pastry cream is a staple in every
Baker's kitchen it's used as a filling
for so many cakes and tarts but let's
start at the beginning a classic vanilla
bean pastry thing I start with a cup of
milk that I bring to a simmer on medium
heat you can use whole milk 2% or even
1% but I don't recommend using skim for
a pastry cream you want that richness
cooked in there also when it comes to
deciding what type of pot to use for
your pastry cream you want to pick a
heavy-bottomed pot so the pastry cream
cooks evenly it's important and
recommended to cook using a stainless
steel pot if you cook in an aluminum pot
and whisk the pastry cream there's
actually a transfer of color in your
pastry cream can turn gray that's not
what you want I'll add about a teaspoon
and a half of vanilla bean paste I do
like to use the paste or a bean
especially when you're going to see it
as we are in the strawberry cream tarts
for the eggs three eggs but just the
yolks the whites I'll actually save for
the souffle I'll be making later on I'm
going to grab a little bit of butter two
tablespoons that I'm going to put in
this bowl that I have ready to strain
the pastry cream into a pastry cream is
thickened by egg yolks and cornstarch
I'll add two tablespoons to the yolks
and I see that the milk is just coming
up to a simmer so now I can add the
sugar 3 tablespoons add your sugar right
before you're about to add your milk if
sugar sits in contact with raw egg yolks
it actually develops a bit of a skin and
then you just have a few more lumps in
your pastry cream I whisk everything
together and the next step is called
tempering temporary is that gradual
addition of hot milk to cool eggs and
cornstarch just to even up the
temperature so that the pastry cream
stays smooth and silky the entire
mixture goes back into the pot and then
on medium heat again you want to whisk
this constantly until it thickens up
there we go so it's important to push it
through a strainer you can use your
spatula
or you with just stir it in to melt the
butter and the final step as the pastry
cream cools to put plastic wrap directly
on the surface of the custard no putting
skin here so the plastic prevents that
altogether
I'll chill it down completely takes
about an hour maybe two and right now
it's use will be to fill some lovely
strawberry cream charts for these tarts
I'm making a simple graham cracker crust
so I start with a cup of plain graham
cracker crumbs and add a cup of flour to
that four teaspoons of sugar and just a
pinch of salt about 1/4 teaspoon I've
melted half a cup of unsalted butter and
then just before the butter in this is
now perfectly combined and ready for the
oven
it is a crumbly mixture and I've lightly
greased a mini tart pan and then I just
simply spoon a generous tablespoon full
into each shell and then just press it
into the bottom and up the sides and
there we go I've preheated the oven to
350 and these simply take ten minutes
just to set the butter and graham
crackers together when they come out of
the oven it's just a little bit of
browning to them but they really don't
change their appearance I have some of
the tart shells already cooled and ready
for filling now it's time to fill them
so the pastry cream has chilled
completely it's always a good idea to
give the pastry cream a little stir
before you fill or use it using a pastry
bag is the easiest way to fill the
little tarts in the most tidy manner
before I start filling I like to pop the
tart shells out of their tin
and then fill it right to the top it's
like so and now that the pastry cream is
fully chilled you won't get a pudding
skin so these don't have to be covered
at this point except with your garnish
of course in this case nice strawberry
half but a vanilla bean pastry cream
suits any berry topping it is simple and
it's also quite elegant