The basis of many custard and other pastry preparations!
ingredients for a portion made with 1 litre of milk (total cost about 6 € for the whole preparation with organic ingredients)
- 1 litre milk
- rind from 1 organic lemon
- 90-100 g starch (9-10%)
- 8 egg yolk (1 yolk per 125 ml milk)
- 100 g sugar (10%)
- un pizzico di sale
Pastry cream belongs to the family of custards, a variety of pastry preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk and egg yolk. It a very versatile cream used to fill tarts, choux pastries, puff pastry cakes, but also as a layer in sponge cakes, to make semifreddo, puddings and many many other preparations.
Its ingredients are eggs (normally we only use yolks, but in some case we use whole eggs – mostly when made to be baked in the oven), milk, sugar, starch (others put starch, others wheat flour, others a mixture of both), aromatics. (Some also add a little butter in the end).
To adjust the thickness of the cream, we lower or raise the starch ratio respectively. In the classic pastry cream the ratio is 10g of starch (either corn or rice) per 100ml of milk (10%). If we want our cream to be less thick (more fluid), we can lower the ratio to 8%, 6% or even 4%. If we want it thicker than the classic version, we can raise it a little bit (to 12%) but we should better not exaggerate because, it looses its velvety texture and becomes unpleasant in the mouth. In my standard version I use 8% starch, which gives my a fluid, velvety textured cream. According to the intended use, in the recipes we present you, we will be giving you the ratio of starch we propose.
The principal aromatics we can use for the pastry cream are vanilla pod and seeds, citrus fruits zest, orange blossom or rose or almond extract, star anise, herb leaves such as, mint, verbena, basil, lavender, rose scented geranium, cardamom etc., while the secondary aromatics, that practically are used to create variants of pastry cream can be chocolate, pistachio, hazelnut or chestnut puree, coffee etc. Keep in mind that we add the principal aromatics from the begging, in other words we add them to the milk, which we bring to a boil, and let them infuse in it for a while. On the contrary, the secondary aromatics, are added in the end.
So, before starting to make the cream, we place a ceramic bowl in the refrigerator and let it chill well.
In a saucepan with a heavy bottom, we boil a little water for 5 minutes and then discard it. We do so to protect milk from burning in the bottom of the pan. Then, in the same saucepan, we bring the milk just before the boiling point, together with the aromatics that we use. We turn off the heat, cover with cling film, or with a lid and let it infuse for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in bowl suitable for bain marie, we gently beat the yolks, the sugar and starch, until they become pale white, and we obtain a smooth, creamy consistency. We should not stop stirring at all, while the yolks are in contact with the sugar, because otherwise they will “cook” and the cream will turn lumpy.
We then incorporate the warm milk – after straining the aromatics – little by little in the beaten eggs, stirring constantly. We place our bowl over a double boiler (bain marie) filled half way up with hot water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and let it cook over medium to high heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken, that is when blisters start to burst. If you use a thermometer, keep in mind that the cream is ready, as soon as it reaches about 75 o C.
We immediately remove from the heat and quickly transfer the content of the cream into the bowl that has chilled in the refrigerator. We continue whisking very quickly in order to lower the temperature of the cream a little bit. This way we avoid the over-coagulation of the yolks and we ensure that our cream will have a perfect, smooth and velvety texture and a shiny look. We can also pass the custard through a fine sieve to eliminate eventual lumps, but if we do exactly as described above, it will probably not be necessary.
We transfer the pastry cream to a plate or baking dish to cool faster, cover with cling film in contact, so as not to form a skin, let it cool and keep it in the fridge, until it’s time to use it.