Crème Pâtissière (Milk to Egg Yolk to Sugar to Starch)

500 g (10 parts)

Whole milk — Full-fat for richness; infuse with vanilla bean, citrus peel, or spice in the milk before tempering

100 g / about 5 yolks (2 parts)

Egg yolks — Provide flavor, color, and emulsifying lecithin; whole eggs make a paler, lighter cream. Corrected 2026-07 — professional references (Felder, CAP Pâtissier standard) use 4–6 yolks per 500 g milk, not 10; see the correction note below

100 g (2 parts)

Granulated sugar — Whisk with yolks immediately to prevent the sugar from 'burning' the yolks

50 g (1 part)

Cornstarch (fécule de maïs) — Can substitute all-purpose flour at 60 g — flour gives a slightly starchy flavor and less glossy finish

30–50 g

Unsalted butter (optional enrichment) — Whisked in off-heat for a mousseline finish; improves sheen and richness

Whisk yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together until pale and thick. Bring milk (with any aromatics) to a simmer, then pour one-third over the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to temper. Return all to the pan over medium heat, whisking vigorously. Cook past the first boil for a full 60–90 seconds — the mixture will seize, then relax as the starch fully gelatinizes. Remove from heat, whisk in butter if using, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin, and chill rapidly to below 4 °C. Beat smooth before use.

• Whisk yolks and sugar immediately after combining — prolonged contact before whisking causes 'burning' (localized denaturation) that creates yellow specks in the finished cream.
• Cook the cream past the boil and hold for 60 seconds. The starch granules must fully burst or the cream will taste floury and will thin on standing.
• Rapid chilling is a food-safety imperative: spread into a shallow sheet pan, cover with plastic, and blast-chill or set over an ice bath. Pastry cream left in the 40–60 °C zone breeds bacteria quickly.
• If the finished cream is lumpy, pass it through a fine-mesh sieve while warm and whisk vigorously — don't re-cook.
• Cornstarch gives a glossier, cleaner flavor; flour gives a more robust, pâtisserie-rustique texture. Many classic French recipes blend the two (25 g cornstarch + 25 g flour per 500 g milk).
• Pastry cream keeps 2–3 days refrigerated; do not freeze — the starch retrogrades and the cream weeps on thawing.

• Crème mousseline

  Equal weight of softened butter beaten into chilled pastry cream — used in Paris-Brest and fraisier

• Crème diplomat

  Pastry cream lightened with an equal or lesser volume of stabilized whipped cream — fills mille-feuille

• Crème légère

  Lighter than diplomat: 1 part pastry cream to 1 part lightly whipped cream, no gelatin

• Chiboust (crème Saint-Honoré)

  Pastry cream folded with Italian meringue; used in gâteau Saint-Honoré; highly perishable

• Flour-based version

  Replace cornstarch with all-purpose flour at a 6:5 weight swap; cooks more slowly, less silky finish

• Chocolate pastry cream

  Add 60–80 g dark chocolate off-heat; reduce sugar by 15 g to compensate for chocolate's sugar content

• Crème Anglaise (Milk to Egg Yolk to Sugar)

  The unstarch'd parent; same yolk-to-milk backbone but poured at 82 °C without starch

• Béchamel (Butter to Flour to Milk)

  Shares the starch-thickened milk structure but uses a roux instead of yolks — the savory parallel

• Flan / Crema Catalana Custard (Egg to Milk to Sugar)

  Baked whole-egg custard; no starch, set by protein coagulation alone

1. 1.The Professional Pastry Chef — Bo Friberg (4th ed.)
2. 2.Patisserie — Christophe Felder
3. 3.On Food and Cooking — Harold McGee
4. 4.Le Guide Culinaire — Auguste Escoffier

Confidence: high