding) and extra flavorings.
Creme Patisserie is the base for all these pastry essentials, so I hope you give this recipe a go!
While the pastry cream is cooling, cover it with plastic wrap that is touching the entire surface. This ensures that the creme patissiere will not form a skin.
This recipe is also gluten free, because I use cornstarch instead of flour to thicken it. Some pastry cream recipes use both flour and cornstarch, but that’s not necessary. I also find that using cornstarch alone makes the pastry cream less likely to taste floury.
If you would like to make this recipe dairy free, substitute the milk with a plant-based milk like almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk or even soy milk.
Since vanilla is the key flavoring in this pastry cream recipe, PLEASE make sure you use good quality vanilla. It’s the one flavoring that I never skimp out on. Use good vanilla extract (not essence), and if you can use vanilla bean paste or vanilla beans, even better.
I personally don’t like my pastry cream to be too sweet. So I only add 6 tbsp (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) of sugar for every 2 cups of milk. Feel free to adjust the sweetness to your taste.
Eggs play two roles in creme patissiere (pastry cream). It adds richness (especially the yolks), and also thickens the custard as well. I use large eggs in this recipe, where an egg weighs 2 oz / 57 g on average. So if you’re using different sized eggs, you can adjust accordingly. But a little extra egg (or egg yolk) won’t mess up your pastry cream.
Alright, so let’s get to the creme patissiere (pastry cream) recipe!
Creme Patissiere
Creamy vanilla pastry cream, used in many types of dessert. Perfect for profiteroles and eclairs. This recipe is gluten free, and also dairy free friendly.
There is inactive time in this recipe to allow the creme pattisiere to chill, about 2 hours - overnight. Make this the day before it's required, so that it's completely chilled by the time you need it.
In this recipe
1 tbsp = 15mL
1 AUS tbsp = 20mL
1 cup = 240mL
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- 6 tbsp sugar
- Pinch salt
- 2 ½ tbsp cornstarch (cornflour)
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste / extract / 1 vanilla bean pod
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 large egg (please see notes)
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter softened
Instructions
If using vanilla bean pods, split the bean and scrape the vanilla seeds/caviar out of the beans.
Add the bean and caviar with the milk into a saucepan. Heat the milk over medium high heat and bring it to a simmer, almost to a boil.
While the milk is being heated, place the sugar, egg and yolks, cornstarch and salt in a bowl. Whisk until you have a thick, smooth mix. (If you are using vanilla bean paste or extract, add it to the egg mix too). Place the bowl with the egg mix on a towel or napkin (to prevent the bowl from slipping while whisking, in the next step), and set aside until the milk comes to a boil.
As soon as the milk starts to bubble, remove it from the heat. Slowly pour about a 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 1 - 2 minutes.
While whisking, let the custard come to a boil (the custard will release bubbles). Cook for a further 1-2 minutes after you see the first bubbles break the surface. Remove from the heat and add the butter. Whisk in the butter, until it’s completely mixed in.
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 pastry cream has been chilled.
Recipe Notes
- For a richer vanilla creme patissiere, you can substitute the whole egg with 3 egg yolks (6 egg yolks in total).
- For a dairy-free version, substitute the milk with a plant-based milk like almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk or even soy milk.
You can now make chocolate creme patissiere (chocolate pastry cream) too! Just click here or the image below, for the recipe!
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Great recipe, made a delicious cream! I just had a quick question, I used this creme patissiere to make creme legere to use in my profiteroles (I like a slightly lighter filling than straight pastry cream). I made the standard recipe and added 1/2 c heavy whipping cream that had been whipped stiff. While delicious, this creme legere ended up a bit runny, should I have used less whipping cream or do you think I did something wrong with the creme patisserie?
(also, quick tip, I used the leftover egg whites from this recipe to make French Macarons! Good way to make the most of your ingredients!)
Hi Zoe!
I’m so glad that you liked this recipe!
There are a few things you can do to avoid the pastry cream from becoming too runny when you mix it with whipping cream. The pastry cream recipe here is still fairly stable on its own, but with the addition of whipped cream it can become runny.
I actually made salted caramel diplomat cream where I mixed pastry cream with stabilized chantilly cream. You can follow that same technique with this vanilla pastry cream recipe as well.
I hope that helps!
Cheers,
Dini
Goodness me! You are (must be!) a beautiful person to so willingly share what you tried, what works/ed, and why.
Thank you sooo very much for being THAT BEAUTIFUL person to do so.
I was looking for both, choux “dilemmas” and a really good fillings. You’ve covered BOTH!
P.S. I tried (both) and all turned out just great!
Thank you so much for your lovely words Ela! I’m so glad both recipes turned out well for you! 🙂
Fantastic! There is no need to change anything it came out perfectly just as written, thank you!
-Adrienne
So glad it came out perfectly for you Adrienne! 🙂 Thanks so much for letting me know!
This is undoubtably the best pastry cream recipe I have ever made, thickness was perfect, flavor outstanding, all around fantastic!
