Creme Patisserie

One of the most essential fillings in one too many desserts, the ubiquitous pastry cream usually decides the fate of the entire dessert. It such a delicate thing this, as if the eggs are cooked a little bit too much, it results in a broken or spoilt cream. A broken pastry cream will end and taste like scrambled eggs and just ruins all your efforts.

This was my first attempt at making pastry cream and as per the rules of the May Challenge for the Daring Bakers, we had to follow Cat’s wonderful recipe for the pastry cream.

The 2 different pastry creams I made were:

- Chocolate spiked Tequila Creme

- Chai Creme Patisserie

For the Chocolate Spiked Tequila Crème

GET

1 ¼ cup whole milk to be divided into:

¼ cup will be mixed with cornstarch

¼ cup will be mixed with dark chocolate

½ cup to be mixed with sugar and constitutes the main part of the cooking

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

6 Tbsp. sugar

80 g dark chocolate chopped

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 tsp tequila

SET

• Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk.
• Combine the remaining ½ cup of milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.
• Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.
• Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.
• Continue whisking until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. 
• Bring ¼ cup milk to a boil in a small pan; remove from heat and add in the dark chocolate, finely chopped, and mix until smooth. 
• Remove from heat and beat in the butter and tequila.
• Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl.  Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

For the Chai Creme Patisserie

GET

1 cup whole milk to be divided into:

¼ cup will be mixed with cornstarch

¾ cup will be boiled with the tea & sugar and constitutes the main part of the cooking

3 Chai teabags / 3 tbsps chai powder

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

6 Tbsp. sugar

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

SET

• Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk.
• Combine the remaining ¾ cup of milk with the tea and sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat. Strain the tea if you are not using tea bags.
• Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.
• Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.
• Continue whisking until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. 
• Remove from heat and beat in the butter and tequila.
• Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl.  Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.