French Pastry Cream Recipe
This is an easy to make French pastry cream recipe that is thick, creamy and packed full of vanilla flavor. Also known as crème pâtissière, it can be used in so many different ways, fillings for tarts and eclairs, or even used in between layers cakes and cupcakes. This recipe is all made in one pot, so there’s less clean up than other recipes!
Hey team, Nick here. There are so many things to love about this thick French custard recipe. It’s basically a celebration of vanilla. I like using both vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste, just to give it a good punch of flavor.
It’s rich and creamy. And it’s thick too which makes it perfect for using as a filling in things like chocolate eclairs and layer cakes like my Boston cream pie. Those are my favorite ways to use it. Although I’m not against just eating it with a spoon!
Related – I have a rich chocolate pastry cream recipe on the site too! If you want to take your chocolate eclairs over the edge chocolate wise, this is the perfect chocolate filling!
My secret to getting and ultra-smooth pastry cream filling is actually using a whisk when you’re mixing it. It helps all the ingredients mix really nicely and lessens the chance of lumps.
It only requires a few basic ingredients to make. The egg yolks are what give it it’s rich creamy flavor. I like adding a little corn starch just to help thicken it up a little extra so it’s not oozing out of things.
Let’s talk Vanilla!
It’s what gives this the pastry cream loads of flavor. You can use a real vanilla bean pod if you like. I’ve left instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of the post on how to do that. But I like simplifying things but using a good dollop of vanilla bean paste and a splash of vanilla extract. The flavor of your pastry cream depends on the quality of ingredients so aim for the best you can get!
How to Make Pastry Cream At Home!
Tip – The key with this recipe is to make it using a whisk. It’ll help everything mix together really smoothly. And make sure you cook on medium heat. Nothing higher than that.
- Add the dry ingredients to a heavy bottomed pot and whisk to combine.
- Add the egg yolks and whisk until well combined.
- Add about 1/4 of the milk, both vanillas and whisk in. Then add the remaining milk and whisk.
- Cook the mixture on medium heat and whisk continuously until the mixture thickens. It’ll take about 4-5 minutes. Once it thickens and begins to bubble, set a timer for 3 minutes and continue whisking on medium heat. Take off the heat.
- Add 1/4 of the butter and whisk in until melted.
- Continue doing this until it’s all been added.
Tip – You want to make sure your butter is cold so that it melts into the hot pastry cream slowly. Otherwise it can cause the pastry cream to split.
- Transfer to a bowl and cover the surface of the pastry cream with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for 5 hours. Overnight is best.
Optional – Run through a fine mesh sieve into a medium mixing bowl to get rid of any lumps.
The pastry cream will set quite firm, and that’s by design because I don’t like biting into my eclairs with the filling coming out. To smoothen it back out using a hand whisk and whick until smooth. Although I find using an electric hand mixer much easier. It’ll come out super smooth.
It’s now ready to use in your fave dessert!
Why is my pastry cream grainy?
The most common reason this happens is because your pastry cream was cooked on too high a heat. Cook it on medium heat to prevent the eggs from curdling. It can also happen if you added the hot milk to the eggs too quickly and they curdled. Unfortunately, there’s no fixing grainy pastry cream.
A Quick Baking Guide
If you’re new to baking or just want to brush up on the basics, these guides are a great place to start!
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Silky smooth French Pastry Cream (One Pot Recipe)
Whip up homemade, one-pot French pastry cream like a pro with my step-by-step guide! It’s perfect for using in pies, tarts, eclairs and more!
Serves 2 cups
Ingredients
French Pastry Cream
- 500 g whole milk, not skim, warmed
- 7 tsp vanilla bean paste, see notes
- 14 g pure vanilla extract
- 40 g corn starch, corn flour
- 60 g caster sugar, superfine sugar
- Pinch of fine salt
- 4 egg yolks
- 80 g unsalted butter, cubed and cold
Learn How To Make it! [VIDEO]
Instructions
French Pastry Cream
- Combine dry ingredients and eggs – To a medium sized heavy bottomed stainless-steel pot, add the corn starch, sugar and salt and use a whisk to combine. Add the egg yolks and whisk until smooth.
- Add the milk – Slowly add the warmed milk, about 1/4 cup at a time, and whisk each time until all of the milk has been added. It’s at this point you can add the vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste if using.
- Cook pastry cream – Cook in the pot on medium heat. Use a whisk to mix continuously. Do not stop mixing or the pastry cream will become grainy. After about 7-8 minutes the mixture will begin to thicken. Continue whisking until the mixture begins to bubble. When it bubbles, stir for 3 minutes, then take off the heat.
