How to Make Pastry Cream

Homemade pastry cream (crème pâtissière) is a versatile custard filling you can use in so many baked goods, such as pies, eclairs, cupcakes, cream puffs, mille-feuille, and more. Follow my step-by-step instructions and success tips to get started, and then let your imagination run wild with all the ways to use it!

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of biting into a classic cream puff, eclair, or a slice of Boston cream pie, you’re familiar with pastry cream. Crème pâtissière, in French, is a vanilla-flavored custard-like filling you can use to fill pastries and other treats, such as fruit tarts, doughnuts, and more. You cook it on the stove just like you prepare the filling for banana cream pie, and then chill it before using.

And yes, it can replace the pudding filling in banana cream pie!

It’s not only versatile in its uses, but also in its many variations. Fold in whipped cream to make a crème légère, or lightened cream (which we do for the filling of this mille-feuille). Mix with whipped butter to make a crème mousseline. And experiment with different flavors, such as adding lemon, cinnamon, flavored liqueur, or a splash of almond extract.

The one in the recipe card below is a classic vanilla-flavored pastry cream.

Ingredients You Need:

1. Egg Yolks: Just like when making custard or lemon curd, you need just the rich yolks of the eggs here. (Use the leftover egg whites in one of these recipes.)
2. Cornstarch: Cornstarch thickens the pastry cream as it cooks.
3. Whole Milk: Do not substitute a lower-fat or nondairy milk in this recipe.
4. Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the cream.
5. Butter: A Tablespoon adds just enough buttery flavor, and keeps the cream, well, creamy!
6. Vanilla: This is the key flavor in this pastry cream, so don’t skimp on quality. You need pure vanilla extract, plus the seeds scraped from half a vanilla bean. Alternatively, you could use pure vanilla bean paste in place of both extract + seeds.
7. Salt: Just a pinch, to balance and round out the flavor.

Recommended Tools for Making Pastry Cream

How to Make It

The detailed instructions are in the recipe below, but let me share some key steps and success tips so you have a better understanding before you begin.

Cornstarch and egg yolks thicken the cream. Combine those first, to begin dissolving the powdery cornstarch.

Heat the milk and sugar. You’ll simmer whole milk and granulated sugar together on the stove, and then remove it from heat:

Now you’ll temper the egg yolks.

Tempering is important here. If you’ve never done it before, tempering egg yolks is nothing to fear—all you’re doing is slowly raising the temperature of the egg yolks so they don’t scramble. If you can whisk, you can temper! Slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks and cornstarch, whisking constantly.

Here is the egg yolk/cornstarch mixture with *some* of the warm milk/sugar whisked in. It begins to thin out almost immediately.

Strain it. After you’ve whisked in all of the hot milk/sugar mixture, pour it all into the saucepan through a fine-mesh sieve, to strain out any solids that may have formed during tempering:

Now you’ll place the mixture back on the stove.

Bring it to a boil. At first it won’t seem like it’s thickening much, just getting frothy, but as soon as it reaches a boil with big bubbles bursting on the surface, it will thicken up pretty much immediately.

Remove from heat & add flavor. Stir in butter, vanilla extract, vanilla bean + a pinch of salt.

This recipe makes about 2–2.5 cups of pastry cream, or about 580–610g.

Here is the pastry cream before chilling:

Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the pastry cream before chilling to prevent a “skin” from forming on the surface. Chill it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours or overnight. It will firm up a lot during this time.

Give it a stir after chilling and it’s ready to use!

Try It as Diplomat Cream

You can take this recipe a step further and add whipped cream to the chilled pastry cream. This considerably lightens up the texture, making it velvety-smooth—think homemade whipped cream, but richer and more substantial. When you add whipped cream to pastry cream, I learned, it’s called crème légère, or lightened cream. (It can also be called diplomat cream or crème diplomate, but that sometimes includes gelatin.)

This is the pastry cream after combining with whipped cream. I use it to fill mille-feuille.

Flavor Ideas

Add these flavoring suggestions when you whisk in the butter and salt.

