Homemade Custard Recipe (Pastry Cream) (2024)

FAQs

Is pastry cream the same as custard? ›

Put simply, pastry cream is a type of custard. Adding cornstarch to the vanilla custard will give you a thick, firm substance (almost like vanilla pudding) that will hold its shape when piped. Custard that you can pour, which is only thickened with eggs, is actually called crème anglaise.

P.S. In case you're wondering what the difference is between Crème Pâtissière and custard (which the French refer to as Crème Anglaise), it's the cornflour. Officially, custard shouldn't contain cornflour. So basically, Crème Pâtissière (or pastry cream) is simply set custard.

There are three main varieties of custard: baked custard, stirred custard, and steamed custard. The first two are both popular in Western cuisine. Baked custard is typically firmer and made with whole eggs, while stirred custards can be much runnier and often only contain the yolks.

Pastry cream is basically glorified vanilla pudding, but the best, richest vanilla pudding you've ever had. The texture is thicker and more luxurious, while the flavor is softer and tastes like real vanilla instead of something artificial.

Bavarian Cream is made from a Crème Anglaise base (milk, vanilla, egg yolks and sugar), thickened with Gelatine and lightened with Whipped Cream. Pastry Cream (or Crème Pâtissière) is relatively similar to a Crème Anglaise but is thickened on the stove with Cornstarch (or sometimes flour).

Using a Thickening Agent

For 1 cup (240 mL) of custard, use 2 tablespoons (17 g) of flour mixed with 4 tablespoons (59 mL) of cold water. Add the mixture into your custard ingredients as they cook on the stove. Use cornstarch as an alternative to flour. Cornstarch, like flour, requires cold water as a mixing agent.

Recipes for custards and other egg-thickened dishes require combining the eggs with the liquid to be thickened. Most reflexively call for a tempering step—in which hot liquid is whisked into the eggs, after which that diluted egg mixture is whisked back into the rest of the hot liquid—to ensure the eggs don't scramble.

Whereas some recipes use flour instead, I prefer using cornstarch as it gives a better final taste and texture. Unsalted butter. The addition of butter makes the pastry cream even richer and creamier. It also helps it to set to the perfect texture during cooling.

Bavarian creams are custards stiffened with gelatin. Savoury custards are sometimes encountered, the most notable being quiche, a French tart with a filling of custard flavoured with cheese, onions, ham or bacon, or chopped vegetables.

If you use a recipe for the wrong type of custard, you might be unhappy with the results. Then, there are all the ways that you can curdle, split, or burn your custard, such as adding the eggs too quickly, failing to mix starches through properly, and not stirring custards constantly.

Does custard use whole eggs or just yolks? ›

With the eggs, the issue is whether to use the whole egg or only the yolk. Yolks give a richer tasting, velvety custard, and a deeper yellow colour which is more appetising. If you add whites there is more of a jellyish consistency. Whites make a sturdier custard and are useful if you wish to unmould a baked custard.

Most home cooks refer to frozen custard as ice cream, which is why many of our recipes at the Kitchn are also called ice cream, even though they contain egg yolks. Check out some of our favorite egg-based ice cream (aka custard) recipes.

At its most basic, crème brûlée is a creamy, pudding-like, baked custard with a brittle top of melted sugar that cracks when you gently tap it with a spoon. The custard is made with heavy cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla.

Bavarian cream filling on the other hand is a creamy custard-based filling that is used to fill desserts such as donuts. It's essentially a diplomat cream, which is pastry cream mixed with gelatin and whipped cream. This filling is thick enough to pipe, because it starts with the thicker and more stable pastry cream.

Pastry chefs use the milk-based custard, which is often thickened with cornstarch, as a blank canvas to add flavors like fruit, chocolate, or coffee into their desserts. At bakeries, pastry cream—also known as crème patissiere—is used to fill sweets like éclairs, Napoléons, and fruit tarts.

Crème anglaise (French: [kʁɛm ɑ̃glɛz]; French for 'English cream'), custard sauce, pouring custard, or simply custard is a light, sweetened pouring custard used as a dessert cream or sauce.

At its most basic, pastry cream is a combination of milk, eggs, and starch that are cooked together to create a rich and thick custard that's a workhorse in the baker's kitchen.

Frozen custard is higher in fat and calories than ice cream. This is because of the egg yolks and heavy cream used in its recipe. Frozen custard is also typically denser than ice cream, which means it is more calorie-dense. Ice cream is typically lower in fat and calories than frozen custard.