Pastry Cream Crème Pâtissière Food

PASTRY CREAM

Steps:

• Stir together the milk, salt, vanilla bean and seeds and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a medium saucepan until smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the sugar has just dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the cornstarch, egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl until smooth. While continually whisking, slowly pour in about 1/2 cup of the warm milk mixture. Continue to whisk until smooth. (This is called tempering, and it will prevent the yolks from scrambling.) Continue whisking and adding 1/2 cup of the warm milk mixture at a time until completely combined and smooth.
• Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and turn the heat to medium. Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and the texture of pudding, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, then whisk in the butter until smooth and glossy. Remove the vanilla bean.
• Strain the pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface of the pastry cream, and refrigerate until chilled through, at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Before serving, whisk the pastry cream until smooth and fluffy.

PASTRY CREAM (CRèME PATISSERIE)

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, heat the Milk, Sugar, Vanilla and Salt to a gentle simmer, completely dissolving the Sugar. Stir frequently as Milk can easily scorch over high heat.
• While the Milk mixture comes to a simmer, whisk together the Egg Yolks and Cornstarch in a large bowl until smooth.
• Once the Milk mixture reaches temperature, slowly pour approximately half of it into the Egg mixture while whisking, tempering the Egg mixture. Return the saucepan to the stove and pour all of the tempered Egg mixture back into the saucepan.
• With the saucepan over medium heat, return the mixture to a gentle simmer while whisking actively. Once it is simmering, continue to cook the Pastry Cream for two minutes, whisking constantly.
• Chef's Note: It is important to monitor your heat. Boiling the Pastry Cream for a full two minutes in necessary to activate the starches, but you do not want to burn the mixture.
• After two minutes, remove the saucepan from the heat. To cool the Pastry Cream, prepare a sheet tray by fully wrapping it with plastic wrap. Pour the Pastry Cream in a thin layer over the prepared sheet tray. Place another piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the Pastry Cream to prevent a skin from forming. Once the Pastry Cream has cooled to room temperature, place it in the refrigerator.
• Storage: The Pastry Cream can be stored in the refrigerator for three to four days. It should not be frozen. Before using Pastry Cream that has been refrigerated, beat it with a paddle attachment for several minutes to make it smooth again.

CREME PATISSIERE (PASTRY CREAM)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Set out a large bowl, a medium saucepan, a whisk or heavy spoon, and a sieve or strainer.
• In the medium-sized saucepan, heat the milk with the vanilla bean over medium heat almost to boiling.
• While the milk is heating, mix the egg yolks and sugar together in the large bowl.
• Then whisk in the flour and cornstarch until the mixture is smooth.
• Remove the vanilla bean from the milk.
• Then, gradually whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture. Do this very slowly as you don't want the yolks to cook from the heat of the milk.
• Strain the mixture back into the saucepan.
• Place over medium heat, stirring or constantly whisking until the mixture thickens and reaches a boil. Continue cooking for half a minute longer, stirring hard and constantly to keep the pastry cream smooth.
• Remove the pastry cream from the heat. Stir in the vanilla flavoring at this point if you did not use a vanilla bean. Place a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to avoid a skin forming, and leave to cool to room temperature.
• The pastry cream can be used when cool, or covered and refrigerated for up to several days until needed. Stir chilled pastry cream before using.