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Bring the milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar, the orange zest to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. |
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How to make Crème Pâtissière
Crème pâtissière is the French name for Pastry cream. Crème pâtissière is a delicious rich egg custard that provides the filling for a variety of pastries. Crème pâtissière is used to fill in cream puffs, éclairs, fresh fruit tarts, or it may fill the center of a cake. Though the traditional crème pâtissière is vanilla flavored but there are various variants such as chocolate, lemon, orange, coconut, or coffee. Crème pâtissière tends to be more like whipping cream—though depending upon the recipe, it may also be firm. The basic ingredients of crème pâtissière are cornstarch, milk, eggs, sugar and flavorings. Crème pâtissière tends to get its thickness from the cornstarch. Cornstarch usually produces thicker custard and longer cooking time can make a thicker crème pâtissière, but you have to be very careful not to burn the cream.
Ingredients:
Yield 2 to 2/4 cups, enough for 2 two 9 inch tarts
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2 cup milk 1/2 cup sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest 2 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 tablespoons cornstarch pinch of salt 3 large eggs (cold) 1 tablespoon butter
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Bring the milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar, the orange zest to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. |
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Sift together the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, the cornstarch and the salt into a large and add all the dry ingredients. Whisk until fluffy |
When the milk comes to a simmer, remove from the heat... |
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Ladle out 1/2 cup of the hot milk and drizzle it slowly into the eggs while whisking constantly until all the hot milk is incorporated. |
Pour the mixture back into the hot milk, whisking constantly. Be sure to scrape all the eggs into the pan with a wooden spoon. |
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Immediately begin to rapidly whish the Crème pâtissière. In less than 1 minutes, it will boil and begin to thicken. Continue to whisk for about 3 minutes . To test the Crème pâtissière for doneness, tilt the saucepan to one side. The Crème pâtissière should puff away from the pan completely. |
Strain the Crème pâtissière through a fine mesh strainer back into a bowl.
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Add the butter and stir until it is melted and incorporated. |
The Crème pâtissière is now ready to use but you will need to cool it down and then refrigerate it. Put a plastic wrap of top of the Crème pâtissière to prevent a skin to form. The Crème pâtissière can be refrigerated for up to 3 to 4 days.
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