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Whisking pastry cream.
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5 from 3 votes

French Pastry Cream

You can easily learn how to make this delicious French pastry cream recipe that is a perfect filling for desserts such as millefeuille, tarts, cakes and choux pastries. It takes almost 10 minutes to prepare this easy vanilla cream.
Prep Time2 minutes
Cook Time8 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Servings: 16
Calories: 54kcal
Author: Meymi

Ingredients

  • 490 grams (2 cups) whole milk
  • 70 grams (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
  • 3 large egg yolks, room temperature
  • 33 grams (¼ cup and ½ tablespoon) cornstarch
  • 1 and ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract or ½ vanilla bean

Instructions

  • Put the milk and half of the sugar in a saucepan, give it a stir and bring to a boil at high heat. (If you are using a vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract, you should split the vanilla bean lengthwise, down the middle, scrape the seeds into the milk, and also add the bean.)
  • While the saucepan is on the stove, stir half of the sugar and egg yolks in a heat proof mixing bowl with a whisk. When combined, add the cornstarch and stir until there are no lumps in the mixture.
  • Once the milk comes to a boil, remove the saucepan from the heat and temper the eggs: pour almost ⅓ of the milk very slowly into the egg mixture, whisking constantly at the same time to prevent it from curdling. Pour the tempered eggs into the milk mixture and whisk at the same time. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
  • Place the saucepan over med-high heat, whisking constantly and let the mixture boil first and then let it boil for extra 2 minutes until it is thick and smooth.
  • Take the pan from the heat. (If you are using vanilla bean, it is time to remove the bean from the mixture). Pour the pastry cream into a large and shallow bowl to let it cool fast. Immediately cover the pastry cream with a plastic film and lightly press so the plastic film can touch the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming on top. First, let it cool at room temperature and then keep it in the fridge until ready to use. Depending on how large and shallow your pan is, it can take 2-3 hours to cool. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Notes

*If you want to use whole eggs, you can use 2 large eggs but the pastry cream won't be as rich and creamy but the taste will be still delicious.
Serving size is calculated by assuming you are filling 16 cream puffs.

Nutrition

Calories: 54kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 13mg | Potassium: 50mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 96IU | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1mg