Pastry cream using whipping cream instead of milk?

[AKS613]

I just saw this on a tv show. Not diplomat cream-actually using heavy cream instead of milk. Has anyone ever tried this? Is it a 1:1 replacement? Do you have to cook on at a lower heat with the cream? Thanks.

[Desiderio]

I believe I have a couple recipes in one of my Italian pastry books, that calls for heavy whipping cream, I can check when I get home.

[Tri2Cook]

I've done it and found it a waste of more-expensive-than-milk cream in my opinion. Pastry cream made with whole milk with the egg yolks and butter is rich enough that I didn't see a real benefit to the additional fat from the cream. If anything, it almost pushed it into that area where it's an unpleasant mouth feel. Where you feel like your mouth is coated in a greasy feeling after eating it. But that could just be me.

[RWood]

An assistant I had at my last job made it with heavy cream by mistake, and it broke.  He brought it over and couldn't figure out what happened since he made it a couple times a week.  Then he realized he picked up the wrong carton.  I agree with Tri2Cook though, I think it would be too rich.  

[AKS613]

Thanks everyone. I guess I’ll stick to the tried and true. 🙂

[Tri2Cook]

16 hours ago, AKS613 said:

Thanks everyone. I guess I’ll stick to the tried and true. 🙂

Don't stick to the tried and true based on what I said. Make a small batch with cream and see what you think. I was just relating my experience, not trying to deter you from having your own. You may decide it's the greatest thing ever and you'd be right because it's yours, not mine.

[JeanneCake]

Or try it with half and half; or light cream.  I used to make creme anglais with milk until a chef asked me to make his recipe which was thicker.  His recipe used half and half and I've since adopted his recipe as ours   For pastry cream though, I always use milk.  To me, a well made pastry cream is luxurious enough with milk!  Don't waste the cream

[teonzo]

As the others said, pastry cream made with whipping cream is cloying.

If you want it richer then use more yolks instead of switching milk with cream.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[pastrygirl]

On 3/10/2020 at 1:53 PM, Tri2Cook said:

Pastry cream made with whole milk with the egg yolks and butter is rich enough that I didn't see a real benefit to the additional fat from the cream.

 

heavy cream AND butter would be quite rich, but I could see replacing milk + butter with cream and no additional butter to skip a step ...

[RWood]

6 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 

heavy cream AND butter would be quite rich, but I could see replacing milk + butter with cream and no additional butter to skip a step ...

 

I think that's why that batch broke. It has butter added at the end, so that's probably what did it. 

Edited March 12, 2020 by RWood (log)

[Tri2Cook]

6 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 

heavy cream AND butter would be quite rich, but I could see replacing milk + butter with cream and no additional butter to skip a step …

Yep, that would work too. "Six of one, half dozen of the other" scenario. 

[Desiderio]

Sorry, I mentioned I was going to look into Tradizione in Evoluzione, by il grande Leonardo Di Carlo, and I forgot.

He has several recipes for pastry cream where he uses around 250 gr of cream and 1000/750 gr of milk.