For the longest of times I would avoid making vanilla pastry cream, but after recently experimenting with choux pastry, choux a la creme and eclairs, I felt like it was time to give pastry cream another chance. I used to find it too thick and dense in the past, but this recipe turn my world upside down so to speak and I rediscovered what’s said to be the most basic of the cremes used in the pastry kitchen.

Pastry cream, also known as creme patisserie, is prepared with milk, eggs and sugar and it uses either flour or cornstarch as the binding agent, depending on the degree of lightness desired.  The flavorings can include vanilla, rum or Cointreau, but also chocolate or coffee. The recipe below is an adaptation after the recipe provided by the Le Cordon Bleu pastry book. They prefer using a mix of flour and cornstarch and I find this to be my desired lightness – the cream is smooth, not too dense and it melts in your mouth when you eat it. It’s also a great base for other creams used in the pastry kitchens, but more on that in a future blog post.

{Introduction to Pastry} - Vanilla Pastry Cream - Crema de vanilie

 

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Author: Olguta - Pastry Workshop

Ingredients:

• 1000ml whole milk
• 125g white sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 2 eggs
• 125g white sugar
• 60g all-purpose flour
• 20g cornstarch
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Start by combining the milk and 125g sugar in a saucepan. If using vanilla bean, add it to the milk at this point. Bring to the boiling point over low to medium flame.
2. In the meantime, mix the egg yolks, eggs and the remaining sugar in a bowl until pale and double in volume.
3. Stir in the flour, cornstarch and salt and mix well then pour in the hot milk, mixing while doing so to prevent the eggs from curdling.
4. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place back over heat.
5. Cook, whisking all the time, until the mixture becomes to thicken. Ideally, you should cook the pastry cream for 1-2 minutes to make sure the flour is cooked through. The cream will go through various stages of stiffness. At first, it will set quickly, then it will soften as you boil it and set again. To test if it's ready, dip the tip of a cold knife into the cream then allow it to cool down. If you can remove the cream off the knife without leaving traces of cream on the blade of the knife, the cream is ready.
6. Remove from heat and cover the cream with plastic wrap on its surface.
7. Allow to cool down completely before adding the vanilla extract.

Notes

For the chocolate version, add 300g of melted chocolate in the warm pastry cream.
For the coffee version, stir 4 teaspoons of instant coffee in the hot milk.

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ROMANIAN

Mult timp am evitat sa fac crema de vanilie clasica. De fapt, nici acum nu pot spune ca e tocmai printre preferatele mele. Prefer mousse-ul, cremeux, jeleuri, insa cateodata aceasta crema este necesara, mai ales la deserturi precum eclerele sau choux a la creme. In plus, este poate crema de baza a cofetariei asa ca am considerat ca merita un loc pe acest blog.

Crema de vanilie se face din lapte, oua si zahar plus un agent care sa le lege pe toate impreuna, precum faina sau amidon. Reteta de fata este o adaptare dupa reteta Le Cordon Bleu. Ei folosesc un amestec de amidon si faina, obtinand astfel o crema fina, care se topeste in gura cu fiecare muscatura. Desi denumita crema de vanilie insa, aceasta baza poate fi aromata si cu rom, Cointreau, Grand Marnier, cafea sau ciocolata si poate fi folosita ca punct de pornire pentru alte creme.

Ingrediente:

• 1 litru lapte integral
• 125g zahar alb
• 6 galbenusuri
• 2 oua intregi
• 125g zahar alb
• 60g faina alba
• 20g amidon
• 1 praf de sare
• 1 pastaie de vanilie sau 2 lingurite extract de vanilie

Mod de preparare:

1. Incepeti prin a combina laptele cu 125g zahar intr-un vas suficient de mare. Puneti pe foc mic spre mediu si infierbantati laptele.
2. Combinati galbenusurile, ouale, un praf de sare si zaharul ramas intr-un bol si mixati pana ouale isi dubleaza volumul si obtineti un amestec deschis la culoare.
3. Adaugati faina si amidonul si amestecati bine.
4. Turnati laptele fierbinte peste amestecul de oua si faina, amestecand continuu cu un tel. Transferati inapoi in vasul de fiert si gatiti pana incepe sa se ingroase.
5. Gatiti crema aproximativ un minut apoi luati de pe foc si acoperiti la suprafata cu folie alimentara pentru a nu prinde crusta.

*daca folositi pastaie de vanilie, taiati-o in jumatate pe lungime si puneti-o in laptele fierbinte inca de la inceput.

*daca folositi extract de vanilie, incorporati-l dupa ce crema s-a racit.

*pentru varianta cu ciocolata, adaugati 300g ciocolata topita in crema calda.

*pentru varianta cu cafea, adaugati 4 lingurite de cafea instant in laptele fierbinte.