Vanilla pastry cream is usually made with eggs and is a perfect base for many desserts, such as fruit tarts, mousses, Bavarian creams, and ice-cream. This simple and easy recipe for eggless vanilla pastry cream, or eggless Crème Pâtissière, opens up a whole new world of desserts for people who can't have eggs.
Have you looked at a dessert and said wow I wish I could make that but it has eggs. Well, now you can. If you replace the regular egg-based vanilla pastry cream with this eggless version.
Compared to the classic vanilla pastry cream made with egg yolks, this one is also less on the calories and more healthy to indulge in without losing any of the silky smooth goodness.
Different Crème Pâtissière aka pastry cream-based recipes
Almost everything I have learned in baking has been self-taught. So there were times when I was confused about baking terminologies and French names. I wondered what is Creme Anglaise, Creme Chantilly, Crème pâtissière, Creme Legere, Creme diplomat, etc. Too many creme versions and often quite similar. If you are in the same boat as I was a few years ago, here's a little help for you.
You can create an eggless version for any of these by simply substituting the classic pastry cream with this eggless Crème Pâtissière.
- Creme Chantilly - is basically sweetened whipped cream.
- And Creme Patissiere is this vanilla pastry cream made with milk and thickened with egg yolks.
- Creme Anglaise is often referred to as pouring custard. Basically a runny version of pastry creme. Often used as a sauce over desserts. Made the same way as pastry cream, thickened with cornstarch along with egg yolks until it's a pouring consistency.
- While Creme Legere is pastry cream combined with Chantilly.
- Creme Diplomat - is pastry cream or Crème pâtissière with stabilized whipped cream and gelatin. Often extra flavorings are used with the cream when adding it to the creme diplomat.
What does eggless Crème Pâtissière taste like?
I think the professionals know the difference but to my kids, these are both the same. It has the same consistency and thickness and can be used in almost any recipe that calls for the classic Crème Pâtissière
One of the easiest desserts you can make is a fruit tart filled with pastry cream and fresh seasonal fruit as I have done with my blueberry tart or strawberry tart. But, instead of using the classic, I use this eggless Crème Pâtissière.
Ah, the color?
The custard starts off in white of course and I add egg yellow food color gel[/easyazon_link] to make it yellow so now my egg-less version does not look any different from the regular classic vanilla pastry cream. I do this only when I need to show the Crème Pâtissière. If it's used as an ingredient I just leave it white.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Milk - Use regular full-fat milk, not low-fat milk. The milk is one of the main ingredients here, so make sure you use at least 3% fat. Low fat will just not thicken enough.
- Vanilla - You also must use good quality vanilla for this pastry cream. It does make a huge difference. I use a vanilla bean but you can also use 2 tbsp vanilla bean paste or 2 tbsp vanilla extract.
- Cornstarch/cornflour - In addition to the egg, this cornstarch will help thicken the pastry cream even more. You can add more or less depending on the consistency of pastry cream you need.
Step by step instructions (pin)
- In a saucepan, combine milk, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla.
- Stir well until cornflour is well combined.
- Cook on medium heat stirring constantly.
- Once the milk is hot - lower the heat to medium-low to prevent the bottom from burning.
- Continue to cook stirring constantly until the milk thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
- The more you cook - the thicker the pastry cream will become.
- At this point, you can add an egg yellow color if you want it to look like the classic.
- Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming at the top.
- This can be chilled and enjoyed as pastry cream or used in any desserts as an ingredient.
Frequently asked questions.
Ideally, a good quality vanilla bean, vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract would work. I love to use the scraping and the whole vanilla bean. This gives a wonderful vanilla flavor and takes away any egg smell from the pastry cream.
You can make a dairy-free custard by simply substituting the milk in the recipe with almond milk, coconut milk or soy milk. Coconut milk is my favorite and I often use it when I make coconut mousse.
I prefer to use a whisk and cook pastry cream on medium-low heat to keep things moving and homogenous. If the heat is high and the mixing is not even, the custard can get lumpy. Remove it off the heat - give it a good whisk and place it back on low to continue cooking. Adjust heat accordingly.
Crème pâtissière needs to be cooked until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If you take it off too quickly it will be thin and often undercooked.
Too much starch can cause the custard to be too thick or sometimes doughy. So, a
What desserts can I make with vanilla pastry cream?
Here are a few desserts that I have shared with you. Mousse, Tiramisu and tarts are often the most common.