• Lemon: Skip the vanilla bean, reduce the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon, and whisk in 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon zest.
• Lime: Same as above, but with lime juice/zest.
• Coconut: Skip the vanilla bean, reduce the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon, and whisk in 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract. Taste, then whisk in more if desired.
• Espresso: Skip the vanilla bean, keep the vanilla extract the same, and whisk in 1 teaspoon espresso powder.
• Cinnamon: Skip the vanilla bean, keep the vanilla extract the same, and whisk in 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
• Almond: Skip the vanilla bean, reduce the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon, and whisk in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Taste, then whisk in more if desired.
• Liqueur: Skip the vanilla bean, reduce the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon, and whisk in 1 to 2 Tablespoons of your favorite flavored liqueur such as Chambord or Grand Marnier.

Uses for Pastry Cream Filling

I also use it as a cake filling, like Boston Cream Pie. Note the recipe difference, though. That recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen cookbook, and it uses half-and-half, flour, and more egg yolks. In my own testing, the recipe below produces pretty much the same results in terms of thickness and stability, so it’s great to use in layer cakes! Either works wonderfully.

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How to Make Pastry Cream

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  Author: Sally
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  Prep Time: 5 minutes
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  Cook Time: 15 minutes
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  Total Time: 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
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  Yield: 2–2.5 cups
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  Category: Dessert
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  Method: Cooking
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  Cuisine: French

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Description

Homemade pastry cream (crème pâtissière) is a versatile custard filling you can use in so many baked goods, such as pies, eclairs, cream puffs, mille-feuille, and more. Follow my step-by-step instructions and success tips to get started, and then let your imagination run wild with all the ways to use it!

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Instructions

1. In a large heatproof bowl (preferably with a pour spout), whisk the egg yolks and cornstarch together with a fork. It may not look like it will all come together (it will be dry at first), but keep mixing until the mixture is thick and combined. If it’s not coming together at all, add a few drops of the milk you need in step 3 to bring together. Set aside at room temperature.
2. Combine the milk and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to a gentle simmer. Remove from heat. Pour the warm milk and sugar mixture in a slow and steady stream into the egg yolk and cornstarch mixture, whisking the entire time. Keep those egg yolks moving so they don’t scramble. Over a sieve, to strain out any egg yolk solids that may have formed during tempering, pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
   
   
3. Return the saucepan to medium heat, and whisk constantly. The mixture will be frothy on the surface at first, and then it will begin to thicken quickly and large bubbles will begin to burst on the surface. This usually takes about 1–2 minutes. Stand back and use caution. Let the bubbles burst for about 20 seconds, or until the mixture has thickened into a custard- or pudding-like consistency. (For a more accurate test, the custard is done when the temperature reaches 185–190°F (85–88°C).) Remove from heat. Whisk in butter, vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds, and a pinch of salt. Cool for 10 minutes.
   
   
4. Transfer the pastry cream from the saucepan to a heatproof bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap or parchment directly on the surface of the custard, to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, and up to 24 hours. Makes 2–2.5 cups, or about 580–610g.

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Notes

1. Make Ahead Instructions: You can make this pastry cream up to 24 hours in advance. See step 4.
2. Special Tools (affiliate links): Egg Separator | Heatproof Bowl With a Pour Spout | Wire Whisk or Silicone Whisk | Medium Saucepan | Sieve | Heatproof Bowl
3. Can I Use Vanilla Bean Paste Instead of Vanilla + Vanilla Bean? Yes, you can use vanilla bean paste because it combines both extract AND vanilla bean seeds. Leave the vanilla and vanilla bean seeds out and use 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste instead.
4. Other Flavor Ideas: See list above the recipe including lemon, cinnamon, espresso, coconut, etc.
5. How to Make Diplomat/Lightened Cream: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip 1/2 cup (120ml) cold heavy cream on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, about 3 minutes. Add the chilled pastry cream to the bowl with the whipped cream. Beat on low speed until just combined and smooth. Do not over-mix. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.
6. Leftover egg whites? I have some recipe ideas for you!
7. Can I Use This as a Filling for Layer Cakes? Yes. See this Boston Cream Pie recipe. Note the pastry cream recipe differences, though. That recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen cookbook, and it uses half-and-half, flour, and more egg yolks. In my own testing, the recipe here produces pretty much the same results in terms of thickness and stability, so it’s great to use in layer cakes! Either works wonderfully for your cakes.