Foodie Bucket List: Vanilla Pastry Cream Filling

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Many times I have watched Anna Olson make pastry cream on Sugar and Bake, but I realized I had never made a post about it so I added it to my Foodie Bucket List. I made it for another item on the list, Mille Crêpe Cake, which I will be posting tomorrow. I took the pastry cream and added whipped cream to lighten it up for the layers between the crêpes and OMG, so delicious!!!

The Ingredients

“Pastry cream is a thick custard that can be used as a filling for any number of cakes, tarts or pastries. It is made with milk, eggs, sugar, cornstarch (or a mixture of flour and cornstarch) and flavoring. Vanilla is the most popular flavor for pastry cream, but the cream can be flavored with any number of different things, from extracts to liqueurs to chocolates to fruit purees.”

For this recipe you will need 1 egg, 1 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 cup milk, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp hot water and later 1-2 cups heavy cream +1 tbsp sugar.

Directions

In a small bowl whisk together egg, flour, sugar and cornstarch.

In a sauce pan over medium low heat warm up the milk until it gets steamy but do not let it boil.

Slowly drizzle and whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture, warming up the eggs without cooking them.

Return ingredients into sauce pan and whisk constantly for a few minutes until everything gets nice and thick. Add the hot water to help loosen it up a little.

Strain mixture into a clean bowl and whisk in the vanilla.

I used the vanilla bean paste because I wanted to see all those beautiful little seeds throughout the custard.

Once slightly cooled, press plastic wrap against surface and then chill in the fridge for a few hours.

Lightening Everything Up

The pastry cream can get very firm so I should have broken it up a little at first before adding it to 1 cup of heavy cream whipped with 1 tbsp sugar.

No worries! With a big whisk I managed to bring it altogether nice and smooth, ready for my Mille Crêpe Cake!

Foodie Results

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You can lighten it up even more with more whipped cream but I wanted some more body and texture.

This is what Cool Whip dreams of being one day! It is unbelievably light yet rich and delicious. A cholesterol bomb for sure but for that special dessert filling, there is nothing better.

I hope this tutorial helps inspire you to make it yourself one day! It comes together quite quickly, it just needs time to cool down in the fridge so plan accordingly and enjoy every heavenly pillowy spoonful.