To make pastry cream

Preparation info
  • Makes enough to fill a

    24 cm

    wide pastry tart base
    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in
Old Food

By Jill Dupleix

Published 1998

  • About

A rich and luscious filling for fresh fruit tarts or little pastries, known in France as crème pâtissière and in Italy as crema pasticcera.

Ingredients

  • 500 ml (18 fl oz) milk
  • 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways

Method

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk in a small pan. Add bean and heat gently to boiling point. Whisk egg yolks, sugar and flour together in a small bowl until thick. Pour milk gently into the egg mixture, whisking lightly until smooth. Return the mixture to a clean pan and cook gently for a few minutes, stirring constantly, as the mixture heats and thickens. Boil gently for 1 m