Crème Pâtissière (Pastry Cream)
Crème Pâtissière, also known as pastry cream, is a rich custard thickened with eggs and cornstarch. Use it as a cake filling, tart base, eclairs or donut filling, or the base for so many creams like crème mousseline, crème diplomate, crème chiboust, etc.
What is crème Pâtissière
The world of custard can be confusing. There are so many types of cream that all seem so similar but each one is just slightly different.
Custard in general is any type of dish where milk, cream, or cheese is thickened by eggs. This encompasses any egg based cream whether or not it has dairy, starch, etc. For reference, pudding is basically a pastry cream without eggs so it would not be considered a custard because of the lack of eggs, even though they are very similar in texture and flavor.
Pastry cream is a type of custard that generally has a higher milk to egg ratio and uses the addition of flour or cornstarch to help thicken it.
It’s traditionally made with just egg yolks but it can also be made using whole eggs, it will just be less rich. Pastry cream is very rich and silky and it should set; it should not be runny or pourable (that would be creme anglaise). It can have lower or higher amounts of starch to help it thicken more or less, depending on the consistency you are looking for.
The recipe I use is slightly adapted from the pastry cream recipe in the book Desserts by Pierre Herme written by Dorie Greenspan.
If you like learning about types of creams, check out my cookbook Frosted for 14 base frosting recipes.
I also have a baking basics page that includes other creams like Swiss meringue buttercream, French buttercream and Chantilly Cream.
How To Make Pastry Cream
Pastry cream is one of those recipes that isn’t difficult to make, but can go very wrong if you don’t follow the directions properly. When cooking eggs, it’s important to slowly heat them up and not overcook them so that the texture is smooth and silky and not like sweet scrambled eggs lol.
You’re going to want to temper the eggs (you can skip this if you’re experienced but it’s better to be safe than sorry) by heating the milk first and slowly heating the eggs with the hot milk. The eggs were whisked with sugar and cornstarch so all of that gets cooked together until it thickens. After it thickens, pour into a bowl and whisk in the butter. At this point the fat will separate and the mixture will look curdled. Just whisk it all together well and it comes back together. I like to add my vanilla bean paste at the very end so we don’t cook off any of the flavor.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Sugar: I use granulated sugar and this pastry cream is barely sweetened so don’t cut the sugar. I have also made it with brown sugar and it works well.
- Eggs: you can either use just egg yolks or whole eggs. Read below to see how I adapt the recipe to use both the whites and the yolks. I don’t recommend an egg replacement.
- Cornstarch: this is used to thicken the pastry cream. The cream can be made with different amounts of cornstarch, depending on how thick you want the consistency. I definitely recommend a digital scale to measure this.
- Butter: I use salted butter for pastry cream since it’s just a little but unsalted works fine too. I would add a little extra tiny pinch of sea salt if you use unsalted.
- Milk: I recommend full-fat milk but 2% or dairy free milk also works fine.
- Vanilla: See below for different flavor options but for vanilla, I like to use vanilla bean paste. Vanilla extract and vanilla beans also work, the higher the quality the better the flavor.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat, just until it starts to steam and/or simmer, 1-2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk well until the mixture is completely smooth and there are no lumps.
- Temper the eggs, by streaming the hot milk into the egg mixture while whisking the eggs. Pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan and whisk continuously over medium-low heat.
- The pastry cream will begin to thicken after about just 2-3 minutes. At this point whisk aggressively for another 30-60 seconds.
- Continue whisking while you remove the pan from heat and then pour it into a bowl. Give it another good whisk, making sure there are no lumps.
- Add the butter and vanilla and allow the heat from the pastry cream to melt the butter. It may separate at first but as you whisk, the pastry cream will come back together and should be smooth and silky. *if you have any lumps, feel free to press the pastry cream through a sieve while it’s still warm.
How to make pastry cream with whole eggs
Pastry cream is traditionally made with just egg yolks but sometimes, when you need a larger quantity it can be frustrating to have to use up that many leftover egg whites.
To make pastry cream using the whole egg instead of just the egg yolks, I replace three large egg yolks with 1 whole large egg.
