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.
Learn how to make rich, creamy Vanilla Pastry Cream from scratch!
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.
What is pastry cream (creme patissiere) used for?
- It’s used to fill classic profiteroles and sometimes cream puffs
- To fill chocolate eclairs
- As filling for cakes, like Boston cream pie
- Filling for fruit tarts
- To make mille feuille
- To make vanilla pudding or chocolate pudding
The egg mix – whisk the eggs, with the cornstarch, vanilla and sugar before adding the hot milk.
If you’ve never made creme patissiere (vanilla 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. This custard isn’t heated to a boil to avoid the eggs from curdling.
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. Pastry cream is heated to a boil, so that it thickens well. Because of the starch, the eggs don’t curdle readily.
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.
Is this recipe gluten free?
This pastry cream recipe is gluten free, because I use cornstarch instead of flour to thicken it. Some pastry cream recipes use flour, or 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, which is a problem you encounter with pastry cream made with flour.
How to make dairy free pastry cream
If you’d 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.
What kind of vanilla is best to use for this recipe
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 a good vanilla extract and try to avoid vanilla essence (usually imitation flavor), and if you can use vanilla bean paste or vanilla beans, even better.
The importance of eggs
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.
I use 3 large egg yolks, plus 1 large egg for this recipe. This pastry cream is delicious and spreadable and pipeable (isn’t too stiff). If you want a RICHER tasting pastry cream then I like to use 6 large egg yolks instead. This version is slightly thicker because of the extra egg yolks.
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.
Cooking tips to make sure you get perfect creme patissiere (pastry cream) each time.
The first step is to heat the milk.
Some recipes call to scald the milk, which isn’t necessary if you’re using pasteurized milk. However, if you’re using fresh vanilla beans, scalding the milk with the vanilla and letting it cool down a little will allow the vanilla to infuse into the milk. I heat the milk until almost to a boil, so that it speeds up the process of dissolving the sugar and thickening.
Make sure to mix the eggs, cornstarch and sugar together in a separate bowl until you have a nice smooth paste.
This ensures that you have NO LUMPS in the cornstarch, and the sugar and eggs will form a thick paste which will mix in better with the milk. But don’t do this ahead of time. Only mix it together a few minutes before adding the milk. Otherwise the eggs will cook in the sugar.
Be careful when tempering the eggs with the hot milk.
If you’re a beginner, you could get someone to help you whisk the egg mix, while you pour the hot milk in a thin stream to temper the eggs. Another way to temper the eggs is to keep the bowl with the egg-sugar mix on a tea towel (to prevent slipping), and pour the hot milk from a light and small measuring cup (light enough to control with one hand). This makes it easier to whisk the egg mix with one hand and pour hot milk with the other.
Keep whisking and mixing the pastry cream while cooking.
It’s important to keep the milk-egg mix moving while it’s being heated. The milk will curdle when it comes closer to the boiling point, and we do NOT want that! Use a whisk and a spatula to make sure the pastry cream stays smooth. If you feel that the creme patissiere is heating up too fast, remove it from the heat periodically while stirring.
Bring the vanilla pastry cream to a boil.
Unlike other custards, pastry cream needs to be brought to a boil. The cornstarch will cook well, and you won’t be left with a starchy flavor too. The heat allows the eggs to form strong protein bonds, and the starch in the cornstarch expands, forming starch bonds that really thicken and stabilize the pastry cream. While stirring, allow the pastry cream to come to a boil and then let it cook further for about 1 – 2 minute at low-medium heat.
Strain the pastry cream.
It’s not necessary to strain the creme patissiere unless it’s lumpy. BUT it’s still a good extra measure to make sure the creme patissiere is silky smooth.
Cooling down the pastry cream.
Once the pastry cream is cooked, it needs to cool down completely. To allow the pastry cream to cool down quickly, spread it in a large bowl or shallow pan, so that the custard layer is fairly shallow. Make sure to cover the ENTIRE SURFACE with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface too.
