French Goo. Crème Pâtissière or Pastry Cream (in American)

You ever have something that is so good that you just want to put your face in it?  Like no matter how much of it is available – it’s never quite enough?  The kind of thing where if you were in polite you would leave a bit on your plate but if you were home alone, you’d actually lick the plate until your nose is sticky.  This is my relationship with pastry cream.  I’ve mentioned it a few times already and you will definitely hear more about it in the future but I thought I’d outline my relationship with Crème Pâtissière – that’s French because I’m fancy like that.  Actually, it’s French because I learned the magic of pastry cream in Paris.  Yep – be jealous there for a minute. 

When a friend says – hey – come meet me in Paris for the weekend – you go.  Those are words to live by people.  And when that friend is someone you’ve been bffs with for over 20 years, you know that you’re in for a good time.  And sometimes that bff goes above and beyond in planning and finds you a baking class that teaches some traditional French baking techniques in English. Cookn With Class is where I learned the deliciousness that is pastry cream.   Below is not the recipe they gave us but this is darn close and not in the metric system which is handy for us Americans. 

In the class, we also got hands on experience with croissants and pain au chocolate as well as brioche, boules, and a yummy sweet raisin bread.  This was seriously and adventure in flour and butter that would not soon be forgotten.  Our teacher, Pino was extremely fun and engaging and offered lots of opportunities to try the techniques.  As a bonus, we got to take the many treats with us and we had them for breakfast every day during our trip. 

Here are some pics of our sweet treats:

Now onto the Pastry Cream – this seriously is a versatile deliciousness that I would squarely put in the category of “goo”.   Technically, I think it might be a custard.   A little more sturdy than a pudding, it works great as a filling for cakes, cupcakes, cream puffs and other sweet treats you might fill.   Or just fill a bowl and eat it with a spoon. Don’t judge me. 

Pastry Cream you'll want to swim in...

1 ¼ cups whole milk

1  vanilla bean

4 egg yolks

¼ cup white sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp flour – all purpose

Mix together the egg yolks and sugar.  Add in the flour and cornstarch until smooth – a whisk works well here.

Heat milk and vanilla bean to just about a boil.  Take off heat and add a splash to your egg mixture and whisk.  Then add the rest of the milk slowing – whisking the whole time.    Note – if you get some cooked egg pieces, you should pour mixture through a strainer.  Take out the vanilla bean – CAREFULLY! Split bean down the center lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.  Add the seeds to your mix and put the whole thing back into your saucepan and put over medium heat until boiling – WHISKING the entire time!  Seriously – be ready to whisk!  Once it boils, keep whisking until it thickens.  It will get to a pudding-like consistency and it hardens up a bit more in the fridge.  Once you get the pudding-like consistency, remove from heat and pour into a clean bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap with the wrap pressed onto the surface of the cream to prevent a skin.  Cool to room temperature or refrigerate up to 3 or 4 days.  Whisk again before using. 

Learning Fondant

A few years ago I didn't even know what fondant was.  I'm still not entirely sure I know what it is except that it's awesome.  If you're a caking kinda gal - or dude - you probably already know and love fondant for its flexible options as far as making smooth surfaces that can be airbrushed, painted or piped upon.  It also can be shaped, molded and cut into anything.  I think the best part of fondant is that it's fun!  It's like playdough for grown-ups.  My first forray into fondant was for my nephew's 6th birthday.  As a huge fan of the Flyers and future NHL star, he wanted a hockey cake.  He wanted it to be in the team colors with their logo.  Then every day or so, he'd call me to ask me how his cake was coming and then he would request more features.  First he wanted an ice rink, then a hockey stick, then a hockey "guy".  I wasn't sure about using fondant but how hard could it be?  All the descriptions online and on tv made it sound easy peasy.  And for the most part it was pretty easy to figure out.  I picked up some of the typical tools from Wilton, a few tubs of their precolored fondant, a roller and some of those edible ink markers.  Looking back, it's not bad for a first attempt but anyone who would see it would definitey think "hmph! amateur!". It certainly wouldn't win me any prizes on Cake Wars.  (Which I totally think about winning when I'm making a cake.)   I think this cake was a good lesson in knowing your audience.  When I brought the cake to my sister's house in preparation for the ice skating party my nephew was so excited!  Seeing his eyes light up and proclamations of "WOW!" was such an awesome feeling.  And one of the best moment of my life was when asked if he liked it he said "I LOVE IT!"    Here is my first fondant cake - it's a standard vanilla cake - I'll post my recipe another time - with pastry cream filling.  It's mostly buttercream frosting with the ice rink, hockey stick and "guy" made from fondant.  In hindsight, I'd probably have used gum paste.

A note on store-bought fondant.  Lots of folks don't seem to like the premade stuff. It's ok.  I don't find it as delicious as buttercream but I don't think anything is as good as buttercream - I'd have buttercream oatmeal with buttercream coffee and a buttercream banana for breakfast everyday if I could.  The store-bought stuff works - there's always a consistency and the pre-colored stuff does save a lot of time.  I've made fondant myself and there's a time and place for that too.  More on the store-bought fondant vs. homemade another time...

Awesome amateur hockey cake: