Pastry Cream

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2-quart (2-liter) heavy-bottomed saucepan
• •Large heatproof mixing bowl
• •Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
• •Balloon whisk
• •Flexible spatula
• •Fine-mesh sieve

Instructions

1. 1

   Bloom the gelatin

   Submerge the gelatin leaf in plenty of cold water for 5 to 10 minutes, until completely limp. Leave it there while you prepare the eggs, then lift it out and squeeze away the excess water just before it enters the cream. Measure the orange-flower water now; the pan will demand your full attention once it boils.

2. 2

   Whip the whites first

   Put the egg whites in a perfectly clean, dry bowl and beat them to a stiff froth. The peaks should stand upright while remaining glossy and supple, never dry or grainy. Hold them at room temperature for no longer than 10 minutes while you cook the base. This order replaces the second cook the brigade formula assumed.

   Pasteurized whites can take a little longer to rise. Keep beating at medium-high speed; a clean bowl and beaters matter more than force.
3. 3

   Temper the yolk paste

   Whisk the powdered sugar and flour together in a heatproof bowl, breaking up every flour pocket, then work in the yolks. The mixture will be very stiff, closer to damp sand than batter. This is exactly right. Bring the milk to a full boil in a heavy saucepan. Pour about one-quarter of it onto the yolk mixture while whisking briskly, continue until smooth, then whisk in the remaining hot milk and return everything to the saucepan.

4. 4

   Boil the cream fully

   Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously with the whisk and reaching firmly into the bottom edge of the pan. The cream will thicken abruptly, then release its first heavy bubble. Add the squeezed gelatin and orange-flower water at once. Keep the cream at a steady bubbling boil for 2 minutes, never less than one full minute, stirring without pause, until the flour tastes cooked and the surface looks thick and glossy. If lumps appear, pull the pan from the heat and whisk hard. If some remain, pass the hot cream through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan and finish the boiling time. Ça se rattrape. If the bottom scorches, immediately pour the clean upper cream into another pan without scraping the burned layer.

   A deep saucepan protects your hand because this thick cream bubbles heavily. The boil is not optional: it cooks out the flour and gives the finished cream enough body to hold the whites.
5. 5

   Fold while hot

   Take the pan off the heat. Whisk one-third of the beaten whites briskly into the boiling-hot cream to loosen it, then pour this lightened base over the remaining whites. Fold with a flexible spatula, cutting through the middle, sweeping across the bottom, and turning the bowl until no white streaks remain. Work promptly but don't beat out the air. If gelatin begins tightening around the edge before the whites are incorporated, set the bowl briefly over barely warm water and continue folding until the cream loosens.

6. 6

   Fill and chill

   Use the crème pâtissière while it is still supple. Spoon or pipe it into a prepared Saint-Honoré, or divide it among 6 small dessert glasses. Cover without pressing anything against the surface and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until softly set. Once cold, don't whisk it again or the airy structure and gelatin set will be lost. Serve well chilled. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Weigh the powdered sugar and flour if you can. This source formula is deliberately sweet and holds a strict four-to-one ratio of sugar to flour; reducing the sugar changes both its character and its set.
• •Orange-flower water should remain a breath in the background. Measure two drops, taste the hot base carefully, and add the third only if the fragrance is difficult to find.
• •Use one gelatin leaf weighing about 2 grams. Leaf sizes vary, so the weight is more reliable than the packet count; soften it completely and squeeze it well before adding.
• •The source allows the gelatin to be omitted only when the cream is served immediately. Keep it here because a Saint-Honoré must wait long enough to be assembled, chilled, and carried to a celebration.
• •Gelatin protects the structure, not the cream from warm rooms. Keep the finished crème pâtissière at 40°F (4°C) or colder and use it within 2 days.

Advance Preparation

• •The sugar and flour can be weighed and mixed a day ahead. The eggs may also be separated and refrigerated in covered containers; let the whites lose their refrigerator chill before beating.
• •For a Saint-Honoré, make the cream up to 24 hours ahead, fill the pastry while the cream remains supple, then cover and refrigerate the assembled sweet.
• •If serving the cream in glasses, portion it before chilling. Stirring or piping it after the gelatin has set will flatten the beaten whites and leave the texture uneven.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 90g)