Let me try and describe how good this Orange Pastry Cream is. Smooth, creamy, glossy, rich, bright, beautiful, delicious… I can keep going but don’t want to bore you :):) I think you should experience it yourself and you might have a few adjectives to add to the list too :):)
This thick cream is so good that you’ll want to eat it by the spoonfuls. It is a wonder I never made my creme pat with orange before, as it’s a fruit that I use a lot in my baking. But I sure will make up for the lost time :):)
Creme Pâtissière is an essential in so many desserts like tarts, cream puffs, millefeuilles, eclairs etc. Although vanilla creme pat is the most classic one, you can flavour it with so many things from fruits to nuts with coffee, caramel and so on. It’s simply a combination of milk, egg yolks and a thickening agent like flour or corn starch. In some recipes you’ll see the use of heavy cream as well as milk, a mix of whole eggs and yolks but the procedure is almost always the same. As a thickener I personally prefer corn starch as it is neutral in taste. I find when made with flour there is a starchy, pasty aftertaste and I don’t like it.
As long as you follow a couple of important rules it’s very simple to make. And I really think this particular Orange Creme Pat will be perfect with your chocolaty cakes and desserts.
- 400 ml milk (1⅔ cup)
- 4 large egg yolks
- 75 gr granulated sugar (6 Tbs)
- 40 gr corn starch (1/3 cup)
- 30 gr butter (2 Tbs)
- zest of one large orange
- Place milk and grated zest of an orange in a medium sized sauce pan. Bring to boiling point, turn off the heat and let steep for 20-30 mins.
- Whisk egg yolks with sugar using an electric whisk for a few minutes until pale then add the corn starch and whisk for another minute.
- Bring milk to boiling point again and remove the skin that might have formed on the top. Also remove some of the orange zest using a fork. You can pass the milk through a fine sieve if you do not want any bits in your cream.
- 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 butter, whisk until smooth and completely blended.
- Transfer the cream into a clean bowl and 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.
When you take it out of the fridge whisk with an electric mixer for 15-20 seconds to have a smooth and spreadable texture.