Common creme patissiere mistakes
My pastry cream is lumpy
This happens if you’ve heated the pastry cream at too high of a temperature or you didn’t stir it well when it was coming to a boil. Don’t worry though, whisk it REALLY well to get rid of the lumps (off the heat), or if that doesn’t work, pass it through a sieve as soon as you’ve cooked it.
My pastry cream is too thin.
This happens if you haven’t cooked the pastry cream properly. This recipe makes a pastry cream that is spreadable and pipeable, but it’s not stiff enough to hold its shape. If you did want a stiffer and thicker vanilla pastry cream, you can increase the amount of cornstarch.
My pastry cream is too thick.
Chances are you added too much cornstarch. If you really compacted the cornstarch into your measuring spoon, or used an incorrect measuring spoon, this can happen. You can fold in a little stabilized chantilly cream to loosen up the pastry cream to make it the right consistency – like a creme diplomat.
My pastry cream has discolored (looks grey)
If you used an aluminium pot to make the custard, chances are that some of that aluminium can get into the pastry cream. Use a stainless steel pot, a copper pot or a non-stick pot.
Storing pastry cream
Never keep the vanilla pastry cream outside. It’s made with milk and eggs that go bad when un-refrigerated. The pastry cream will go bad if stored at room temperature.
Pastry cream cannot be frozen for later. The reason is that the starch and protein bonds that thicken the creme patissiere will break down when frozen. And as the pastry cream thaws out, it will weep and create too much moisture, making it runny, ruining the consistency.
The best way to store pastry cream is in the fridge, in an air-tight container, with a piece of plastic wrap covering the entire surface of the pastry cream. Pastry cream will last about 3 – 4 days in the fridge. This means you can make vanilla pastry cream ahead of time for your recipes too.
Other pastry cream variations
You can now make chocolate creme patissiere (chocolate pastry cream) too!
Or a lighter, sweeter salted caramel diplomat cream instead.
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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 cup = 240mL
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- 6 tbsp sugar
- Pinch salt
- 2 ½ tbsp cornstarch (cornflour) (3 tbsp / 30 g for a stiffer pastry cream)
- 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). Lower the heat and 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.
Yuvika says
May 11, 2019 at 04:42Hi. Could I use half fresh cream and half milk for a creamer texture?
Dini says
May 11, 2019 at 11:22Hi Yuvika!
Absolutely! It will definitely make it creamier and richer. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Glenn Mitchell says
May 5, 2019 at 10:48Hello
When you say milk is it whole milk, 2 %, 1% or skim. I presume whole full fat milk.
Glenn
Dini says
May 5, 2019 at 14:41Hi Glenn, you can use 2% or whole milk. It does taste better with whole milk, so that’s what I’d recommend. Hope that helps!
Cairo says
May 3, 2019 at 14:59Hi, what would happen if I kept the egg whites in the recipe? How would to texture/consistency/taste of the pastry cream turn out?
Thank you!
Cairo says
May 3, 2019 at 15:01As well, if I wanted to use this as a filling to a crepe cake instead of whipped cream, would that be recommended? I was thinking of replacing sugar with maple syrup, would that affect the result?
Dini says
May 4, 2019 at 16:12Hi Cairo!
If you add the extra egg whites, then the pastry cream can be runnier. The more yolks added, the thicker the pastry cream. I also wouldn’t recommend making a crepe cake with pastry cream because it would make the cake too rich. You could lighten the pastry cream with some whipped cream if you like, so it would be richer than whipped cream but not as heavy as using just pastry cream.
You can use maple syrup instead of sugar as well, but you would use less maple syrup (because it’s sweeter than sugar). I would only use about 4 tbsp (or 1/4 cup) of maple syrup.
Hope that helps!
