This almond pastry cream recipe can be used in many traditional French pastry recipes, but it really pops in dishes featuring cherries, apricots, or cinnamon. The use of crème patisserie is limited only by your imagination; grace a simple tart or an elaborate gateau with the rich cream. The results will be equally delicious.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: Fills a standard pastry recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- 3 egg yolks
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Preparation:
In a small saucepan, warm the milk over low heat until it is just hot enough to steam. While the milk is warming, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, flour, and cornstarch until the mixture is completely smooth.
Once the milk is steaming, add half of it, whisking constantly, to the egg mixture. Add the milk and eggs back into the hot milk, continue stirring, and heat it for 1-2 minutes, until the custard reaches 170F on a digital thermometer and is very thick. Remove it from the heat, stir in the almond extract, and chill the pastry cream completely before filling pastry.
This almond pastry cream recipe makes enough pastry cream to fill a traditional cake or profiterole recipe.
