Pastry Cream

I chose pastry cream as the recipe for today for so many reasons. First being, I’m making it today for a tart I’m baking. Secondly, it is so widely used for many, many pastries and I thought it would be great to add to my blog and to your repertoire.

This recipe I used in culinary school. You can find most dessert cookbooks with their own recipe for pastry cream. Basically, the outcome will be the same. I thought this is a quick and easy one let alone delicious. This was on our finals and we filled éclairs with this recipe.

Pastry cream by itself is vanilla pudding. I can’t get enough of this when I make it. You will find yourself licking the bowl and spoon. There are so many ways you can use pastry cream.

So here are a few suggestions. In gourmet grocery stores, they have tartlets shells already made. You can buy the shells and fill them with pastry cream and top off with fresh fruit. You can fill a whole pie with pastry cream and top with fruit. Make sure the piecrust is cooked before you fill, however. If you want to make éclairs, you fill with pastry cream. I will give you a recipe for making éclair shells later. Make homemade banana pudding with this pastry cream. YUM!!! The list goes on.

I love pastry cream by itself. It is so rich and luscious. This recipe will only last for a couple of days in your refrigerator. So it’s best to make it the day before or the day of using. If you have trouble, write me. I will talk you through it. It’s so worth making. Your friends will think you are a gourmet pastry chef.