Chocolate Pastry Cream is a silky and smooth chocolate heaven, although not an item in itself you might find it difficult to stop yourself from licking the bowl clean before you even get to making the dessert :):)
Pastry cream also known as “creme pat” is an essential ingredient of French and Italian pastries like tarts, eclairs and millefeuille etc. It’s simply prepared by whisking egg yolks with sugar and flour or starch which then gets tempered with hot but not boiling milk and cooked until thick. My personal preference for the thickening agent is corn starch as it is neutral in taste, I find that if flour doesn’t get cooked well it does effect the taste.
If you have a look at some of my previous posts, you’ll see how much I love pastry cream :):) My recipes with vanilla and lemon pastry cream are: Cannoncini-Italian Cream Horns, Tortelli Di Carnevale-Carnival Fritters, Torta Mimosa-Mimosa Cake, Cookie Tart With Fresh Fruits.
- 450 ml milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 75 gr sugar
- 40 gr corn starch or flour
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 40 gr butter
- 150 gr chopped dark chocolate
- Bring milk to boil in a medium sauce pan.
- Whisk egg yolks with sugar and vanilla extract using an electric whisk for a few minutes until pale then add the corn starch and whisk for another minute.
- Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture while whisking continuously.
- Pour it all back into the sauce pan and cook over medium low heat until it thickens for about 5-6 minutes, never stop stirring.
- Remove from heat, add the chocolate and butter, whisk until smooth and completely blended.
- Cover with cling film to prevent it from a skin forming, the plastic needs to be in contact with the cream.
- When it comes to room temp, refrigerate.
Whisk with an electric mixer for 15-20 seconds before using to have a smooth and spreadable texture.