Lemon Pastry Cream Recipes

Steps:

• Whisk together 1 cup heavy cream, egg yolks, and cornstarch in a bowl. Set aside.
• Combine remaining 2 cups heavy cream, sugar, and lemon juice in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Whisk to dissolve sugar. Bring to a gentle boil; boil until mixture begins to thicken, about 10 minutes. Add egg yolk mixture slowly, whisking constantly until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Mixture will break; pour into a glass bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the mixture to prevent skin forming. Let cool completely at room temperature.
• Pour cooled mixture into a mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer fitted with a wire whip until thick and creamy.

Steps:

• Place the lemon zest in a medium bowl and set aside. Spoon 4 tablespoons of the lemon juice into a very small bowl, sprinkle with the gelatin and set aside to thicken and almost set.
• Place the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, salt, and remaining lemon juice in the bowl with the lemon zest and whisk together. Pour into a saucepan, add the butter and cook over med-low heat, whisking constantly, until the custard begins to thicken. Just before boiling remove from the heat and add the now thickened lemon gelatin mixture. Pour the whole mixture through a fine mesh strainer set over a medium bowl. Cover the surface directly with plastic wrap and chill overnight until set quite firm.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Unwrap the sheets of fillo and cover with damp cloth or a piece of plastic wrap. You should work quickly to avoid the fillo drying out. Lay two pieces of parchment paper measuring about 16 by 11-inches out on large chopping board. Brush each piece of paper with a thin layer of butter and sift two tablespoons of confectioners' sugar onto each one.
• Lay a sheet of fillo onto each of the papers and now brush that with butter also. Continue to layer the fillo and butter on each stack to give 4 fillo layers in total, finishing with a butter layer. Finally, sift 2 tablespoons of confectioners' sugar on top of each. Lay another sheet of parchment paper measuring 16 by 11-inches on top and use this as a guide to trim the pastry edges using a sharp knife.
• Next, remove the top sheet of parchment and using the knife, divide each fillo stack in half down the length (to give four 5.5-inches wide and 16-inches long rectangles). Make light score marks (not cutting through) with the knife across the opposite way and at 2-inch intervals to give 8 portion marks when serving. Slide each stack onto a sheet pan, butter the top sheets of parchment paper and place them butter side down on top. Finally, place another sheet pan on top of each stack (which will ensure the pastry will cook thin and crispy).
• Bake for 15 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Remove the top sheet pans and allow the pastries to cool completely.
• To assemble, set one long rectangle onto a large platter and spread over 1/4 of the lemon cream evenly. Continue to layer up the fillo and lemon cream ending with a fillo top, to give 4 fillo layers and 3 lemon cream layers. There should be a remaining 1/4 of lemon cream still in the bowl to make a sauce with. To do this, add a 1/4 cup of hot tap water and whisk until smooth and drizzly in consistency.
• Finally, prepare the blackberries. Tip them into a small bowl and lightly crush them with a fork to bring out their juices. Add 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar and toss together.
• Using a very sharp knife carefully cut the Napoleon into 8 portions using the score marks as a guide. Drizzle some lemon sauce on each serving plate and place a portion of Napoleon in the center of each one. Spoon the crushed blackberries around and serve at once.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. In a large saucepan, bring water and butter to a boil. Add flour all at once, stirring until a smooth ball forms. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is smooth. , Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 3 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks. Immediately split puffs and remove tops; discard soft dough from inside. Set puffs and tops aside to cool., For filling, in a small heavy saucepan, combine egg, sugar, lemon juice and butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Transfer to a small bowl; refrigerate until partially set., In a large bowl, beat cream and sugar until stiff peaks form; fold into lemon mixture. Fill cream puffs; replace tops. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Mix first 4 ingredients in a large pan until well blended and sugar is almost dissolved.
• Place pan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until it comes to the boil.
• Continue to simmer, stirring constantly while simmering, until very thick (about 5- 10 minutes).
• Remove from heat and add vanilla (or your choice of flavoring).
• Pour mixture into bowl and cover surface directly with waxed paper or plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming.
• Refrigerate several hours to overnight.
• To use pastry cream to fill[recipe=40291]cannoli shells[/recipe]: Chop 1 regular size Hershey chocolate bar and add bits to cooled (pastry cream) mixture.
• Fill cannoli shells by piping mixture into shell using a pastry bag, or use a long-handled iced tea spoon.
• Dip ends of filled cannoli into toasted, sliced or crushed almonds or crushed pistachio nuts or finely minced chocolate bits.
• Sprinkle top of shells lightly with powdered sugar (recipe will fill about 16 shells depending on their size).

Steps:

• Place sugar, egg yolks flour, lemon rind (if using it), and vanilla in a sauce pan and mix together well.
• In a separate sauce pan, scald milk.
• Very slowly pour milk over egg yolk mixture, in a thin stream, beating constantly with rotary beater.
• Continue cooking on low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until mixture reaches the boiling point.
• Cook 4 minutes longer, stirring constantly.
• (**At this point, if making chocolate pasticciera cream, add chocolate and while stirring, cook 1 minute longer.) Remove pan from heat, add butter and mix well.
• Pour into bowl and let cool, stir occasionally to prevent skin from forming over the top.
• If using as a cake/pastry filling, chill (with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming) until very thick at least 3-4 hours.
• For Chocolate Pasticciera Cream: **Add grated chocolate to cooked pasticciera cream and cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly, until chocolate is blended well.
• Cool/chill before using as a cake/pastry filling.

Steps:

• Combine sugar and cornstarch in heavy saucepan add water and stir until heated, set aside.
• Beat egg yolks and add lemon juice, stir in small amount of sugar mixture to warm yolks. Combine yolk and sugar mixtures, add butter and return to heat.
• Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly until thickened. Mixture will resemble pudding. Cool slightly and spread on cooled cake. Makes enough to frost and fill one 8 inch four layer cake.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine milk, thyme, lemon zest, and 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 15 minutes.
• Prepare an ice bath. In a medium bowl, combine cornstarch, flour, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. In another bowl, whisk eggs until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to egg mixture; whisk until well combined.
• Strain the warm milk mixture; discard solids. Return milk to saucepan; bring to a boil. Slowly pour into egg-cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly.
• Transfer new mixture to saucepan set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and transfer mixture to a large heat-proof bowl.
• Whisk in butter; set bowl in ice bath, stirring occasionally, until chilled. Lay plastic directly on surface of pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming; chill until ready to use.