Sweet Fillings for Pastry

As its name implies, pastry cream (Fr. crème patissière) is designed specifically for pastry. It is a custard mixture thickened with enough flour (or sometimes cornstarch), to hold its shape without making the pastry soggy. This also means that pastry cream can be refrigerated a day or two and that it will blend with a wide variety of flavorings from chocolate and coffee to liqueurs, even a stiff fruit purée. It also forms the basis of hot sweet soufflés.

Pastry cream can be heavy, so it is often lightened with an equal quantity of butter cream, Italian meringue (to make crème Chibouste), or whipped cream (to make light pastry cream). Light butter cream keeps well, but crème Chibouste and light pastry cream hold up for only a few hours. Chantilly cream, which is whipped cream with a flavoring of sugar and vanilla or brandy, is a light quick filling. However, it is delicate and will separate within an hour or two, making pastry unpleasantly soft. Other fillings for pastry include cold mousse and soufflé mixtures set with gelatin, and the wide variety of American pie fillings, many of which are topped with meringue.