Ella’s home kitchen

Crème pâtissière is the backbone of classic French pastry, but making it at home doesn’t have to be intimidating. With just a handful of ingredients and a few simple steps, you can craft a rich, velvety pastry cream that can be used to fill any delicious pastry.

Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks
• 40 g sugar
• 20 g cornstarch
• 200 ml milk
• 10 g unsalted butter
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt

Instructions

1. In a heatproof bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and salt until smooth.
2. Whisk in the cornstarch until lump-free.
3. Warm milk over medium heat until steaming (do not boil).
4. Slowly pour ⅓ of the hot milk into the egg mixture while whisking constantly.
5. Return mixture to the pan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thick and bubbling (2–3 mins).
6. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
7. Strain through a sieve, cover with plastic wrap touching the surface, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Baker’s Note You can substitute 1 whole egg for the yolks to avoid waste. If you do, reduce cornstarch to 10 g and blend with an immersion blender if any lumps form!