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
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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.
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
Hi Veena! What is the shelf life of this recipe? Regular pastry creams would only keep in the fridge for maximum 5 days. Thanks in advance
Sorry for the late reply, Ria (I found your comment in the spam folder) Yes, this should be around the same 4 to 5 days.
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
I have not tried German buttercream with this recipe so I’m not sure how it will work.
Hi veena can you please provide an eggless german buttercream recipe if you have tried it? Thanks.
Regards
Jayshri
No, Jayshri. I do not have a German buttercream recipe currently
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 .
Anupamma, gelatin won’t’ work the same way cornstarch. Gelatine will be more like a pannacotta texture not, pastry cream. Thanks
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
Make the eggless vanilla pastry cream – then use only the amount requested by in the recipe. The leftovers as are quick delicious.
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
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
Hi , I was wondering if I could sub the milk for lactose intolerant milk?
Hey Jen, I have tried this with coconut milk, almond milk, and soy milk. All three work well. I hope this helps
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 🙂
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.