How To Make Custard Cream (Pastry Cream)

Custard cream (Pastry cream) is a quintessential part of pastry making, so it's an essential skill to learn if you love baking, pastries, and dessert. Custard cream is basically a delicious, rich, creamy custard thickened with starch and eggs. It's an important component for many desserts.

Learn how to make custard cream (pastry cream) and use it as a delicious filling for popular snacks.

4 Steps to Make Custard Cream

Step 1: 3 things to remember – Use low heat, a heavy saucepan, and constant stirring. 
Step 2: Mix the egg yolks, sugar, and flour until white pale color. 
Step 3: Heat up the milk until almost boiling
Step 4: Take your time and be patient.

Having the right tools such as a heavy saucepan and silicone spatula is really important to get good result.  You need to make sure the heat distributes evenly so your pot doesn’t have hot spots and scorch the custard cream.

This step really prevents the eggs from curdling as air bubbles inside the mixture slow down the distribution of the heat.

Remember that egg yolks start to solidify or thicken at 65 ºC (149 ºF) and sets around 70 °C (158 ºF).

Flour starts to thicken at 70 to 80 ºC (158 to 176 ºF).  It will complete final thickening process at 96 ºC (205 ºF).

If you pour warm (140 ºF or 60 ºC) milk into the mixture, it will takes a longer time to reach 70 to 80 ºC (158 to 176 ºF).  Meanwhile eggs will likely to curdle.

Therefore, you should instead pour hot (close to boiling) milk, skipping the dangerous “curdling temperature”, and cook the eggs and flour at the same time.

If the flour is under-cooked, the custard cream will have a undesired pasty flavor with a chalky, grainy texture. Make sure to cook custard cream for at least 10 minutes at 96 ºC (205 ºF).

You will also need quite a bit of patience as the process requires 20-25 minutes standing in front of the stove while waiting for the custard cream to thicken.