Pastry Cream Question

[SweetSide]

Looking for some problem solving here....

I made pastry cream yesterday using the same recipe I've been using for a while:

Bring to a boil:

2Q cream

2Q half and half

14 oz sugar

Temper into:

40 egg yolks

8 whole eggs

14 oz sugar

6 oz sifted cornstarch

Strain tempered mixture back into pot and return to heat. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Pour into shallow pan. Cover with plastic wrap on surface. Refrigerate.

It was fine when poured into the shallow pan. Today, it is grainy on the tongue and when you initially rub it between your fingers in its cold state (its been in the fridge, 38F). Feels like sand. But, as you rub it, the grainy-ness goes away. If I smeared some on the inside of a steel bowl, flipped the bowl over, ran it under hot water, grainy-ness went away. Left some sitting on a spatula until room temp, and again, no longer grainy on the tongue.

I'm thinking the grains are some kind of frost or sugar crystals, but I really haven't a clue. If my eggs were curdled, then the warmth wouldn't make the texture change, would it?

Any idea what went wrong or what's going on?

Thanks! (in advance -- you guys always steer me in the right direction....)

[alanamoana]

could it be something to do with your cream? it could be small fat particles that are causing the graininess so when it warms up, it melts away. maybe during cooking the fat in the cream/half & half breaks so when it cools you get the little fat granules.

most pastry cream recipes i've used call only for milk as the liquid and then have butter stirred in at the end of cooking rather than starting with such a high fat liquid component.

[chefpeon]

most pastry cream recipes i've used call only for milk as the liquid and then have butter stirred in at the end of cooking rather than starting with such a high fat liquid component.

The above is true for me as well, although sometimes I have been out of milk and used ALL cream and it still came out fine, albeit a little thick.

Here's one thing I found out.......

when cream is really really close to being "off", it will go grainy on you. The few times I have given my cream a whiff and decided it was ok today, but might be bad by tomorrow and used it, I have gotten grainy ganache, broken sauces and grainy pastry cream. So now, if it's not off, but close, I don't use it. I learned my lesson there.

[SweetSide]

most pastry cream recipes i've used call only for milk as the liquid and then have butter stirred in at the end of cooking rather than starting with such a high fat liquid component.

The above is true for me as well, although sometimes I have been out of milk and used ALL cream and it still came out fine, albeit a little thick.

Here's one thing I found out.......

when cream is really really close to being "off", it will go grainy on you. The few times I have given my cream a whiff and decided it was ok today, but might be bad by tomorrow and used it, I have gotten grainy ganache, broken sauces and grainy pastry cream. So now, if it's not off, but close, I don't use it. I learned my lesson there.

←

I am a fanatic date checker on cartons -- been burned too many times at the grocery store -- and I did check the date on the cream that I used. Now, I know you can't live and die by that date, but the date was 10/11, and as you know, cream usually has a long date. So this was close, and I don't know how temperature abused this particular carton of cream was to speed things along.

And as for the thick part -- yes, this is intentionally thick pastry cream. Thicker than I personally care for, but it works well for our cake fillings.

This may be it, but I'm still interested in hearing other ideas if there are any.

[reenicake]

if the graininess went away when it warmed up, then it's not egg coagulation or lumpy cornstarch. It's probably butterfat. This would happen to us sometimes at my old job -- we used a milk/cream (sometimes ultra pasteurized, sometimes just pasteurized) combo too rather than butter. In particular, when we would make a very big batch and it would not cool down as quickly (something about residual heat I guess). Bring it to room temp, burr mix it smooth, and it should be fine.

[etalanian]

Did you try running it through a food processor?

Eileen

[tan319]

Two things, if I may....

I prefer pastry cream made with flour instead of cornstarch.

It always seems to have a better texture to me.

The Roux brothers have one that I always use as a base.

I never use anything but milk.

About the heavy cream....

Some manufacturers are adding gelatin, dextrose, carrageen, all kinds of thickeners and stabilizers.

I don't usually have a problem with things like that but what REALLY freaks me out is that many people here are having problems whipping cream and having it whip to heavy peaks.

Even the heavily fortified stuff.

That could be the cause of all kinds of problems.

My execPC has a "French Vanilla" Ice cream recipe that, to my mind, is way too sweet and has way too much fat.

We've been working on it all summer just to lower the fat content because we keep getting "specks" like micro butter or something, even though we didn't overchurn.

This, just at this moment, has made me wonder about GMO animals, all of that weird ugly stuff.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that maybe your Heavy cream is experiencing the same kinds of problems?

Good Luck!

edited to add that yes, burr mixing would certainly be a great quick fix.

Edited October 10, 2006 by tan319 (log)

[chefpeon]

I am a fanatic date checker on cartons -- been burned too many times at the grocery store -- and I did check the date on the cream that I used. Now, I know you can't live and die by that date, but the date was 10/11, and as you know, cream usually has a long date.

I'm a fanatic about dates on cartons as well.....in fact, I am anal retentive about the cartons being stored with the dates showing.....properly rotated. I get very upset when people put my perishables away incorrectly. Ok, yeah, I been doin' this too long, I know.....

However, even when I've been well within the date stamped on the carton, I've had cream spoil on me before that date. A lot of times the hot side will "borrow" (yeah, right) some of my cream, and they will leave it out for hours, or have it sitting by the stove when they are making a sauce. That carton warms up quick, and it shaves a heck of a lot of time off your "sell by" date. Also, "sell by" dates assume you are storing the cream at the optimal temperature. If your refrigeration is off, or you are constantly opening and closing the door of your reach-in in a hot kitchen all day, you know that optimal temperature is definitely not constant. That shaves off life from your cream as well.

[SweetSide]

if the graininess went away when it warmed up, then it's not egg coagulation or lumpy cornstarch. It's probably butterfat. This would happen to us sometimes at my old job -- we used a milk/cream (sometimes ultra pasteurized, sometimes just pasteurized) combo too rather than butter. In particular, when we would make a very big batch and it would not cool down as quickly (something about residual heat I guess). Bring it to room temp, burr mix it smooth, and it should be fine.

←

Again thanks -- this was a bigger batch, and I didn't have as shallow a pan (we're short, 'nuther story) as a usually use. So I think the consensus is that I have "fat globules".

Thanks everyone for the help -- as usual.

And as much as I use a pastry cream made with milk and butter for my own use, I don't have a lot of say about the one we use at work. I will enthusiastically suggest a change, but....

Tan319 -- any chance you can post or pm me that Roux brothers recipe?

[SweetSide]

I'm a fanatic about dates on cartons as well.....in fact, I am anal retentive about the cartons being stored with the dates showing.....properly rotated. I get very upset when people put my perishables away incorrectly. Ok, yeah, I been doin' this too long, I know.....

←

Umm, yeah, I went to that anal retentive class too -- that's exactly what I do...