Vanilla Pastry Cream – Eggless
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 creams. 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 lower in calories and healthier. So you can indulge in a healthier dessert without losing any of the silky smooth goodness.
Why make this recipe?
- The recipe is very simple and easy, and it gets ready in less than 10 minutes.
- It is eggless. Therefore, there is no tempering of eggs, which makes this a foolproof recipe.
- And you can use it in any recipe as a substitute for vanilla pastry cream. So, all those desserts you could not enjoy before due to eggs are now possible.
- It has the same consistency and thickness as a regular vanilla pastry cream, and you can use it in almost any recipe that calls for the classic Crème Pâtissière.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Milk – Use regular full-fat milk, not low-fat milk. 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 makes 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 the pastry cream you need.
Eggless pastry cream
- Combine – In a saucepan, combine milk, sugar, cornstarch, flour, and vanilla bean paste or extract. Stir well until the cornflour is well combined.
- Simmer – Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly. Once the milk is hot, lower the heat to medium-low to prevent the bottom from burning.
- Consistency – Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the milk thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Pro tip – The more you cook, the thicker the pastry cream will become. - Color – At this point, you can add an egg yolk color if you want it to look like the classic pastry cream.
Pro tip – I don’t use any color in this eggless version. So you can see that the color is white.
- Store – Pour into a bowl or jar and cover with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming at the top.
Pro tip – If a pudding skin forms on the top, it will become very lumpy.
Eggless desserts using vanilla pastry cream
- Strawberry mousse domes with pastry cream inserts
- Mango mouse – vegetarian mango mousse
- Mango coconut cream mousse (vegan, vegetarian)
- Classic strawberry mousse
- The best chocolate mousse or Eggless chocolate mousse
- Vegan chocolate mousse
- Blackberry mousse (eggless) or Chestnut mousse (eggless)
- Vanilla Bavarian cream, Strawberry Bavarian cream
- Strawberry Bavarian cream cake
Frequently asked questions
Creme Chantilly – is basically sweetened whipped cream.
And Creme Patissiere is a vanilla pastry cream made with milk and thickened with egg yolks.
Creme Anglais is often referred to as pouring custard. Basically, it’s a runny version of pastry creme. Often, it’s 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.
The custard starts off white, and I add egg yolk food coloring gel to make it yellow. So now, my eggless version does not look any different from the 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.
Eggless Vanilla Pastry Cream or Crème Pâtissière
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.
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups (470 ml) Milk
- ¼ cup (50 g) Sugar
- 2 tbsp (25 g) Cornstarch
- 1 tbsp Flour or more cornstarch
- 1 pinch Salt
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 2 drops Egg yellow color (optional)
Method
- Combine – In a saucepan, combine milk, sugar, cornstarch, flour, and vanilla bean paste or extract. Stir well until the cornflour is well combined.
- Simmer – Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly. Once the milk is hot, lower the heat to medium-low to prevent the bottom from burning.
- Consistency – Continue to cook, stirring constantly until the milk thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
- Color – At this point, you can add an egg yolk color if you want it to look like the classic pastry cream.
- Store – Pour the mixture into a bowl or jar and cover with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming at the top.
Notes
- 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 removes 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.
- My pastry cream is too thin –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.
- My pastry cream is too thick – Too much starch can cause the custard to be too thick or sometimes doughy. So, always measure the ingredients well and use only the amount stated in the recipe. You can thin down a thick creme patisserie by adding a little whipped cream.
- My pastry cream is lumpy –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 from the heat – give it a good whisk and place it back on low to continue cooking. Adjust the heat accordingly.
Equipment you will need
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
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Thank you for this recipe. I didn’t know that you could make eggless vanilla pastry cream. Going to try this soon. You have a wonderful blog. Thank you
Thank you Merry. Yes, many people don’t know it’s possible to make an eggless version but it’s so good that you barely miss the classic.
Hi, what is the shelf life of this? Also how to store it?
Hey Payal. Pastry cream is made with milk so it has to be stored in the fridge at all times. I will last in the fridge for 3 to 4 days thanks
Hi veena,
I love your recipes.just wanted to know if I can use it to fill cake which I will be using under fondant.thanks in advance
Thank you Shenaz…!! Yes you can fill a cake with vanilla pastry cream that will be covered with fondant. But since it has milk it will need to be kept in the fridge not on the counter. Also take note if you live in a hot and humid place the fondant will have condensation when you take it out of the fridge. Thanks
Thank you for this recipe. I made eggless vanilla pastry cream for the first time. I wanted to make a french dessert but had no clue what to substitute the classic vanilla pastry cream. Finally I found your blog. I have book marked your blog as I want to try some of your recipes like the Bavarian Cream and the Chocolate Mousse.
Thank you so much Elouise. So happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. I know what you mean often I substitute eggless for the classic too! Thank you for coming back to write this feedback. Appreciate it very much. Always feels good to get positive feedback.
Thank you so much for this recipe. It turned out perfect. Really could not tell that is was eggless. Looked the same as the classic vanilla pastry cream. And tasted great too! Thanks
Thank you so much Simon – SO happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. I do often switch eggless for the classic too and my kids dont’ know the difference. Thanks for taking the time to come back and write this feedback. Appreciate it very much
Can this be used to fill cakes? If not, please direct me on how to make cake filling.
Thank you!
Yes you can use it to fill cakes but you just have to make it more thicker. Which means you cook it longer or you add more cornstarch so it get thicker.
Do you have any suggestions on how much cornstarch to add and how long to cook? Or what consistency it should be?
By the way, we have allergies to eggs and love all you eggless recipes!!
Depends on how much you making. For this batch I’d say one tablespoon more cornstarch – cook for a few minutes more until really thicker than just coats the back the spoons.
I will try it out.
Thank you!!
Sure – let me know
Can this be made with coconut milk? I need diary free.
Yes Nisi. You can use Coconut Milk and Margarine instead of butter to make it dairy free.
Do you have a recipe for eggless creme mousseline. With normal pastry cream if you add butter it gives it a richer taste also known as creme mousseline, but in you recipe I’m not sure how it would taste if I added the butter?
Sneha – I use whipped cream for my creme mousseline not butter. I find butter too rich. I like the lighter taste of whipped cream instead. So I make the pastry cream – chill it – then whip the cream and add my cold pastry cream. Having said that – if you beat the butter until light and fluffy then add the chilled pastry cream – it should work.
Thanks for sharing your recipe! I’d like to try it. I’m planing to use this as a filling in a cupcake. I’d like to make it a lighter, fluffier texture. You mentioned that we can add whipped cream to the pastry cream…may I know how much whipped cream to add into the pastry cream to give a light feel? Looking forward to your reply.
Hey Rachel. Yes, you can fold in some whipped cream. I usually add 2 cup vanilla pastry cream with 2 cups whipped cream but you can do more or less as well. I hope this helps.
just tried it out now, and honestly I really didn’t expect it to turn out well…but it tastes great and it was so easy to make and didnt even take much time! thank u so much for sharing this recipe 😀
Great to hear that.. Thank you!
Hello ,
I would like to use this recipe to fill in some cream puff dessert , Is it pipe-able recipe or Not ? I mean can i pipe it like the whipped cream
That depends on the consistency you cook it. If you cook it longer it is thick so when it cools its good to pipe