Isabelle says
April 24, 2019 at 02:29Wow!! Your instructions were perfect and I just made a flawless creme patissiere. Thank you so much for the incredible step by step and those tips are priceless.
Where have you been all my life?!
Dini says
April 24, 2019 at 21:52Haha, thank you so much for letting me know Isabelle! Glad it came out perfectly for you!
Cynthia says
May 15, 2019 at 14:41If i wanted to make the pastry cream flavored. Like instead of vanilla do maybe peanut butter. Is that possible?
Dini says
May 15, 2019 at 15:23Hi Cynthia!
You can make PB pastry cream, but unfortunately I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t be sure of the consistency. I would start by substituting 1/4 – 1/3 cup of the milk with a similar amount of peanut butter. The resulting pastry cream will be thicker because of the PB too.
Gypsy de Ruyter says
April 14, 2019 at 10:01Hey I was wanting to make a matcha version of this and was wondering how I could incorporate that in.
Dini says
April 14, 2019 at 16:48Hi Gypsy!
You can add matcha powder to the eggs, and whisk it all together to make sure there are no lumps. But, you can also whisk the matcha into the milk before heating it too. Both methods will work as long as the matcha is not lumpy. I would use about 2 – 3 tsp of matcha (a little more than what is mentioned by the manufacturer) to get a bold matcha flavor in the pastry cream.
Hope that helps!
Anne says
April 11, 2019 at 13:10What if I wanted to do a flavored pastry cream…like say a mango pastry cream….where would you add the mango puree and do you need to change the amount of milk going into it? Thanks!!!
Dini says
April 11, 2019 at 16:28Hi Anne
I usually would replace some of the milk with the fruit puree that I add. However, each fruit can be different. For berries, I like to add about 1/3 of a cup of puree, and I add it at the same time as I would add the eggs to the milk.
Mango does lose some of its flavor when it’s cooked, so you may only get a milder flavored mango pastry cream. Unfortunately I haven’t made this pastry cream with mango before, so I cannot be certain.
Connie Liu says
April 1, 2019 at 02:39Hi, is it possible to replace cornstarch with agar agar or gelatin? If so, how many tsp? Thanks
Dini says
April 1, 2019 at 07:44Hi Connie
Unfortunately, you cannot replace the cornstarch with gelatin or agar agar. Cornstarch is a stabilizer and a thickener, but gelatin/agar agar will not do the same in this recipe. You could replace the cornstarch with double the amount of flour instead (5 tbsp). Hope that helps!
Connie Liu says
April 1, 2019 at 22:05Thanks for your quick reply. In that case, what other replacements (eg arrowroot flour?) can i use instead of cornstarch? Thanks
Dini says
April 1, 2019 at 22:35Hi Connie!
I haven’t used other types of starch other than cornstarch and AP flour for this recipe (if I ever wanted to skip the cornstarch in this recipe, I would simply double the amount of AP flour). I can’t be sure how well it would work with arrowroot flour or other starches. Personally I wouldn’t recommend it, because arrowroot flour will mostly likely change the texture of the custard.
Zoe says
March 19, 2019 at 21:15Great 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!)
Dini says
March 20, 2019 at 09:49Hi 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
Ela says
March 5, 2019 at 17:01Goodness 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!
Dini says
March 6, 2019 at 23:27Thank you so much for your lovely words Ela! I’m so glad both recipes turned out well for you! 🙂
Adrienne Serio says
March 5, 2019 at 16:49Fantastic! There is no need to change anything it came out perfectly just as written, thank you!
-Adrienne
Dini says
March 6, 2019 at 23:28So glad it came out perfectly for you Adrienne! 🙂 Thanks so much for letting me know!
Barb says
February 28, 2019 at 11:48This is undoubtably the best pastry cream recipe I have ever made, thickness was perfect, flavor outstanding, all around fantastic!
Trista says
February 14, 2019 at 20:31If you wanted to make coffee pastry cream. Woyld you add the coffee to the milk and how much
Dini says
February 16, 2019 at 18:42Hi 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!
