Crème pâtissière. How to Make Custard

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Custard (French: crème pâtissière) is essential in cooking.  It’s used in various desserts: eclairs, cream puffs, tarts, cakes, mousses, souffles, puddings, and creams. Vanilla sauce and crème brûlée also use custard. Now I believe I convinced you that knowing how to make custard can come in handy in the kitchen. Let’s start!

The ingredients for custard are milk, cream, egg yolk, sugar, flour (or starch), and sometimes vanilla for flavor. The process of heating the mixture with egg yolks is crucial as it helps to thicken custard. The key is not to overheat egg yolks and constantly whisking to prevent lumps. The step-by-step recipe will help you easily make good custard.

For 750 g custard:

6 egg yolks

500 ml milk (150-300 ml can be substituted with cream for a lighter texture)

125 g sugar

40 g wheat flour

1 vanilla pod

Preparations (less than 15 min):

1. Heat milk (5 min).

1. Cut the vanilla pod open lengthways and scrape out the seeds with a knife.
2. In a heavy bottom saucepan, add the milk, cream (if using), and 2/3 of sugar (about 75 g for this recipe). Add the vanilla pod and seeds. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

1. Beat yolks (5 min).

1. Add 1/3 of sugar (about 50 g for this recipe) to the yolk and whisk until pale and thick (3-5 min), add the flour and blend it in with a blender (30 sec).

III. Add hot milk (1 мин).

1. As soon as the milk has boiled, remove it from heat, take the vanilla pod out (at this step or before serving).
2. Slowly pour the milk onto the eggs and sugar, whisking as you go.

1. Heat to thicken (2 min).

1. Transfer the custard to the saucepan, set it over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a whisk. (Stirring is very important at this step otherwise eggs at the bottom can curdle). The custard will start to thicken as you go.
2. Let the custard boil for 2 min while whisking.
3. Remove from heat and pour into a container. Cover the top of the hot custard with plastic wrap to avoid skin forming.
4. Done! Use right after it is completely cooled. Can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.