Pastry Cream (Creme Patissiere)

Serves 4 - 6

570ml / 1 pint barista plant-based milk
80g gluten-free plain flour
20g gluten-free custard powder
100g caster sugar
vanilla, to taste

Place the barista plant-based milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil.

Meanwhile weigh the gluten-free flour and custard powder into a heatproof bowl. Add a little plant-based milk and stir to a smooth paste.

Just before your plant-based milk starts to boil, whisk a little of the hot milk into the flour mixture. Return this back to the saucepan whisking constantly.

Whisk over the heat for 2 minutes until thick . Whisk in the sugar and vanilla to taste.

Pour into a clean bowl and leave to cool. Store in a fridge until needed.

This makes a thick pastry cream. Once cold you can fold whipped dairy free cream to enrich the custard. If your recipe requires a thinner custard, simply whisk in barista plant-based milk a little at a time until it is the required consistency.

Pastry cream is very versatile and is used in many cold dessert recipes.

I always use barista plant-based milk for my desserts. You can use other plant-based milks with varying results. Barista milks are thicker so give a creamier flavour.

Why not try…
Chocolate pastry cream – stir in 25g cocoa powder with the cornflour and custard powder.
For a richer chocolate pastry cream- stir 50g melted plain chocolate into the cooked custard while still hot.

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