If you wanted to make coffee pastry cream. Woyld you add the coffee to the milk and how much
Hi Trista
I would use instant coffee granules to flavor my pastry cream. I personally love a strong coffee flavor, so can add upto 3 tsp of instant coffee into my pastry cream, and will increase the sugar amount a little too (8 – 9 tbsp).
If you prefer a lighter coffee flavor, I would start with 2 tsp of instant coffee first, and increase it if you like more.
I hope that helps!
Hey Dini! So excited to try this recipe with my leftover tools after my botched meringue experiment. Was wondring if you had a recipe for creme diplomat?
Hi Jasmine!
Thank you! I hope you do enjoy the pastry cream 🙂 I don’t currently have a recipe for creme diplomat, but I do want to add one soon!
How long can this be kept at room temperature?
Hi Melissa,
Since pastry cream has eggs and milk in it, I wouldn’t recommend keeping it at room temperature unless you’re serving it right away. I only let it cool down to room temperature and immediately place it in the fridge. If you do need to keep it at room temperature, it shouldn’t be kept for no longer than 2 hours. Hope that helps.
Hi! What do you mean by place the egg mix on top of a towel or napkin (to prevent it from slipping)? Egg mix drenched in towel? Sorry I could not visualise. Can you elaborate?
Hi Florence,
Sorry about the confusion. What it means is 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 next step. I have re-worded that step in the recipe to make it clearer. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks Dini for the clarification! I should have thought you meant it this way.
Thank you! Just made this for creme puffs and it worked perfectly (after a few alarming lumps started forming at the end but it wasn’t the typical curdling). I used a hand mixer to smooth it out and added rum for an extra euro kick. Have used my mum’s recipe before that called for flour but my husband always managed to taste it so this is perfect, no complaints at all. Yay!
Thanks so much for letting me know Lenka! Glad you enjoyed the recipe. Love the addition of rum. 🙂
Hi, this is very similar to the recipe I use to make my pastry creme. Something I do as I’m pouring it out of the pot is run it through a sieve then whisk it in the bowl before I cover it. It ensures a velvet creme and catches any tiny lumps that may have formed. I also use 6 egg yolks because I like the richness…I save the whites and make coconut macaroons with them.
Hi, do you use the same qt but with 6 egg yolks? I am making pavlova so I will have 6 egg yolks leftover
Thanks
Mira
I have tried this several times, using all the same ingredients and, cooking it at minimal time and it keeps curdling, looking like scrambled eggs. How do I fix this problem.
Hi Cara!
It sounds like you’re adding hot milk into the eggs too quickly, or the pastry cream is being cooked on too high of a heat. Does it curdle when you’re cooking the pastry cream, or when you add the milk to the eggs?
If it’s when you add the milk to the eggs, then I recommend adding the milk just a little at a time. If it’s when you’re cooking the pastry cream, then I would recommend cooking this on a lower heat setting and to whisk the mixture continuously with a whisk and a spatula so that you prevent the custard from sticking to the bottom of the pan. If the custard looks like it’s heating too much, you can remove the saucepan from the heat from time to time while whisking it.
Another option is to use a bain-marie so that the custard is cooked with indirect heat and has less of a chance of curdling. This will increase the cooking time, but should reduce the chances of curdling.
Let me know how it turns out! I hope that helps 🙂
This turned out delicious when I tried it, thank you for the recipe! I added 1tsp Nutmeg and Cinnamon for a fuller flavor, and it was to die for.
Can I bake this in a tart shell? Or is it a bad idea to bake it again, after its cooked?
Hi Kyrie!
I’m so glad it came out well, and I love the addition of nutmeg and cinnamon! Such a great suggestion 🙂
I haven’t baked the custard before, so I’m not sure how it will turn out. I don’t think it would “set” because it’s already cooked. But if you did want to use it in a custard tart, I would recommend baking the shell first and filling the baked tart shell with the prepared pastry cream. I have done this before and it’s really good!
I hope that helps!
You can bake it. It’s close to the creme brulee recipe I use. But if you’re going to bake it. I really suggest a list heat oven and a small pan of water inside the oven to keep it moist. With a pastry shell I’m not sure a bain Marie would work.
could it be flavored with lemon and how
Hi Sondra,
Yes – I would add about 2 – 3 tsp of lemon zest to this recipe. I wouldn’t add lemon juice though, because that can curdle the milk. I hope that helps!
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try this recipe for a fruit tart for my husband’s birthday. Is this recipe enough for a 9 inch pie pan?
Hi Edwina,
This recipe makes at least 2 cups (maybe about 2.5 cups) of pastry cream. I haven’t used it to fill a 9 inch tart, but I think it should be plenty for a shallow 9 inch tart. I would make extra, and use the unused pastry cream for a different recipe (vanilla pudding, custard and berries, custard and jello etc.). I hope that helps!
Cheers
Dini
Please please can I have the measurements by weight for this recipe? I’m in Australia, so the UK and American standard measurements are not the same here! Thank you so much
Hi Hailey,
The recipe has been fixed to reflect measurements used in Australia. Just click on METRIC measurements for AUS tablespoon measurement. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
My husband is a 3CK; and he happens to be gluten free which leads me to making an egg white fry batter tonight that yields orphan egg yolks. Thanks so much for your post.
hey just a quick question. can i replace corn starch with cornflour? we dont have corn starch around here 🙁
Hi aleena,
Yes, cornflour is actually the same as cornstarch! They are just different names used in different parts of the world for the same product.
