What is the difference between custard cream and creme patissiere?

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 .

Why did my creme patissiere not set?

If your pastry cream hasn't thickened properly, that can be down to two possible reasons: What is this? You haven't cooked it enough – cook it longer . Remember, you need to cook the pastry cream until it's thickened and it comes to a boil, and then cook it for about one minute longer.

Can I use heavy cream instead of milk for pastry cream?

“Heavy cream”, “whipping cream”, or even “double cream” will work here . This lends a rich creaminess to the finished product. If you're in a pinch, you can substitute both the milk and cream for half and half. Egg yolks.

Why is my creme patissiere too runny?

Runny pastry cream most often comes from undercooking the egg yolk mixture . If you remove it from the heat too soon, the amylase in the egg yolks won't break down and will prevent the cream from fully setting. If you find your crème pâtissière is too thin, return to heat and bring to a boil over medium heat to thicken.

What is the difference between crème pâtissière and diplomat?

Creme Patissiere is pastry cream, a rich custard thickened with cornstarch or flour. Creme Diplomate is pastry cream mixed with whipped cream and sometimes added gelatine for stability (depending on the usage). Creme Chantilly is a French name for sweetened whipped cream with the addition of vanilla flavoring.

What's the difference between Bavarian cream and pastry cream?

Bavarian cream and pastry cream are not the same. While both are custard-based fillings, Bavarian cream is lightened with whipped cream and set with gelatin, giving it a mousse-like texture, while pastry cream is a thick and creamy custard made with eggs, milk, sugar, and flour or cornstarch.

Creme Patissiere - Recipe Winners (2024)

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Creme patissiere, creme pat, or pastry cream is a rich and creamy king of custards. It’s thicker than creme Anglaise, which is a pouring consistency custard.It’s simple to make and has many uses. We love to whip up a batch and fill choux pastry for eclairs, or profiteroles.

Creme patissiere is one of those recipes that you need to have in your repertoire as it’s very versatile.

Easy to Make

It will take you about fifteen minutes to make this delicious custard. First off you whisk egg yolks, caster sugar and cornflour (cornstarch) together making sure that the cornflour is completely incorporated otherwise you’ll end up with lumpy custard and we don’t want that!

Next up you heat the milk, cream and vanilla until it just comes to the boil. Using a whisk you pour the hot milk mixture over the egg mixture and whisk like crazy to avoid any lumps.

Now pour the mixture back into a saucepan over low heat and whisk continuously until the custard thickens. Once it has thickened you continue to beat for a few minutes to ensure that the cornflour (cornstarch) has cooked out.

That’s it, now you cover it with cling film onto the surface to stop a skin forming and cool, then chill in the refrigerator. Job done!

Creme Patissiere Variations

Creme patissiere can be used to make other delicious creme’s such as:

Creme Diplomat – is creme patissiere mixed with Chantilly cream and gelatine
Creme Bavarois – is a dessert on its own like panna cotta, but made with creme patissiere
Creme Legere – is creme patissiere mixed with freshly whipped cream

Flavouring

Suggestions for flavouring creme patissiere are:

Cointreau or Grand Marnier liqueur and finely zested orange peel
Coffee powder
Frangelico
Chocolate or cocoa powder
Limoncello
Kirsch
Brandy
Pureed fruits such as strawberries or raspberries

Storing

Creme patissiere will keep for 5 days refrigerated. Its best kept in an airtight container to stop any food odours tainting the flavour.

Unfortunately, the custard does not freeze well. The starch in the cornflour (cornstarch) will break down during the freezing and the custard will separate when thawed.

Watch Points

Although it’s easy to make there are a couple of watchpoints to look out for:
– make sure that your egg yolk, caster sugar and cornflour (cornstarch) are whisked together till smooth as any lumps will result in a lumpy custard
– when adding the milk mixture to the egg mixture pour it in slowly and whisk like crazy
– don’t use an aluminium saucepan or your custard will have a grey colour to it

Creme Patissiere Uses

Creme patissiere can be used to fill eclairs, profiteroles, trifles, fruit tarts, sandwiching cakes together, served simply with fresh berries or straight out of the fridge at midnight. Your call!

One of our favourite desserts is this mille feuille filled with strawberries and raspberries that looks very impressive and time consuming, but in fact is easy to make using store bought frozen pastry sheets.

Click on the link for the recipe ……. Mille Feuille with Berries

Watch how to make Creme Patissiere

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Check out Creme Patissiere’s cousin, Creme Anglaise

click on the link for the recipe…..Super Simple Creme Anglaise

Creme Anglaise is the French fancy pants name for English cream, or custard. It’s ridiculously easy to make and we can just about guarantee you’ll never buy store bought custard again.

The custard is pouring consistency and is perfect for pouring over cakes, stewed fruits or fruit tarts, or for that matter, anything that you want to pour a custard over.

We would love to hear from you in the comments below when you make this delicious creme patissiere recipe.

Yield: about 3 cups