- Add butter – Add 1/4 of the butter and whisk until it’s melted and well combined. Repeat until all the butter has been added. You want to do this slowly, so the pastry cream doesn’t split.
- Run through a sieve – Run the thickened pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve into a medium sized mixing bowl to get rid of any lumps.
- Chill to set – Cover the surface of the pastry cream with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 5 hours. Overnight is best.
- Once set – Give the pastry cream a whisk before using to smoothen it out again. This can be used to fill pastries like eclairs, cupcakes and depending on how long it was cooked for can be used in between cake layers or to fill tarts.
Notes
Vanilla
I like using vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract in my pastry cream. Helps boost the rich vanilla flavor. But you can use vanilla bean pods instead if you like. Here’s how to use them!
- How to prepare a vanilla bean (if using) – Use a sharp knife to cut the bean in half lengthwise. Then, use the sharp end of the knife to scrape out the vanilla pods from inside the bean. Add the milk, bean halves and scraped out seeds into a medium sized heavy bottomed stainless-steel pot. Heat on medium heat until warm, not hot. When you’re ready to use it, run it through a sieve as you pour it into the rest of the ingredients.
Nutrition
Calories : 725kcal
Carbonhydrates: 37g
Protein: 14g
Fat: 50g
Saturated Fat: 29g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g
Monounsaturated Fat : 14g
Trans Fat : 1g
Cholesterol: 505mg
Sodium: 121mg
Potassium : 469mg
Fiber: 0.2g
Sugar : 18g
Vitamin A: 1924IU
Calcium: 367mg
Iron: 1mg
Nutrition Disclosure
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18 comments
Hey Nick, love your recipes, although this recipe calls for “Dark Chocolate”, just wanted to let you know in case it’s a typo.
Hi Hamish! Sorry about that, looks like I uplaoded the chocolate pastry cream when I updated the recipe! Have gone in and fixed that, thanks so much for letting me know!
Just wondering whether this can be used in vanilla slices (I am aware that you have a vanilla slice recipe) and also regarding the nutritional notes – is this for per serving or for the full amount? Many thanks.
Hey Suzanne! This pastry cream would actually be a little too soft for vanilla slices. The custard in my vanilla slice recipe is designed to set firmer, which is better for slicing. As for the nutritional notes, they’re based on per cup (250ml). Hope that helps! N x
Hi, Nick
This recipes says 500g milk. Milk is usually weighed in mls or litres which i am used to using. To be accurate for this recipe, do you mean 500ml milk?
Hey Leslie! Great question! Yep, 500g of milk is the same as 500ml, since 1g of milk equals 1ml. I’m actually slowly converting all my recipes, including liquids, to grams for simplicity. Since most ingredients are weighed in grams, it’s just easier to measure everything on a kitchen scale—plus, in my experience, unless you bend down to eye level, it’s easy to mismeasure liquids in a cup. And the best part? Grams are the same no matter where you are in the world! Hope this helps, and happy baking! N x
Hi, Nick.
I made this recipe last night, & ate it tonight. It was thick, creamy & delicious! Thanks for clarifying the milk quantity!
Regards,
Leslie
Hey Leslie! So happy to hear you loved it! Thick and creamy is exactly what we want with this recipe! Glad the milk clarification helped. Thanks for coming back to let me know you loved it! N x
Lovely cream, work well with a sponge cake
Hey Laly! So glad you enjoyed the pastry cream, and I love the idea of pairing it with sponge cake! Thanks for sharing your take on it. Happy baking! N x
Hello, the recipe says corn starch but your video says corn starch AND flour. I look forward to your answer because I have been trying to find a recipe for thick pastry cream and now I’m confused! I might something between this and your vanilla slice. Thank you for your recipes and charm.
Hi Nina! Sorry about that. That video was the old recipe, this recipe has been updated. I’ll take the video away and update it when the new video is ready on YouTube! Thanks for letting me know. The recipe in this blog post will give you a nice thick pastry cream with just corn starch. I found the flour gave it an odd texture sometimes.
In the video, you state that you use cornstarch and flour. Flour is not in your list of ingredients. How much flour?
Hey Ines! Good catch! That was from the old version of the recipe, but I’ve since updated it to use only cornstarch. No flour needed in this one! Hope that clears things up, and happy baking! N x
This recipe is rich [in a good way] and not too sweet. I divided the pastry cream in two and added vanilla extract and lemon extract as it is what I have on hand. Used the leftover egg whites for meringue kisses.
So glad you loved the richness Cherry! N x
Hi Nick, the receipe states 4 egg yolks, however in the video of the recope you added 6. which is the correct number?
Hi Uzma! The video needs updating, working on that. 4 is the correct number 🙂 N x