Pastry Cream Filling Recipes

Steps:

• Stir together the milk, salt, vanilla bean and seeds and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a medium saucepan until smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the sugar has just dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the cornstarch, egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl until smooth. While continually whisking, slowly pour in about 1/2 cup of the warm milk mixture. Continue to whisk until smooth. (This is called tempering, and it will prevent the yolks from scrambling.) Continue whisking and adding 1/2 cup of the warm milk mixture at a time until completely combined and smooth.
• Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and turn the heat to medium. Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and the texture of pudding, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, then whisk in the butter until smooth and glossy. Remove the vanilla bean.
• Strain the pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface of the pastry cream, and refrigerate until chilled through, at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Before serving, whisk the pastry cream until smooth and fluffy.

Steps:

• Heat heavy cream in medium sauce pan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar and salt together. Add cornstarch into mixture, continue whisking until it is a pale yellow and thick.
• When cream reaches full simmer, slowly whisk it into yolk mixture. Return mixture back to sauce pan, continue cooking over medium heat, whisking constantly until thick and glossy, about 1-2 minutes. Take off heat whisk in butter and vanilla. Transfer pastry cream to a bowl large enough to hold it, take some plastic wrap press directly onto surface, refrigerate until cold and set, at least 2 hours.

Steps:

• In a heavy saucepan, stir together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg. Stir together the remaining sugar and cornstarch; then stir them into the egg until smooth. When the milk comes to a boil, drizzle it into the bowl in a thin stream while mixing so that you do not cook the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don' t curdle or scorch on the bottom.
• When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla, mixing until the butter is completely blended in. Pour into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled before using.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.
• Fold a 12-inch square sheet of aluminum foil in half, turn and fold in half again; you should have a small square. Now, fold diagonally and once more again. You will now have a triangle. Wrap it around your index finger and mold into a cone shape. Repeat 9 more times to make 10 molds. (Note: these can be reused.) Lightly spray the foil molds with nonstick spray.
• Lay out the puff pastry sheet on a work surface with one of the long sides facing you. Cut the pastry into 3/4-inch-wide strips from top to bottom to make 20 strips. Wrap 2 pastry strips around each mold, overlapping a little with each wrap. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake until lightly browned around the edges, 16 to 18 minutes. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Add the confectioners' sugar in batches with the salt. Gently fold in the blackberry preserves (so there is some veining). Transfer to a disposable pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to let the filling firm up.
• Pipe the filling into each pastry from the wider end. Serve with a dusting of confectioners' sugar and some blackberries and mint.

Steps:

• Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk together milk and egg yolks in a glass measuring cup; add to saucepan along with butter and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let boil 1 minute, still whisking; then remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
• Strain pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface of cream to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Just before using, whisk until smooth.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, scald the milk over medium-high heat (bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan, but the milk is not boiling). While the milk is heating, in a small bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, and salt. (Mixing the flour with the sugar will prevent the flour from clumping when you add it to the egg yolks.) In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until blended, then slowly whisk in the flour mixture. The mixture will be thick and pasty.
• Remove the milk from the heat and slowly add it to the egg-flour mixture, a little at a time, whisking constantly. When all of the milk has been incorporated, return the contents of the bowl to the saucepan and place over medium heat. Whisk continuously and vigorously for about 3 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. At first, the mixture will be very frothy and liquid; as it cooks longer, it will slowly start to thicken until the frothy bubbles disappear and it becomes more viscous. Once it thickens, stop whisking every few seconds to see if the mixture has come to a boil. If it has not, keep whisking vigorously. As soon as you see it bubbling, immediately go back to whisking for just 10 seconds, and then remove the pan from the heat. Boiling the mixture will thicken it and cook out the flour taste, but if you let it boil for longer than 10 seconds, the mixture can become grainy.
• Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a small heatproof bowl. Stir in the vanilla, then cover with plastic wrap, placing it directly on the surface of the cream. This will prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until cold, or up to 3 days.

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, Heat milk to boiling point and remove from the heat.
• In a heatproof mixing bowl, beat egg yolks until smooth. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until pale yellow. Beat in the flour.
• Pour the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture in a steady stream, beating constantly. When all the milk has been added, place the bowl over (not in) a pan of boiling water, or pour the mixture into the top of a double boiler. Heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cook 2 minutes more, then remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool.

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.