The results are not identical but very similar – an egg yolk pastry cream is always going to be more rich, more silky, more flavorful and more yellow in color but the texture and consistency is just about the same (the egg white one is slightly less stiff) and they can be used interchangeably (in my recipes).
How To Customize Pastry Cream
This is just a base recipe that can easily be customized. You can flavor pastry cream, make it thicker or thinner depending on your needs or make smaller and larger amounts, depending on what you need it for.
How to flavor Crème Pâtissière
There’s a few different methods you can use to flavor pastry cream.
- Whisk in 2-4 Tbsp (20-40g) of cocoa powder with the sugar, egg yolks and cornstarch.
- Fold in some melted chocolate chips/chocolate bars after it’s done – this will yield a thicker/more stiff texture once it cools.
- Mix in citrus zest and/or replace some of the milk (about ¼ cup) with citrus juice.
- Fold in freeze dried ground fruit, nutella, peanut butter, cookie butter, etc.
- Steep the milk with vanilla beans, chai spices, teas, etc. to give it flavor before tempering the eggs.
How to thicken Pastry Cream
In my base recipe I use 30 grams of cornstarch (corn flour) to thicken the pastry cream. This results in a medium stiffness. It’s not loose but it’s not super thick either, it holds it’s shape well when it’s chilled. I like this texture for trifles, donut fillings, cream puffs, etc.
However depending on what you’re using it for, you could thicken it more or less. Use 20 grams of cornstarch for a more loose pastry cream. This is not pipe-able but it’s still great for things like trifles, donuts or even a cake filling if you create a dam with the buttercream like I did in my Creme Brulee Cake below.
You could also thicken it more, using 40 grams of cornstarch, if you wanted to use it for something like piping on mille feuille, a Boston cream pie, or a tart filling that’s sturdy. This is stiff enough to be used on cakes without building a dam but I still wouldn’t stack it too high.
Adjusting the quantity
Conveniently most of the ingredients in this recipe can be divided in threes so you can easily scale this recipe up or down. I highly recommend using a scale to measure the cornstarch, sugar and butter.
You can make a tiny amount of pastry cream using just one egg yolk, 15 grams of sugar, 10 grams of cornstarch, 1/3 cup of milk, 1 Tbsp of butter and a little vanilla and salt. To make a recipe this small, make sure to use a tiny saucepan as well and keep the heat a little lower so it doesn’t scramble.
The recipe can also easily be doubled whether you’re using 6 egg yolks, 2 whole eggs or 1 whole egg and 3 egg yolks. Just use a larger saucepan or give it a little extra time to cook.
How to use Crème Pâtissière
Pastry cream is rich, similar to a lemon curd and chocolate ganache. I would say you could use it in place of curds, ganaches and jams.
For example, it could be used as a cake filling with a buttercream border similar to how I did my creme brulee cake.
It could be used to fill my Brioche Donuts – although it is very rich so I would prefer the whole egg version for this.
You could fill cupcakes with pastry cream, the same way I filled my birthday cake cupcakes.
I used pastry cream in these mini pistachio cream pies but you can also use it to fill a large pre-baked tart.
Some other popular desserts that use pastry cream are:
- Boston Cream Pie
- Boston Cream Donuts
- Eclairs
- Cream Puffs
- Mille Feuille
- Trifles
- Creme Brulee Cake, cupcakes, macarons, etc.
- Banana Cream Pie
- Banana Pudding, cake, cupcakes, etc.
Pastry cream is also the base for other creams like Diplomat Cream and Creme Mousseline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dairy free butter and milk work great for pastry cream!
That would be vanilla pudding and I would just use a completely different recipe.
How to store pastry cream
Make sure to cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on top, and refrigerate it for a couple of days. Gently whisk it to make it smooth again. Whatever dessert you use it in, make sure to refrigerate that as well or it will go bad at room temperature.
Pastry cream does not freeze well either, it will weep once it’s thawed again so I recommend using it up after a couple days in the fridge.
Thanks so much for reading today’s post, if you have any questions just comment down below.
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As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!
Love, B
Tried this recipe for my kids birthday breakfast, strawberries and cream crepes. The whole family loved it! I thought I had messed up because I only had 2.5 tablespoons of cornstarch, but it came out in a pudding like consistency which still worked.