Rich pastry cream filling: I mean REALLY, REALLY rich

[Darienne]

I well remember the first time I made DH a Boston Cream Pie.  And I thought he would be so happy.  I think I followed a Martha Stewart recipe.  

 

But no.  He is the son of a French-Canadian cooking, baking, Mother and if you know anything about French-Canadian cooking, Sugar Pie is a regular feature.   And pure pork Tortiere.  DH grew up on Millefeuille and Napoleons and Rhubarb Pie which had so much sugar in it that you couldn't taste the rhubarb.  (Sorry, dear departed M-i-L.)  And so my cream filling simply wasn't rich enough.  Make it richer, he said, Like my Mother did. 

And so I am asking.  Take your regular Creme Patisserie and add what to it to make it 'richer'?  Butter?   Several tablespoons?  I've Googled 'very rich pastry cream filling' and can't get back the usual egg, cream...and maybe a smidgen of butter...recipes.

Help please.

[Tri2Cook]

Try 2:1 with pastry cream and butter (a mousseline)... if that's still not rich enough, I'll be thoroughly impressed.

[keychris]

I hope you said something like "You make it richer" first

[Lisa Shock]

The basic LCB recipe just uses milk and maybe an ounce of butter. Pastry cream has always been a lighter bakery item, IMO. You can make it with, say, 50% cream, but, I'd add it late in the game. You can also make stabilized whipped cream with gelatin and then fold then whip the two together carefully when they are both well chilled. But, that is more properly called Creme Diplomat. IMO, Diplomat tastes even lighter due to air which is incorporated.

 

I should ask, though, were you using whole milk or lowfat? (so many people get used to calling skim milk just 'milk' that they forget that some recipes rely on old fashioned whole milk)

[Darienne]

Dear Tri2Cook, I think you have hit the nail on the head.  I had never heard of mousseline before and have now found a few recipes and I think you're right.  It will work and DH will be pleased.  Thanks.

[pastrygirl]

butter and/or white chocolate

[jmacnaughtan]

A good way is to add cocoa butter, butter and gelatin.  Use 100g of butter, 30g of cocoa butter and 5g of gelatin for a recipe  using 500ml of milk - add the cocoa butter and gelatin just after you take it off the heat, then blend in the cold butter when it gets down to around 50°C.  Chill it, then whisk or whip to smooth it.

 

The butter makes it rich, the cocoa butter gives it a texture that's a bit more like a ganache and the gelatin lets you whip it, if you want, or just keeps it firmer

 

7 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

Try 2:1 with pastry cream and butter (a mousseline)... if that's still not rich enough, I'll be thoroughly impressed.

 

You can make a better mousseline by doing 1:1 pastry cream and French buttercream

 

[Slick]

A friend who is a master baker (French) adds a few white chocolate chips to his pastry creme. I know it works for him because I love the flavor he gets doing this. I suppose his magic is in the amount added but a little experimentation is always delicious and fun. 

[Darienne]

The chocolate additions, while they sound very nice and useful, are not what I am looking for.  Might try them some day though.  Re-read the posts.  (Thank you all again)  Looked at a dozen more recipes for pastry cream, creme patissiere, mousseline...and of course got more and more confused. 

So, in the end, I more or less solved the problem in my usual bumbling way.  Took Martha Stewart's Creme Patissiere recipe, changed the 1 cup milk to half milk (whole) and half half & half.  Added a 4th tablespoon of sugar, subbed 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, added 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and away I went.  DH loved it.  It was rich enough and thick enough and he thought it was divine.  I thought it was lacking.  Stirred in a smidge of salt.  And presto.  It picked up.   Sliced some banana on it.  Good.  Stirred in some sweetened coconut.  Very good. 

 

So I may not have made anything which would pass any test, but as long as DH loved it, nothing else mattered.

Thanks for the help and more importantly, for the support. 

 

ps.  Sorry, I should have added Martha Stewart's recipe.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Darienne (log)

[Tri2Cook]

3 minutes ago, Darienne said:

So I may not have made anything which would pass any test, but as long as DH loved it, nothing else mattered.

I mean, yay for techniques and recipes and all that stuff, but in the end, if something is good, that really is all that matters. And there's always a certain satisfaction in taking what you know and finding your own path to good.

[Franci]

For me a rich pastry cream means a lot of egg yolks.

 

This is from Massari:

 

CREMA PASTICCERA RICCA

375 g whole milk
125 g heavy crem
175 g sugar
170 g yolks (about 11 eggs)
18 g corn starch
18 g rice flour very fine (like thai rice flour)
vanilla seeds
lemon zest
15 g butter.

Or this from G. PIna:

 

Giovanni Pina

INGREDIENTI

300 g whole milk
100 g heavy cream
140 g sugar
100 g yolks
28 g flour
1/4 vanilla bean seeds

 

[Darienne]

Thank you so much Franci.  I'll try the above next.  I was not thrilled with my yesterday's experiment although DH loved it.  I thought it was bland although as noted, the salt helped.  But then...DH and I were raised in very different families with very different food...and it is, of course in our world anyhow, his taste which reigns supreme. (I can always eat the stuff I like best when I make it just for myself.  )