How could I make this stable enough for a cake filling?
Hi Aurielle!
I don’t have a recipe that is specific for a cake filler unfortunately. You could add extra cornstarch or egg yolks to make it stiffer, OR you can add some gelatin to help it set. I haven’t tried this, so I can’t comment on how much extra you should add.
What I have done in the past is that I’ve used a stiff buttercream and lined the edge of the cake layer with the buttercream, and a little in the middle (with the buttercream in a pastry bag, using a large round tip). Then I fill the middle with pastry cream and put the other cake layer on top. The buttercream keeps the cake stable and the pastry cream is still creamy inside.
I hope that helps!
I used this recipe to fill my banana pudding cakes and it complimented my banana flavored cakes perfectly. There were even sliced bananas in them and it held up well. I lined the layer with buttercream and filled it with the pastry cream and bananas. Thanks for the recipe Dini
Hi Dini,
This recipe for creme pat looks wonderful. I’m planning this for profiteroles and want to make some fruit flavors of the creme. I was wondering if I should use fruit puree or preserves, and also how much I should add. Also, is it possible to leave out the butter?
Cheers!
Hi Lily!
To add fruit puree to the custard, I remove an equal amount of the liquid and replace it with the fruit puree (about 1/4 – 1/3 cup). The butter is not essential, so you can definitely leave it out if you prefer 🙂
I hope that helps!
Hi Dini,
This recipe looks great! If I wanted to flavor the custard with honey, how much would you recommend adding to the egg yolk mixture? Does it significantly change the consistency?
Thanks!
Hi Simone!
I haven’t tried this myself, but I would add about 4 tbsp of honey (1/4 cup) instead of the sugar, for one batch of this recipe. The honey obviously adds more liquid to the recipe, but I’m hoping that additional liquid is too little to actually affect the consistency. But for future reference in case it makes it a little too liquidy, you can try adding about 2 tbsp less milk or a touch more cornstarch (or 1 more egg yolk) to compensate and thicken the custard.
However, if you’re doubling or tripling this recipe with additional honey, then it will most likely significantly affect the consistency and you may have to compensate for it as I’ve mentioned above. I hope that helps!
Hi! Congrats for your blog! I’m brasilian (sorry bad english) patisserie lover, and I would like to know if can I make fruit mousse whit a pastry cream base. Can I use juice instead milk, and add a meringue? I tried this, but the juice separated from the mousse and drained to the bottom of the bowl…
What could be wrong? If I add gelatin, can I maintain the stability and texture of the mousse? Thank you very much!
how long will this keep in the fridge? i’d like to make large batches for use within 7-10 days.
Hi Michelle!
I don’t store pastry cream for more than 4 – 5 days when I make it because it’s an egg and dairy product. I would recommend making the pastry cream closer to the day that you need to use it 🙂
Have tried a number of recipes for creme patissiere but this recipe is so much better than the others. I think the difference may be down to using all cornflour and no standard flour. Added a 100 mls of whipped double cream to the cooled custard, the result was a beautiful smooth creme patissiere. Thank you for sharing
Hi Rosie,
Thank you so much for your feedback! I’m really glad that you liked the recipe! 🙂
Cheers,
Dini
What temperature should the eggs, butter, milk and water be? Also, should I use a hand whisk or does the whisk attachment in my food processor work? (I can’t whisk that fast by hand alone)
Hi Yasmeen
It doesn’t matter what temperature the ingredients are at, because they will all be cooked anyway (I didn’t use water in the recipe though). The only exception is the butter, which should be softened at room temperature so it will mix in properly.
I only ever use the hand whisk, since it’s only used to stir the custard. You don’t have to whisk too fast, it just has to be consistent to prevent the milk or eggs from curdling or sticking to the bottom of the pan.
You could use the whisk attachment with a hand mixer on the lowest speed if you must, but I wouldn’t recommend the food processor, since the whisking is done while the custard is being cooked.
Hope that helps!
Would any fat content milk work for this, or do you recommend one in particular? We usually drink 1% in our house, but I know that 2% or 3.5% is often better for most recipes. Thanks!
Hi Melanie! The rule of thumb is that the higher the fat content the richer the creme patissiere will taste. I usually do go with whole milk, but I have used 2% as well. I avoid 1% when I make and custard based desserts, but only because I prefer to use milk with a higher fat content for custards (since it tastes better). That being said, for this recipe, there is no reason why you can’t use 1% milk! 🙂
I hope that helps!
Hello is there a substitute for butter? Would margarine work? Just you offered dairy free but only substituted the milk, maybe butter isn’t dairy though? IDK lol
Hi Dayna! Yes you can use margerine as the DF alternative 🙂 I have made this without the butter as well and it still tastes really good!
Absolutely perfect creme pat recipe!! Your directions are extremely clear and very helpful. I used this to fill choux buns for a croquembouche. It was perfect and set up very easily. This will be my go-to creme pat from now on!