Susan Reid

September 14, 2014 at 7:34am

Hi, Aimee! I empathize with your pastry cream struggles; I've spent some time there myself. There are a couple of ways to "bullet proof" it. I don't know what starch you're adding to it in addition to the egg yolks, but if you don't bring the stuff to a full rolling boil, at least for a 20 seconds or so, it won't get enough to give you that extra stiffness you're hoping for. I always cook it until I see bubbles come up right in the center of the pot. It's tricky, because too far means scrambled eggs. I never let my culinary students go to the stove without having a strainer and ice bath RIGHT THERE, for the moment it's time to get off the fire. Another, no-fail thing to try is to bloom some plain gelatin (1 teaspoon is really enough) and stir into the hot pastry cream once it's off the stove but still quite hot. That way when it cools you'll for sure have a slicing consistency. Susan
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