Recipe: Pastry Cream [edit]

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Edited by: Emily, Taylor Davies, POM Wonderful

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Wikipedia

Custard is a range of preparations based on milk and eggs. Most commonly, custard refers to a dessert or dessert sauce, but custard bases are also used for quiches and other savoury foods. As a dessert, it is made from a combination of milk or cream, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla. Sometimes flour, corn starch, or gelatin are also added. Custard is usually cooked in a double boiler (bain-marie), microwave or heated very gently in a saucepan on a stove, though custard can also be steamed, baked in the oven with or without a hot water bath, or even cooked in a pressure cooker. Cooking until it is set without cooking it so much that it curdles is a delicate operation, because only 5–10 °F (3–6 °C) separate the two. A water bath slows heat transfer and makes it easier to remove the custard from the oven before it curdles.Harold McGee, ''On Food and Cooking'', 1984, ISBN 0-684-18132-0, p. 71 Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce (crème anglaise), to a thick blancmange like that used for vanilla slice or the pastry cream used to fill éclairs. Custard is an important part of dessert recipes from many countries.

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Yield: 1 pound 8 ounces

[edit] Ingredients

1	pint whole milk
½	teaspoon vanilla bean OR ½ tsp vanilla
1	ounce cornstarch
4	ounces granulated sugar
¼	teaspoon salt
2	eggs
2	ounces unsalted butter

[edit] Preparation

Step 1	Place the milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Step 2	If using the vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the pod halves to the milk.
Step 3	Bring to a boil.
Step 4	Whisk the cornstarch, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Gradually add the eggs and mix until smooth.
Step 5	Temper a little milk into the eggs, and then add them to the rest of the milk.
Step 6	Whisk until thickened, remove from heat.

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[edit] About Pastry Cream

Similar to custard.
Pastry cream can be used to fill eclairs, cream puffs, pies, and tarts, among other things.
Can be mixed with whipped cream to lighten the texture.