How to make crème pâtissière

William and Suzue Curley show us how to make crème pâtissière (pastry cream) from scratch – perfect for filling fruit tarts.

To make perfect crème pâtissière (or ‘crème pat’, as it’s commonly known as) just takes milk, vanilla, egg yolks, sugar, flour and a little practice.

Husband and wife team William and Suzue Curley (pictured left), who own three pastry and chocolate boutiques in London, talk us through how to make it, step by step.

What you will need

Crème pâtissière is essentially a French custard, and so the ingredients are similar to those you would use to make English custard. You will need the following for a 750g batch: 

500ml milk
1 vanilla pod (bean), split lengthways
120g egg yolks (about 6 eggs)
100g caster sugar
50g plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted 

Step by step

Put the milk in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the split vanilla pod (bean) into the milk and drop in the split pod too. Bring to the boil. 

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Continue whisking until the mixture slightly thickens and turns light in colour. This should take around two to three minutes. Add the sifted flour and whisk again until smooth. 

Pour half the infused milk into the mixing bowl and whisk again until there are no lumps. 

Pass this mixture through a fine sieve (strainer), then return the mixture back to the remaining milk in the pan. 

Continuously whisk the mixture until it comes to the boil. 

Reduce the temperature to a simmer and continue to stir and cook for 5–6 minutes. 

Take the pan off the heat and pour the crème pâtissière into a shallow dish or tray. 

Cover with cling film (plastic wrap) and cool rapidly. Store, covered, in the fridge for up to two days.

Our favourite recipes using crème pat

You can use your crème pâtissière for all manner of fancy French pastries. Here are our five favourite recipes that put it to very good use. 

Tarte aux abricots

When fresh apricots are in season, this is a lovely way to serve them, but it is also very good with tinned apricots. Make sure the pastry is baked to a crisp golden brown crust and leave it to cool completely before filling with the crème pâtissière and fruit.

Apple tarts

These little apple tarts, made by Rick Stein, put the crème pâtissière in the limelight. But instead of the normal recipe, this crème pat is slightly ‘cheesier’ than usual, owing to the addition of cream cheese. Top with poached apple slices and nutmeg.

Chocolate and coffee éclairs

“Certain things are loved all over the world,” says chef Will Torrent. “Coffee, chocolate and éclairs are three of them, so I decided to combine these to create an amazing taste sensation that will instantly arouse your taste buds.” Will uses cornflour, not plain flour, in his crème pat recipe.

French macarons

These elegant Parisian almond meringues are sandwiched together in pairs with soft fillings. You can use ganache, buttercream, jam… but our favourite filling has to be homemade crème pâtissière. Remember, macarons can be temperamental, so experiment using different oven shelves.

Method and all crème pâtissière images taken from Patisserie, by William and Suzue Curley, published by Jacqui Small. 

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