Pastry Cream (Creme Patissiere)

[jackal10]

Pastry Cream (Creme Patissiere)

As basic to pastisserie as stock is to cooking.

You are basically making a thick custurd. In emergency substitute thick custard made with custard powder.

• 6 Egg yolks
  
• 125 g sugar
  
• 40 g Corn flour (or ordinary flour)
  
• 1 vanilla pod split
  
• 500 l milk
  

1. Put the egg yolks and about a third of the sugar in a bowl and whisk until they go pale and form a ribbon. Much easier to do this using a food processer or an electric hand whisk.

2. Sift in the flour and beat well.

3. Put the milk, the rest of the sugar and the split vanill pod in a saucepan and bring to the boil. For a coffee cream substitute the vanilla pod with 2 tsp instant coffee, or even better infuse fresh ground coffee in the milk and strain carefully. For a chocolate cream use a Tbs of cocoa instead of the vanilla pod.

4. As soon as the mixture boils, pour 1/3rd into the egg mixture and stir well.

5. Pour the egg and milk back into the rest of the milk, and return to a gentle heat. Stir well until it begins to thicken. Boil for 2 minutes.

6. Take off the heat and continue to stir. Put some knobs of butter over the surface to prevent a skin forming. Let cool.

( RG585 )