Makes about 3 cups/710 ml custard
ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS TO MAKE AND EAT, VANILLA PASTRY CREAM IS definitely a back-pocket recipe. Use this formula as a donut, pie, or cake filling that’s sturdy, but luscious. Envelop it with Danish pastry, or dab some on top of individual pastries before baking. Additionally, if you eliminate the whole egg and reduce the cornstarch to 2 tablespoons, you’ll have the dreamiest vanilla pudding on the planet, or you can freeze it in ice pop molds to revisit the very best frozen novelty of the 1980s.
2 cups/453 g whole milk*
4 large egg yolks
1 large egg
½ cup/100 g granulated sugar
3 tablespoons/24 g cornstarch
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons/28 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
In a 3-quart/2.8 L saucepan over medium heat, bring the milk to a bare simmer, but don’t let it boil. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, egg, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until paler in color, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the hot milk until well blended. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Set the pan over medium heat and whisk often until the custard is very thick and just beginning to bubble, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
Pour the custard into a blender. Add the butter and vanilla paste or extract and blend on high speed for 1 minute. Pour into a medium bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold and firm, at least 3 hours, or up to 2 days ahead. Whisk well before using.
*You can up the richness here by swapping out the whole milk for half-and-half, but whatever you do, don’t use low-fat milk. It just comes out tasting… beige. Bleh.