Pastry cream (by Bruno Tenailleau)

How to make easy and successful pastry cream.
Bruno Tenailleau´s tip
: cook for 3 minutes to remove the taste of flour and make it creamier.


Pastry cream can be used for making many kinds of cake. It adds flavour and creaminess and as it is very easy to make, why deny yourself the pleasure.


Ingredients:
¾ of a litre of milk
4 or 5 egg yolks
160g of sugar
80g of flour
2 vanilla pods (grated)

Grate the vanilla, add it to the milk and bring to the boil in a saucepan that distributes heat evenly. Now beat your egg yolks in a round-bottomed bowl. Pour in the sugar while beating vigorously with a whisk and continue to beat the mixture until it changes colour. It should be a little foamy.
Incorporate the sifted flour and pour in the boiling milk while stirring to obtain a homogenous mixture. Pour this into the same saucepan and increase the temperature progressively while stirring constantly. Once it comes to the boil, cook for 3 minutes, stirring all the time, to remove the taste of the flour.
Once it has thickened, pour the cream into a stainless steel tray with low edges and cover with cling film so that a skin does not form on top.
Once it has cooled, your pastry cream is ready to use.

Storing pastry cream
Like anything that is made with eggs, pastry cream is fragile and does not store well. As it is quick to make, it is best to prepare the amount you need each time and work with a fresh batch. It should not stay in the fridge for more than 24 hours
and it should be well protected with cling film.