Call me unrefined, but to me pastry cream and vanilla pudding are very close. Either way, though, they are delicious. This recipe makes a great filling in pastries, cookies and cakes, such as creme brulee cake or vanilla plum cake (both coming sooon…).

The trick with pastry cream is to find the sweet spot (pun definitely intended) between undercooking the starch and overcooking the eggs. If you don’t cook this enough, you will still taste the flour, but go too far the other way and you are having scrambled eggs for dessert. Be patient though, finding the right balance is worth it.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp unsalted butter

Special equipment:

• Double boiler (or a heat-safe bowl that fits over a pot)
• Whisk
• Mesh strainer (optional)

Directions:

1. Pour a bit of water into your double boiler or pot, enough to cover the bottom but not so much that it will touch the top part of the double boiler
2. Mix together flour (2 tsp), sugar (3 tbsp) and salt (1/4 tsp)
3. Add egg yolks (4) to the dry ingredients and whisk well, until they start to lighten in colour a bit
4. Heat milk (1 cup) in top part of double boiler until it is almost boiling
5. Pour milk slowly into the egg yolks, go extra slow at first so that the hot milk doesn’t cook the eggs, and whisk constantly
6. Place the mixture back into the top of the double boiler and cook over medium to medium high heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching
7. Once the mixture has thickened and a couple of large bubbles have come to the surface, remove from heat
8. Immediately add butter (2 tsp) and vanilla extract (1/2 tsp) and stir until the butter melts
9. If you want the pastry cream to be as smooth as possible, press it through the mesh strainer to remove any lumps
10. Cover and cool in the fridge for at least one hour before using

Notes:

• You can prevent a skin from forming on the surface while the pastry cream is cooling by putting plastic wrap right on the surface