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.
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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 that is made with egg yolks, this one is also less on the calories and more healthy. 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, easy, and gets ready in less than 10 minutes.
- It is eggless. Therefore, there is no tempering of eggs, which makes this a fool-proof 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 can be used in almost any recipe that calls for the classic Crème Pâtissière.
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 makes a huge difference. I use a vanilla bean but you can also use 2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or 2 tablespoon 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
- In a saucepan, combine milk, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla bean paste or extract. 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.
Pro tip - 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 pastry cream.
Pro tip - I don't use any color in this eggless version. As a result, you can see that the color is white. - Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming at the top.
Pro tip - If a skin forms on the pastry cream it will become very lumpy.
Eggless desserts using vanilla pastry cream
- 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
Frequently asked questions.
Creme Chantilly - is basically sweetened whipped cream.
And Creme Patissiere is this vanilla pastry cream made with milk and thickened with egg yolks.
Creme Anglais is often referred to as pouring custard. Basically 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 yellow food color 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.
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Printable Recipe
Eggless Vanilla Pastry Cream or Crème Pâtissière
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Ingredients
- 2 cups (470 ml) Milk
- ¼ cup (50 g) Sugar
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon (25 g) Cornstarch
- 1 pinch Salt
- 2 drops Egg yellow color ((optional) )
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine milk, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla bean paste or extract. 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.Pro tip - 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 pastry cream. Pro tip - I don't use any color in this eggless version. So you can see that the color is white.
- Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming at the top.Pro tip - If a skin forms on the pastry cream it will become very lumpy.
Recipe 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 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.
- 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 off the heat - give it a good whisk and place it back on low to continue cooking. Adjust heat accordingly.
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
Pat Hoffman
Pastry Class - Day 11 - Done
Kelly-Ann
Pastry Day 11 - DONE
Wendy
pastry Day 11 Done
Solange Frederick Mohammed
Pastry day 11 done
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
Ria
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
Veena Azmanov
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.
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