- Strawberry Mousse Domes with PC inserts
- Mango Mouse - vegetarian mango mousse
- Mango coconut cream mousse (vegan, vegetarian)
- Classic strawberry mousse
- The Best chocolate mousse
- Eggless chocolate mousse
- Vegan chocolate mousse
- Blackberry mousse (eggless)
- Chestnut mousse (eggless)
- Vanilla Bavarian cream
- Strawberry Bavarian cream
- Strawberry Bavarian cream cake
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Eggless Vanilla Pastry Cream or Crème Pâtissière
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Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups (470 ml) Milk
- ¼ cup (50 g) Sugar
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp Cornstarch
- 1 pinch Salt
- 2 drops Egg yellow color (optional)
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine milk, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla.
- Stir well until cornflour is well combined.
- Cook on medium heat stirring constantly.
- Once the milk is hot - lower the heat to medium-low to prevent the bottom from burning.
- Continue to cook stirring constantly until the milk thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
- The more you cook - the thicker the pastry cream will become.
- At this point, you can add an egg yellow color if you want it to look like the classic.
- Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming at the top.
- This can be chilled and enjoyed as pastry cream or used in any desserts as an ingredient.
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Sasha Green
Hello! This recipe looks great! Before I make it, though, I was wondering if you would be able to tell me what the consistency of this cream is after it has been stored in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. I have made a similar recipe before, but after refrigerating it became solid enough to hold its own shape -- while I was looking for something more like a thick sauce.
Veena Azmanov
Hey Sasha. The consistency of the pastry cream after it is set depends on how much longer you cook it.
If you want a thick pastry cream cook it for 2 minutes longer after it coats the back of the spoon.
If you want it less take it off soon after it coats the back of the spoon. So you see you are in control of how thick you want it.
I hope that makes sense
Jayshri Bansal
Hi Veena,
How much butter you would need to add in this eggless pastry cream to make an eggless german buttercream? How much would that prepared german buttercream yield?
Thanks
Regards,
Jayshri
Veena Azmanov
I have not tried German buttercream with this recipe so I'm not sure how it will work.
Jayshri
Hi veena can you please provide an eggless german buttercream recipe if you have tried it? Thanks.
Regards
Jayshri
Veena Azmanov
No, Jayshri. I do not have a German buttercream recipe currently
Anupama
Hi. I wanted to use the filling in a 9 inch homemade tart shell. Can we use gelatin instead of cornstarch. If yes, how much gelatin should be used in the above recipe. Just feel maybe gelatin would give affirmed texture for a tart. I tried this recipe last week. It turned out good. Thanks .
Veena Azmanov
Anupamma, gelatin won't' work the same way cornstarch. Gelatine will be more like a pannacotta texture not, pastry cream. Thanks
Poorni
Hi,
I am planning to try out your mango mousse entremet with this vanilla pastry cream...Is the above measurement enough for the eggless mango mousse u posted (500 ml vanilla pastry cream)? Pls help
Veena Azmanov
Make the eggless vanilla pastry cream - then use only the amount requested by in the recipe. The leftovers as are quick delicious.
Abby
Hi Veena!
Just about to make this right now but I’m wondering if this has to be refrigerated? I’m planning on filling cupcakes with the cream but I’m don’t know if it will stay good inside a cupcake. Thanks!
Abby
Veena Azmanov
Abby. This definitely needs to be refrigerated. Fill the cupcakes the next day when the pastry cream is chilled. And yes, you do need to refrigerate the cupcakes too because this has eggs and milk which makes it a highly perishable food. Hope this helps.
Abby
Sorry just to clarify, I’m allergic to eggs and I’m making your eggless pastry cream. Once the cream is out of the refrigerator and I put it in my eggless cupcakes do they still need to be refrigerated? Sorry for the inconvenience!
Veena Azmanov
No inconvenience at all Abby. Please feel free to ask as many questions. I'm always happy to answer.
Yes, milk is still a perishable ingredient. So while you can keep it out for a few hours. You must treat it like milk.
Hope this helps
Larry
Veena, Want to tell you that I love your site, all the recipes and insights that you share covering all the details and questions one could ever want to ask. You are awesome and amazing with what you share about cooking and the T.L.C. from your heart in doing it. Thank you so much for your inspiration and long hours of working at it to make it happen.
Veena Azmanov
Thank you so much, Larry, for such lovely feedback. You made my day. I am so happy you enjoy my recipes and find my post useful, and that the information I provide is appreciated.
Thank you again. It's nice to be appreciated.
Jen Qun
Hi , I was wondering if I could sub the milk for lactose intolerant milk?
Veena Azmanov
Hey Jen, I have tried this with coconut milk, almond milk, and soy milk. All three work well. I hope this helps
Alyssa
Hello! Quick question: can this custard be used in between layers of cake? Well either way I'm going to try it, so I'll leave some feedback later 🙂
Veena Azmanov
Yes you can use pastry cream in between layers as long as you use a buttercream or ganache dam around the edges. You can use this recipe vanilla pastry cream cake filling - it's more stable.