Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream

Just a basic vanilla bean pastry cream for use in other recipes like tarts, cupcakes, icings, etc. Rich, vanilla goodness.

Ingredients:

• ½ c. sugar (Berkeley Bowl bulk bins strike again!)
• ¼ c. AP flour (Giusto's Vitagrain)
• 4 egg yolks (Clover Organic, Sonoma County, Ca 40-80 mi)
• 2 c. whole milk (Clover Organic, Sonoma County, Ca 40-80 mi)
• 1 vanilla bean (Madagascar... purchased, surprisingly, at Costco) or 1 T vanilla
• 2 oz. butter (Clover Organic, Sonoma County, Ca 40-80 mi)

Directions:

1. Pour 1¾ c milk into a heavy bottomed saucepan
2. Split and scrape vanilla bean into milk
3. Bring milk with vanilla bean to a boil
4. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 30-45 minutes to infuse milk
5. In a medium bowl, combine sugar and flour
6. Whisk in remaining ¼ c milk creating a smooth paste
7. Whisk in egg yolks
8. Remove vanilla bean and bring infused milk back to a boil
9. Slowly pour hot milk into egg yolk mixture while whisking (this can be a two person operation if you've never tempered hot milk into eggs before)
10. Strain the mixture back into the saucepan
11. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until pastry cream thickens and comes to a boil
12. Cook (continuing to stir) for another three minutes- be careful of splatters- even a small amount will give you a nasty burn!!
13. Remove from heat and stir in butter
14. Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly touching the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming
15. Chill until cooled completely

   

Most ingredients were purchased at Berkeley Bowl, milk purchased at Andronico's Market.