7 Flavors of Pastry Cream

Here are the recipes for my favorite pastry cream/custard fillings! I’ll probably add more as time goes on and the title of this post will change LOL

The Thai pandan custard recipe was generously provided to me by my friend Sara who has an amazing foodstagram dedicated to showcasing small businesses and food culture! Check her out @sara_eats_texas . She uses her recipe to dip bread in and the original recipe she gave me can be found on my blog post for pandan custard buns. (Also, pro-tip that you can read about in detail over in that post: you can find frozen pandan leaves at any Asian grocery stores). Otherwise, I’ve adapted the recipe below to be looser and more suitable for cream puffs!

To turn each one into diplomat cream, whisk in a 1/4 to 1/2 cup (measured unwhipped heavy cream) of whipped cream according to taste (please make homemade whip cream: whip to stiff peaks and don’t add sugar) into a recipe portion of any of the pastry creams below. Diplomat cream is my favorite, as it’s a perfect cross between decadent, creamy pastry cream and light fluffy whip cream – I use it for all my pastries!

Earl Grey Chocolate

3 large egg yolks

2 Tbsp (14g) cornstarch

1/4 cup (50g) sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup (250mL) milk

1 oz bittersweet chocolate

3 earl grey tea bags

Bring milk with all earl grey bags to a simmer over medium heat. In the meantime, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch well. Take out tea bags and slowly stream the Earl Grey milk into the egg mixture while whisking well. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-heat, CONSTANTLY whisking until thick like pudding. Take off the heat. Add in chocolate and whisk until combined and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the cream so it doesn’t form a skin. Let it cool in the fridge. You can store this pastry cream in the fridge for a week. It’ll be solid when you take it out, just whisk it all up again until smooth and creamy.

Hojicha White Chocolate

3 large egg yolks

2 Tbsp (14g) cornstarch

1/4 cup (50g) sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup (250mL) milk

1.5 oz white chocolate chips

2 Tbsp sifted hojicha powder

Bring milk to a simmer over medium heat. In the meantime, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch well. Slowly stream the milk into the egg mixture while whisking well. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-heat, CONSTANTLY whisking until thick like pudding. Take off the heat. Add in white chocolate and hojicha; whisk until combined and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the cream so it doesn’t form a skin. Let it cool in the fridge. You can store this pastry cream in the fridge for a week. It’ll be solid when you take it out, just whisk it all up again until smooth and creamy.

Pumpkin Spice

3 large egg yolks

2 Tbsp (14g) cornstarch

1/4 cup (57g) brown sugar

1 Tbsp (13g) sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 cup (250mL) milk

Bring milk to a simmer over medium heat. In the meantime, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and all the spices well. Slowly stream the milk into the egg mixture while whisking well. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-heat, CONSTANTLY whisking until thick like pudding. Take off the heat. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the cream so it doesn’t form a skin. Let it cool in the fridge. You can store this pastry cream in the fridge for a week. It’ll be solid when you take it out, just whisk it all up again until smooth and creamy.

Thai Pandan Coconut (based off of @sara_eats_texas recipe)

3 large egg yolks

3 Tbsp (21g) cornstarch

2 Tbsp (25g) sugar

1/8 tsp salt

140g (145mL) coconut milk

50g condensed milk

80g (71mL) evaporated milk

30g/mL water

33g pandan leaves, cut into 1 inch pieces (frozen pandan can be found at your Asian grocer)

Blend pandan leaves, evaporated milk, and water together until smooth and as small of the bits of leaves you can get it. Strain the liquid out. Combine with coconut milk and condensed milk. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. In the meantime, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch well. Slowly stream the milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking well. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-heat, CONSTANTLY whisking until thick like pudding. Take off the heat. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the cream so it doesn’t form a skin. Let it cool in the fridge. You can store this pastry cream in the fridge for a week. It’ll be solid when you take it out, just whisk it all up again until smooth and creamy.

Vanilla Bean Honey

3 large egg yolks

3 Tbsp (21g) cornstarch

2 Tbsp (25g) sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup (250mL) milk

1/4 cup honey

1/2 vanilla bean

Bring milk and honey to a simmer over medium heat. In the meantime, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch well. Slowly stream the milk into the egg mixture while whisking well. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-heat, CONSTANTLY whisking until thick like pudding. Take off the heat. Scrape 1/2 of a vanilla bean and add in all the seeds; whisk until combined and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the cream so it doesn’t form a skin. Let it cool in the fridge. You can store this pastry cream in the fridge for a week. It’ll be solid when you take it out, just whisk it all up again until smooth and creamy.

Peppermint Mocha

3 large egg yolks

2 Tbsp (14g) cornstarch

1/4 cup (50g) sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup (250mL) milk

1 tbsp espresso powder or instant coffee

2 oz bittersweet chocolate

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

Bring milk and espresso powder to a simmer over medium heat. In the meantime, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch well. Slowly stream the milk into the egg mixture while whisking well. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-heat, CONSTANTLY whisking until thick like pudding. Take off the heat. Add in the chocolate and peppermint extract; whisk until combined and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the cream so it doesn’t form a skin. Let it cool in the fridge. You can store this pastry cream in the fridge for a week. It’ll be solid when you take it out, just whisk it all up again until smooth and creamy.

Matcha Pastry Cream

3 large egg yolks

2 Tbsp (14g) cornstarch

1/4 cup (50g) sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup (250mL) milk

1 oz white chocolate chips

1-2 Tbsp sifted matcha powder, adjust to taste

Bring milk to a simmer over medium heat. In the meantime, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch well. Slowly stream the milk into the egg mixture while whisking well. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-heat, CONSTANTLY whisking until thick like pudding. Take off the heat. Add in white chocolate and matcha; whisk until combined and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the cream so it doesn’t form a skin. Let it cool in the fridge. You can store this pastry cream in the fridge for a week. It’ll be solid when you take it out, just whisk it all up again until smooth and creamy.