Vanilla Pastry Cream

Vanilla Pastry Cream

Makes 3 cups (enough for one 9" pie or six ½-cup servings)
15 min. active cooking time, plus chilling

Ingredients

⅔ cup sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
2 cups whole milk
- dash salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 tbsp. Kowalski's Unsalted Butter, cut into 8 pieces
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Directions
  1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together first 6 ingredients (through vanilla bean) over medium heat, adding them to the pan in the order listed. Cook until bubbly (about 10 min.), stirring regularly at first, then constantly for the last 5 min.
  2. Continue cooking until mixture is boiling (about 2 min. more), whisking constantly. Whisk the entire bottom of the pan, including the corners, to avoid scorching and lumps.
  3. Boil for 1 min.; remove from heat.
  4. Remove vanilla bean; whisk in butter.
  5. Transfer to a heatproof bowl; cover with plastic wrap, allowing wrap to touch the surface of the pastry cream. Chill completely in the refrigerator.
  6. Try it in our recipe for Cream Puffs.