Jasmine says
January 23, 2019 at 12:58Hey 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?
Dini says
January 24, 2019 at 11:29Hi 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!
Melissa says
January 6, 2019 at 09:13How long can this be kept at room temperature?
Dini says
January 6, 2019 at 09:28Hi 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.
Christina says
April 11, 2019 at 19:34Hi, can this be used for vanilla slice? Would you just us a little extra cornstarch to make it stay in place more. Thank you
Dini says
April 11, 2019 at 21:38Yes you can Christina! But you definitely will need to make it thicker with cornstarch! I’m not sure how much extra to add, maybe another 10g extra? If you do find it too thick, you can add a little whipped cream to lighten it up (if you choose!)
You definitely made me want to make some vanilla slices now too! 🙂
Florence says
December 26, 2018 at 22:29Hi! 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?
Dini says
December 26, 2018 at 22:43Hi 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.
Florence says
December 28, 2018 at 11:04Thanks Dini for the clarification! I should have thought you meant it this way.
Lenka says
December 22, 2018 at 19:42Thank 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!
Dini says
December 22, 2018 at 21:45Thanks so much for letting me know Lenka! Glad you enjoyed the recipe. Love the addition of rum. 🙂
Karen says
December 20, 2018 at 14:04Hi, 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.
Mira Dimitriadis says
December 20, 2018 at 23:07Hi, 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
Cara says
December 2, 2018 at 07:01I 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.
Dini says
December 2, 2018 at 07:39Hi 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 🙂
Kyrie says
November 30, 2018 at 15:22This 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?
Dini says
November 30, 2018 at 20:09Hi 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!
Charle Anastasia says
December 24, 2018 at 19:11You 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.
Sondra Taylor says
November 20, 2018 at 20:26could it be flavored with lemon and how
Dini says
November 20, 2018 at 21:10Hi 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!
Edwina says
October 4, 2018 at 18:12This 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?
Dini says
October 5, 2018 at 11:26Hi 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
Hailey Dodds says
October 1, 2018 at 04:50Please 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
Dini says
October 5, 2018 at 11:34Hi 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.
Imegahan says
August 18, 2018 at 21:08My 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.
aleena says
August 2, 2018 at 06:36hey just a quick question. can i replace corn starch with cornflour? we dont have corn starch around here 🙁
Dini says
August 2, 2018 at 09:58Hi 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.
Aurielle says
July 25, 2018 at 20:16How could I make this stable enough for a cake filling?
Dini says
July 27, 2018 at 20:37Hi 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!
Aurielle says
July 30, 2018 at 19:08I 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
Lily says
June 30, 2018 at 18:46Hi 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!
Dini says
July 1, 2018 at 10:43Hi 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!
Simone says
April 27, 2018 at 12:53Hi 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!
Dini says
April 30, 2018 at 08:11Hi 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!
Luiza says
April 14, 2018 at 23:55Hi! 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!
Michelle Kovach says
March 19, 2018 at 14:53how long will this keep in the fridge? i’d like to make large batches for use within 7-10 days.
Dini says
March 19, 2018 at 15:49Hi 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 🙂
Rosie Burton says
February 12, 2018 at 12:00Have 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
Dini says
February 12, 2018 at 13:59Hi Rosie,
Thank you so much for your feedback! I’m really glad that you liked the recipe! 🙂
Cheers,
Dini
Yasmeen says
February 7, 2018 at 11:07What 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)
Dini says
February 7, 2018 at 11:38Hi 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!
Melanie says
February 1, 2018 at 10:34Would 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!
Dini says
February 1, 2018 at 10:54Hi 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!
Dayna says
January 26, 2018 at 18:53Hello 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
Dini says
January 26, 2018 at 18:57Hi 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!
jeanne mccann says
December 28, 2017 at 15:28Absolutely 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!