Pastry Cream Recipe

Recipe for standard pastry cream

Makes 1 cup
1 cup whole milk
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp vanilla
1tsp Grand Marnier (or any other orange flavored liquor)
Heavy cream, if necessary

Step 1: Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow and is extremely thick, about 3 minutes. Then, add the corn starch and continue whisking until fully incorporated. The mixture should fall slowly, back into the mixing bowl.

Step 2: While whisking the eggs, heat the milk in a sauce pan over medium-low heat. Do not let the milk boil.

Step 3: Carefully pour the warmed milk into the egg mixture. Be careful not to pour the milk too quickly or you will end up with pieces of scrambled eggs in your mixture.

Step 4: Once all the milk has been combined, pour the mixture back into the sauce pan.

Step 5: Over medium-low heat slowly whisk the mixture until it comes together and becomes thick, about 7 minutes. Make sure you continue to whisk throughout this process.

Step 6: Once the mixture comes together, pass it through a fine sieve. Then add the flavorings - vanilla and grand marnier. If you feel that your pastry cream is too thick, thin it out with some heavy cream, one teaspoon at a time.

Step 7: Refrigerate the pastry cream until you are ready to use. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pastry cream to avoid having a layer (skin) from forming on top.