An utterly delicious vanilla custard, crème pâtissière is very easy to make. It is wonderful both as a filling for choux pastry and patisserie, and as warm, light custard poured over desserts.
My recipe is naturally gluten free, using cornflour in place of plain flour. It works beautifully and the silky smooth crème pâtissière is a proper treat to have stashed in your fridge.
You can make it in advance, then store in the fridge for up to 3 days until needed. Or similarly, if you have any leftovers after filling your eclairs etc, store in the fridge for up to 3 days. I warm mine in the microwave and enjoy on my Pear & Toffee Sponge Pudding or Sticky Toffee Pudding.
Can This Crème Pâtissière Be Made Lactose Free?
Yes, it works really well with lactose free or dairy free butter and lactose free milk. I made some lactose free eclairs recently, filled with a dark chocolate lactose free crème pâtissière and they were gorgeous.
Crème Pâtissière Variations
My recipe below is for a classic vanilla crème pâtissière, however you can have fun with flavours once you’ve mastered the basic recipe.
Chocolate is a great addition – I simply add 50g dark chocolate (I used Callebaut) to create the dark chocolate crème pâtissière pictured above. Once you’ve made it, simply stir the chocolate in while still hot, and whisk gently until combined.
In my spekulatius profiteroles recipe, you’ll find a DELICIOUS white chocolate and spekulatius biscuit crème pâtissière variation. I blitz the biscuits and stir them into the hot crème pâtissière, causing them to dissolve nicely and yield a silky final creme pat.
Gluten Free Crème Pâtissière (Vanilla Pastry Cream) Recipe
This recipe makes approximately 300g creme pat. Enough to to fill roughly 15 choux buns or 8 eclairs.
For any help along the way or if you have questions, please do message me on social media (@myglutenfreeguide) or email me at [email protected].
If you do enjoy this gluten free crème pâtissière recipe, please leave a review on the recipe card below. It makes a world of difference to me :). And you can also share photos of your home creations in my Cooking Club on Facebook.
Happy cooking!
Laura xxx
Gluten Free Crème Pâtissière (Vanilla Pastry Cream)
Silky smooth vanilla crème pâtissière, made to an easy gluten free recipe. Perfect for filling choux and patisserie, or for warming and pouring on puds.
Ingredients
- 250ml whole milk
- 0.5 tsp vanilla bean paste OR 1 vanilla pod, split
- 3 large egg yolks
- 40g caster sugar
- 20g cornflour
Instructions
- Gently warm the milk and vanilla in a small non-stick saucepan, allowing the flavour to infuse. Do this for about 5 minutes, until little wisps of steam are coming of the surface but the milk is not boiling (no bubbles). If using the vanilla pod, scrape out the seeds and remove the pod at this point.
- Whisk the yolks and sugar together in a mixing bowl, then add the cornflour and whisk through.
- Pour the warm milk over the yolks, whisking continuously. Then tip the contents of the bowl back into the saucepan.
- Bring the contents of the saucepan to a gentle boil, then allow to bubble for a couple of minutes, whisking to prevent any lumps from forming. The crème pâtissière will thicken and should be the consistency of thin custard by the end of this. If you have any lumps, just stir stir stir until they break down as you want it to be perfectly smooth.
- At this point, you can either enjoy it warm on a dessert, or chill it for use later. To do the latter, transfer to a bowl and place a piece of cling film directly on the surface of the crème pâtissière (to stop skin from forming on the top), and over the edges of the bowl. Place in the fridge to chill until completely cooled, then it is ready to use.
- When you come to use it, if you want to pipe the crème pâtissière do not stir it before use (as you will thin it). Simply spoon into your piping bag and pipe away!
Stick around for more delicious dessert and baking ideas. Here are some gluten free recipes I hope you will love:
Happy Baking! Laura xxx
