Pastry Cream Recipe

The secret to making Pastry Cream is to just barely boil the cream after the corn starch has been added. For the corn starch to be effective, you have to boil it or else it will not thicken. The second secret is to whip the cream with butter. The best way to do this is to put your mixer etc. into a very cold place, like your fridge. This is probably not possible. So, what I do is use a mixer and whip it till done and then put it in the fridge after cooling it in an ice bath.

1.5 oz of Cornstarch
2 cups of Milk or Cream, Milk is cheaper.
4 oz of Sugar
3 Eggs
2 oz of Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

First combine cornstarch and a little of the milk to dissolve the cornstarch. If you are using a mixer, this isn't that necessary but it helps. Then add the sugar and eggs and blend. I do this step all by hand. It's just easier.

Next combine the remaining sugar and milk and bring to a boil. Temper the eggs mixture and return the mixture to the pot. Stir and don't stop stirring. Bring to a boil and cook for about 1 minute or until it starts to thicken.

Remove from the heat. This is where I like to put the Pastry Cream into a mixer and add the butter and any flavoring such as the vanilla extract. Add lemon (zest) and it's an Italian pastry cream. I've seen Italian pastry cream recipes with orange flavoring.

Cover the surface of the pastry cream and put it in the fridge after it has cooled enough. You can use an ice bath to do this. Use once it has cooled.