Custard ( pastry cream ) - new recipe

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Follow this brand new videorecipe and make your own delicious custard, great for filling tarts or layer cakes, or even as a dessert on its own! Find this and many more recipes with pictures on the Giallozafferano App (in English)
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To prepare a delicious custard, we have to start with a delicious milk base, so pour the fresh whole milk into a saucepan and add the heavy cream, which will give a rich, smooth flavour to our custard. You can omit the cream, of course, but replace with the same amount of fresh whole milk. Turn on the heat, and take the vanilla pod, slit lengthwise with a paring knife and scrape away the seeds. Add to the saucepan, both the seeds and the pod. I am using vanilla: otherwise, you can use orange or lemon zest, organic is better; you can grate the zest into the milk, or you can cut it into pieces, add to the milk, allow to steep and remove it later. The liquid ingredients are almost to a boil, turn off the heat and allow to steep for at least 5 minutes, meanwhile move on to the other ingredients. Separate the egg whites from the yolks, in this recipe we're using only the egg yolks... what can you do with the leftover egg whites? You're spoilt for choice: crispy meringues, for example, or a delicate angel food cake. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve, then add the sifted corn starch. The starch acts as a thickening agent because it gelatinizes during cooking; I prefer using corn starch because it gives the custard a smooth and pudding-like texture. Pastry chefs often use rice starch, though, because it makes the custard creamier and suitable for freezing. Whereas potato starch results in a sticky pastry cream, perfect for filling a grandma's custard pie for example! Using flour is not advisable because it makes it opaque. Remove the vanilla pod, turn on the heat again and add the egg mixture to the saucepan.
Now stir over a low flame until thickened, after that the custard will be ready. Turning this base recipe into a chocolate custard is very easy: at this point, add 3,5 oz (100 g) of chopped dark chocolate, stir until melted, and that's it!
Here we are, now turn off the heat. This amount of starch results in a medium texture. If you reduce the amount of starch to 5 tbsp (40 g) the cream will be thinner, if you increase it to 6 ¼ tbsp (50 g) it will be thicker. Transfer the custard to a large, shallow container and cover immediately with cling film, so that it's in contact with the custard, to keep it from forming a skin on top. Professional pastry chefs would place it in a blast chiller to drop the temperature, but if it's not available, allow to cool at room temperature, then place in the fridge.
Now, let's see how to use custard: this one is quite thick, so I'll use it as a filling between cake layers. This one is similar but has a lower starch content, so it works as a creamy dessert; you can start with a layer of crumbled chocolate cookies, then add the custard on top. What can you do with leftover custard? You can store in the fridge, covered with cling film, for 2-3 days, or freeze for up to 1 month. And while I'm finishing the desserts, let's see together the ingredients needed for this recipe.
Ingredients
For about 4 cups (1 kg) of custard
1 ⅔ cups (400 ml) of milk
just under ½ cup (100 ml) of heavy cream
6 egg yolks
¾ cup (140 g) of sugar
5 ⅔ tbsp (45 g) of corn starch
1 vanilla pod
See what you can create with just one recipe! The custard is a really versatile base recipe and it's delicious even on its own! Cook it yourself and let me know about your creations!
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